ray

See also: Ray, rày, rầy, ra'y, and -raþ

English

Rays from the sun (1)

Pronunciation

• enPR: rā, IPA^(key): /ɹeɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

Etymology 1

Via Middle English, borrowed from Old French rai, from Latin radius (“staff, stake, spoke”). Doublet of radius.

Noun

ray (plural rays)

1. A beam of light or radiation.

   I saw a ray of light through the clouds.

2. (zoology) A rib-like reinforcement of bone or cartilage in a fish's fin.
3. (zoology) One of the spheromeres of a radiate, especially one of the arms of a starfish or an ophiuran.
4. (botany) A radiating part of a flower or plant; the marginal florets of a compound flower, such as an aster or a sunflower; one of the pedicels of an umbel or other circular flower cluster; radius.
5. (obsolete) Sight; perception; vision; from an old theory of vision, that sight was something which proceeded from the eye to the object seen.
   • (Can we date this quote by Alexander Pope and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     All eyes direct their rays / On him, and crowds turn coxcombs as they gaze.

6. (mathematics) A line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point.
7. (colloquial) A tiny amount.

   Unfortunately he didn't have a ray of hope.

Hyponyms

• death ray
• gamma ray
• manta ray
• stingray
• X-ray

 

Derived terms

Terms derived from ray

• catch some rays
• ray gun
• ray of light
• ray of sunshine
• stingray
• X-ray

 

Translations

beam of light or radiation

• Albanian: rreze (sq) f
• Arabic: شُعَاع m (šuʕāʕ)

  Moroccan Arabic: شعا (sh3a)

• Armenian: ճառագայթ (hy) (čaṙagaytʻ), ճաճանչ (hy) (čačančʻ), շող (hy) (šoġ)
• Aromanian: aradzã f, radzã f
• Azerbaijani: şüa (az)
• Bashkir: нур (nur)
• Belarusian: праме́нь m (pramjénʹ)
• Bengali: রশ্মি (rośmi)
• Berber:

  Tashelhit: aẓnẓar m

• Bulgarian: лъч (bg) m (lǎč)
• Burmese: အလင်းတန်း (my) (a.lang:tan:), ရောင်ခြည် (my) (raunghkrany), ခြည် (my) (hkrany)
• Catalan: raig (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 射線／射线 (zh) (shèxiàn), 射线 (zh) (shèxiàn), 光線／光线 (zh) (guāngxiàn), 光线 (zh) (guāngxiàn)

• Czech: paprsek (cs) m
• Dalmatian: rus m
• Danish: stråle c
• Dutch: straal (nl) f
• Esperanto: radio (eo), radiuso, raio
• Estonian: kiir (et)
• Finnish: säde (fi)
• French: rayon (fr) m
• Friulian: rai
• Georgian: შუქი (šuki)
• German: Strahl (de) m
• Greek: ακτίνα (el) f (aktína)

  Ancient: ἀκτίς f (aktís)

• Hebrew: קֶרֶן (he) f (kéren)
• Hindi: किरण (hi) f (kiraṇ)
• Hungarian: sugár (hu)
• Icelandic: geisli (is) m
• Indonesian: sinar (id)
• Irish: ga m
• Italian: raggio (it) m, filo (it) m
• Japanese: 光線 (ja) (こうせん, kōsen)
• Kazakh: сәуле (kk) (säule), нұр (nūr)
• Khmer: រស្មី (km) (rĕəʼsməy)
• Korean: 광선 (ko) (gwangseon) (光線 (ko))
• Kurdish:

  Sorani:

• Kyrgyz: нур (ky) (nur), шоола (ky) (şoola)
• Lao: ແສງ (lo) (sǣng)
• Latgalian: spaits
• Latin: radius
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: stars m
• Lithuanian: spindulys
• Luxembourgish: Stral
• Macedonian: зрак m (zrak)
• Malay: sinaran
• Maltese: raġġ m
• Maori: ihi, pūhihi, wana, hihi
• Mongolian: туяа (mn) (tujaa)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: stråle (no) m

  Nynorsk: stråle m

• Occitan: rai (oc)
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: лоуча f (luča)

• Old East Slavic: лучь m (lučĭ)
• Pashto: شعاع f (šo'ã), پلوشه (ps) f (palwaša), څريکه f (críka) (of sun)
• Persian: شعاع (fa) (šo'â'), پرتو (fa) (partow), فروغ (fa) (forugh)
• Polish: promień (pl) m
• Portuguese: raio (pt) m
• Romanian: rază (ro) f
• Russian: луч (ru) m (luč), излуче́ние (ru) n (izlučénije)
• Sanskrit: रश्मि (sa) m or f (raśmi)
• Sardinian: ragiu m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: зрака f, зрак m

  Roman: zrȁka (sh) f, zrȃk (sh) m

• Slovak: lúč m
• Slovene: žarek (sl) m
• Spanish: rayo (es) m
• Swahili: kianga
• Swedish: stråle (sv) c
• Tagalog: ligos (sun)
• Tajik: шуоъ (šuoʾ), нур (tg) (nur)
• Telugu: కిరణము (te) (kiraṇamu)
• Thai: แสง (th) (sɛ̌ɛng), รังสี (th) (rang-sǐi)
• Turkish: ışın (tr), hüzme (tr), şua (tr) (archaic)
• Turkmen: şöhle, nur
• Ukrainian: про́мінь (uk) m (próminʹ)
• Urdu: کرن f (kiran)
• Uyghur: نۇر (ug) (nur), شولا (shola)
• Uzbek: nur (uz), shula
• Venetian: rajo
• Vietnamese: tia (vi)
• Walloon: rai (wa) m, rayeye (wa) f
• Yiddish: שטראַל m (shtral)

reinforcing in a fish's fin

• Finnish: piikki (fi) (bone), ruoto (fi) (cartilage)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point

• Armenian: ճառագայթ (hy) (čaṙagaytʻ)
• Bulgarian: лъч (bg) m (lǎč)
• Catalan: semirecta
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 射线 (zh) (shèxiàn)

• Czech: polopřímka f
• Danish: stråle c
• Dutch: straal (nl) f
• Esperanto: radio (eo), radiuso, raio
• Finnish: säde (fi), puolisuora (fi)
• French: demi-droite (fr)
• German: Strahl (de) m, Halbgerade (de) f
• Greek: ημιευθεία (imieftheía)
• Hebrew: קֶרֶן (he) f (kéren)
• Italian: raggio (it) m, semiretta (it) f
• Latvian: stars m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: promień (pl) m, półprosta f
• Portuguese: raio (pt) m
• Romanian: semidreaptă (ro) f
• Russian: луч (ru) m (luč)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: полуправац m

  Roman: pȍlupravac (sh) m

• Slovak: polpriamka f
• Spanish: semirrecta (es) f
• Swedish: stråle (sv) c
• Tagalog: sinag
• Telugu: రేఖ (te) (rēkha)
• Turkish: ışın (tr)
• Ukrainian: про́мінь (uk) m (próminʹ)
• Urdu: شعاع f (śuā)
• Vietnamese: tia (vi)

colloquial: tiny amount

• Catalan: raig (ca) (un raig d’esperança)
• Dutch: straaltje (nl) n
• Finnish: rahtunen
• German: Hoffnungsstrahl m (ray of hope)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: raggio (it) m
• Portuguese: pingo (pt) m, fio (pt) m
• Swedish: stråle (sv) c

Verb

ray (third-person singular simple present rays, present participle raying, simple past and past participle rayed)

1. (transitive) To emit something as if in rays.
   • (Can we date this quote by Robert Browning and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     I had no particular woman in my mind; certainly never intended to personify wisdom, philosophy, or any other abstraction; and the orb, raying colour out of whiteness, was altogether a fancy of my own.

2. (intransitive) To radiate as if in rays.

Translations

to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays

• Esperanto: raii
• Malay: sinar, menyinar, bersinar
• Maori: whakawanawana
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Serbo-Croatian: zráčiti (sh)
• Turkish: ışımak (tr)

Etymology 2

From Middle English raye, rayȝe, from Old French raie, from Latin raia, of uncertain origin. Compare Middle English reyhhe, reihe, reȝge (“ray, skate”), from Old English reohhe (“ray”).

Noun

ray (plural rays)

2. A marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail.

Translations

marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail

• Arabic: شِفْنِين m (šifnīn)
• Armenian: կատվաձուկ (hy) (katvajuk)
• Belarusian: скат m (skat)
• Bulgarian: морска́ лиси́ца f (morská lisíca)
• Burmese: လိပ်ကျောက် (my) (lipkyauk)
• Catalan: rajada (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 魔鬼魚／魔鬼鱼 (mo¹ gwai² jyu^4-2), 魔鬼鱼 (mo¹ gwai² jyu^4-2)

  Mandarin: 鱝／鲼 (zh) (fèn), 鲼 (zh) (fèn), 鰩／鳐 (zh) (yáo), 鳐 (zh) (yáo), 魟魚／𫚉鱼 (zh) (hóngyú), 𫚉鱼 (zh) (hóngyú)

• Czech: rejnok (cs) m
• Danish: rokke
• Dutch: rog (nl) m
• Esperanto: rajo
• Finnish: rausku (fi)
• French: raie (fr) f
• German: Rochen (de) m
• Greek: σαλάχι (el) n (saláchi), νάρκη (el) f (nárki), μουδιάστρα f (moudiástra)

  Ancient: βατίς f (batís)

• Greenlandic: allernaq
• Hungarian: rája (hu)
• Icelandic: skata f
• Irish: roc m
• Italian: razza (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 鱝 (ja) (えい, ei), 鱏 (ja) (えい, ei), エイ (ja) (ei)
• Korean: 가오리 (ko) (gaori), 홍어 (ko) (hong'eo)
• Latin: raia f
• Latvian: raja f
• Malay: pari
• Maori: whai
• Norman: cârrée f, raie f, fliée f
• Norwegian: rokke
• Polish: płaszczka (pl) f
• Portuguese: arraia (pt) f, raia (pt) f
• Russian: скат (ru) m (skat)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ража f

  Roman: raža (sh) f

• Slovak: raja f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: rochon m

• Spanish: raya (es) f
• Swedish: rocka (sv) c
• Thai: กระเบน (grà-been)
• Ukrainian: скат m (skat)
• Vietnamese: cá đuối (vi)
• Welsh: cath fôr (cy) f, morgath (cy) f
• Wolof: umbulaan wi

Etymology 3

Shortened from array.

Verb

ray (third-person singular simple present rays, present participle raying, simple past and past participle rayed)

1. (obsolete) To arrange. [14th-18th c.]
2. (now rare) To dress, array (someone). [from 14th c.]

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir T. More to this entry?)

3. (obsolete) To stain or soil; to defile. [16th-19th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.4:

     From his soft eyes the teares he wypt away, / And form his face the filth that did it ray […] .

Noun

ray (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Array; order; arrangement; dress.
   • (Can we date this quote by Spenser and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     And spoiling all her gears and goodly ray.

Etymology 4

From its sound, by analogy with the letters chay, jay, gay, kay, which it resembles graphically.

Noun

ray (plural rays)

1. The letter ⟨/⟩, one of two which represent the r sound in Pitman shorthand.

Related terms

• ar, in Latin and the name of the other Pitman r

Etymology 5

Alternative forms.

Noun

ray (plural rays)

1. (music) Alternative form of re

Anagrams

• -ary, Ary, Ayr, RYA, ary, ayr, rya, yar

---

Interlingue

Etymology 1

Noun

1. part (of hair)

Etymology 2

Noun

1. ray (fish)

---

Kurdish

Etymology

From .

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɑːj/

Noun

1. opinion

---

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from French rail.

Noun

ray (definite accusative rayı, plural raylar)

1. rail