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rye
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: Rye
English
Etymology
From Middle English rye, rie, from Old English ryġe, from Proto-West Germanic *rugi, from Proto-Germanic *rugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *Hrugʰís.
Germanic cognates include Dutch and West Frisian rogge, Low German Rogg, German Roggen, Rocken, Old Norse rugr (Danish rug, Swedish råg); non-Germanic cognates include Russian рожь (rožʹ) and Latvian rudzi.
Pronunciation
Noun
rye (countable and uncountable, plural ryes)
- A grain used extensively in Europe for making bread, beer, and (now generally) for animal fodder. [from 8th c.]
- The grass Secale cereale from which the grain is obtained. [from 14th c.]
- This field will be planted to rye next spring.
- (uncountable, countable) Ellipsis of rye bread. [from 19th c.]
- Hypernyms: bread < food
- Coordinate terms: white, wheat, pumpernickel
- Customer: A tuna sandwich, please. Waiter: Sure, hon. You want that on white, wheat, or rye?
- (US, Canada, uncountable, countable) Ellipsis of rye whiskey, whiskey made mainly or wholly from rye grain. [from 19th c.]
- He likes any whiskey, but his favorite is rye.
- 1925, John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, 2nd section, page 146:
- “Gimme a shot of rye.” The whiskey stung his throat hot and fragrant.
- 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 159:
- I bought a pint of rye at the liquor counter and carried it over to the stools and set it down on the cracked marble counter.
- 1971, “American Pie”, in American Pie, performed by Don McLean:
- Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ’n rye/Singin’, "This’ll be the day that I die."
- (US, Canada, countable) A drink (serving) of rye whiskey.
- I'll have a rye, neat, please.
- 1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 17:
- It concerns the gnomelike quality of the average American at a party. I have been to many parties where staid American business men have been transformed by a few ryes or bourbons into unpredictable gremlins out for adventure.
- Caraway (from the mistaken assumption that the whole seeds, often used to season rye bread, are the rye itself)
- Ryegrass, any of the species of Lolium.
- A disease of hawks.
- 1486, Juliana Berners, Book of Saint Albans:
- And if it [vndeꝛ the peꝛch] be grene ſhe engenderith the Ry. The condicion of this euell is this, it wil ariſe in the hede and make the hede to ſwell, ⁊ the iyen all glaymous, and dyrke, and bot it haue helpe: it will downe in to the legges, and maake the legges to rancle, and if it goo fro the legges in to the hede a gayne, thi hawke is bot looſt.
- 1618, Symon Latham, Latham's Falconry:
- Of all the diseases that belongs to these Hawkes, there bee onely three that they bee most subiect vnto, which is the Rye, the Crampe, and the Craye.
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Translations
the grass Secale cereale or its grains as food
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rye whisky — see rye whisky
rye bread — see rye bread
carraway — see carraway
ryegrass — see ryegrass
Anagrams
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Japanese
Romanization
rye
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Inherited from Old English ryġe, from Proto-West Germanic *rugi, from Proto-Germanic *rugiz.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈriː(ə)/
- IPA(key): /ˈræi̯(ə)/ (East Anglia, East Saxon)
- IPA(key): /ˈryː(ə)/ (West Midland)
Noun
rye (plural ryes)
- rye (Secale cereale or its grain)
- 1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “The Somnours Tale”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published [c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 80, recto:
- Ẏıf vs a buſſhel whete / Malt oꝛ Reẏe / A goddes kechẏl / oꝛ a trẏp[e] of cheeſe / Oꝛ ellıs what ẏow lẏſt / we maẏ nat cheſe […]
- "Give us a bushel of wheat, malt, or rye, a God's cake, a bit of cheese / or anything that you want; we don't need to choose […] "
Descendants
References
- “rīe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
rye f (definite singular rya, indefinite plural ryer, definite plural ryene)
Related terms
References
- “rye” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Anagrams
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