The avian family Rallidae, also known as rails, is a large, cosmopolitan family of small to medium-sized terrestrial and/or semi-amphibious birds of the order Gruiformes.
The family includes such ubiquitous species as the crakes, coots, and gallinule.
"Rail" is the anglicized respelling of the French râle, from Old French rasle. It is named from its harsh cry, in Vulgar Latin *rascula, from Latin rādere ("to scrape").