Regrate
/rɪˈɡreɪt/noun
To buy up goods, especially food, and resell them at an increased price.
Did you know?In medieval and early modern England, regrating was treated as a form of market abuse and was sometimes restricted by law because it could inflate food prices.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic ancestry
Germanic
*krat-
“To scrape, scratch, or grate; the deeper source is reconstructed rather than directly recorded.”
Old French
Old French
grater
“To scrape or scratch.”
Anglo-French
Anglo-French
regrater
“To buy provisions and resell them, with the word likely influenced by the image of scraping or gathering again.”
Late Middle English
English
regrate
“To buy up food or goods for resale at an enhanced price.”
Early Modern English
English
regrate
“To engage in the prohibited or disapproved practice of buying commodities and reselling them at profit.”
Modern English
English
regrate
“An archaic or historical term for profiteering through resale, especially of necessities.”