ray

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• /ɹeɪ/
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• rhymes with -eɪ
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• homophone: ray
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• homophone: Wray
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• homophone: Rae
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• homophone: Re
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• homophone: Rea (pane–pain merger)
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• homophone: re
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• homophone: Rhea (one pronunciation)
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• General-American, Received-Pronunciation: rā
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• General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ɹeɪ/
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• General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• homophone: Ray
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• CMU ARPABET: R EY1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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* As an English surname, from pet forms derived from the root of Raymond. * Also as an English surname, from Old French rei (“king”). Compare Roy, King. * Also as an English surname, from Old English rā (“roe deer”). Compare Roe. * Also as an English surname, variant of Wray and Rye. * As a Scottish Gaelic surname, shortened from McRae. * As a French surname, from the verb raier (“to gush out, flow, radiate”). Compare Leray. * As a Polish and Slovene surname, Americanized from Raj, from raj (“paradise”). * As an Indian surname, variant of Rai.

From Persian ری (ray /rey), from Middle Persian, from Old Persian 𐎼𐎥𐎠 (r-g-a /⁠ragā⁠/), a Median district. Compare Akkadian 𒊏𒂵𒀪 (ra-ga-'), Elamite 𒊩𒋡𒀭 (rák-ka4-an) (loc.), Ancient Greek Ῥάγαι (Rhágai), Latin Rhagae, Rhaganae, Iranian borrowings.

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

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”).

Shortened from array.

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

Alternative forms.

275 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: الرَّيّ (ar-rayy) — city in Iran
• Azerbaijani: Rey — city in Iran
• Chagatai: ری (ry) — city in Iran
• Ancient Greek: Ῥάγαι (Rhágai) — city in Iran
• Latin: Rhagae — city in Iran
• Latin: Rhaganae — city in Iran
• Latin: Rages — city in Iran
• Marathi: रेय (rey) — city in Iran
• Persian: شهر ری (šahr-e rey) — city in Iran
• Persian: ری (rey) — city in Iran
• Old Persian: 𐎼𐎥𐎠 — city in Iran
• Tajik: Рай — city in Iran
• Turkish: Rey — city in Iran
• Ottoman Turkish: ری — city in Iran
• Uzbek: Ray — city in Iran
• Albanian: rreze — beam of light or radiation
• Arabic: شُعَاع (šuʕāʕ) — beam of light or radiation
• Armenian: ճառագայթ (čaṙagaytʻ) — beam of light or radiation
• Armenian: ճաճանչ (čačančʻ) — beam of light or radiation
• Armenian: շող (šoġ) — beam of light or radiation
• Aromanian: aradzã — beam of light or radiation
• Aromanian: radzã — beam of light or radiation
• Azerbaijani: şüa — beam of light or radiation
• Bashkir: нур (nur) — beam of light or radiation
• Basque: izpi — beam of light or radiation
• Belarusian: праме́нь (pramjénʹ) — beam of light or radiation
• Bengali: রশ্মি (rośmi) — beam of light or radiation
• Bulgarian: лъч (lǎč) — beam of light or radiation
• Burmese: အလင်းတန်း (a.lang:tan:) — beam of light or radiation
• Burmese: ရောင်ခြည် (raunghkrany) — beam of light or radiation
• Burmese: ခြည် (hkrany) — beam of light or radiation
• Catalan: raig — beam of light or radiation
• Chinese Mandarin: 射線 /射线 (shèxiàn) — beam of light or radiation
• Chinese Mandarin: 光線 /光线 (guāngxiàn) — beam of light or radiation
• Czech: paprsek — beam of light or radiation
• Dalmatian: rus — beam of light or radiation
• Danish: stråle — beam of light or radiation
• Dutch: straal — beam of light or radiation
• Egyptian: s-t:sti-w-t-N8 (stwt f pl) — beam of light or radiation
• Esperanto: radio — beam of light or radiation
• Esperanto: radiuso — beam of light or radiation
• Estonian: kiir — beam of light or radiation
• Finnish: säde — beam of light or radiation
• French: rayon — beam of light or radiation
• Friulian: rai — beam of light or radiation
• Galician: raio — beam of light or radiation
• Georgian: შუქი (šuki) — beam of light or radiation
• German: Strahl — beam of light or radiation
• Greek: ακτίνα (aktína) — beam of light or radiation
• Ancient Greek: ἀκτίς (aktís) — beam of light or radiation
• Hebrew: קֶרֶן (kéren) — beam of light or radiation
• Hindi: किरण (kiraṇ) — beam of light or radiation
• Hindi: रश्मि (raśmi) — beam of light or radiation
• Hungarian: sugár — beam of light or radiation
• Icelandic: geisli — beam of light or radiation
• Indonesian: sinar — beam of light or radiation
• Irish: ga — beam of light or radiation
• Italian: raggio — beam of light or radiation
• Italian: filo — beam of light or radiation
• Japanese: 光線 (kōsen) — beam of light or radiation
• Javanese: sorot — beam of light or radiation
• Kapampangan: simbul — beam of light or radiation
• Kazakh: сәуле (säule) — beam of light or radiation
• Kazakh: нұр (nūr) — beam of light or radiation
• Khmer: រស្មី (rĕəʼsməy) — beam of light or radiation
• Korean: 광선 (gwangseon) — beam of light or radiation
• Central Kurdish: تشک (tişk) — beam of light or radiation
• Northern Kurdish: tîroj — beam of light or radiation
• Kyrgyz: нур (nur) — beam of light or radiation
• Kyrgyz: шоола (şoola) — beam of light or radiation
• Lao: ແສງ (sǣng) — beam of light or radiation
• Latgalian: spaits — beam of light or radiation
• Latin: radius — beam of light or radiation
• Latvian: stars — beam of light or radiation
• Lithuanian: spindulys — beam of light or radiation
• Luxembourgish: Stral — beam of light or radiation
• Macedonian: зрак (zrak) — beam of light or radiation
• Malay: sinaran — beam of light or radiation
• Maltese: raġġ — beam of light or radiation
• Māori: ihi — beam of light or radiation
• Māori: pūhihi — beam of light or radiation
• Māori: wana — beam of light or radiation
• Māori: hihi — beam of light or radiation
• Mongolian: туяа (tujaa) — beam of light or radiation
• Norwegian Bokmål: stråle — beam of light or radiation
• Norwegian Nynorsk: stråle — beam of light or radiation
• Occitan: rai — beam of light or radiation
• Church Slavic: лоуча (luča) — beam of light or radiation
• Old East Slavic: лучь (lučĭ) — beam of light or radiation
• Old English: sċīma — beam of light or radiation
• Pashto: شعاع (šo'ã) — beam of light or radiation
• Pashto: پلوشه (palwaša) — beam of light or radiation
• Pashto: څريکه (críka) — beam of light or radiation
• Persian: پرتو (partow) — beam of light or radiation
• Persian: فروغ (foruġ) — beam of light or radiation
• Persian: برازه (barâze) — beam of light or radiation
• Polish: promień — beam of light or radiation
• Portuguese: raio — beam of light or radiation
• Punjabi: ਕਿਰਨ (kiran) — beam of light or radiation
• Romanian: rază — beam of light or radiation
• Russian: луч (luč) — beam of light or radiation
• Russian: излуче́ние (izlučénije) — beam of light or radiation
• Sanskrit: रश्मि (raśmi) — beam of light or radiation
• Sardinian: ragiu — beam of light or radiation
• Serbo-Croatian: зрака — beam of light or radiation
• Serbo-Croatian: зрак — beam of light or radiation
• Serbo-Croatian: zrȁka — beam of light or radiation
• Serbo-Croatian: zrȃk — beam of light or radiation
• Slovak: lúč — beam of light or radiation
• Slovene: žarek — beam of light or radiation
• Spanish: rayo — beam of light or radiation
• Swahili: kianga — beam of light or radiation
• Swahili: mwale — beam of light or radiation
• Swedish: stråle — beam of light or radiation
• Tagalog: ligos — beam of light or radiation
• Tajik: шуоъ (šuo') — beam of light or radiation
• Tajik: нур (nur) — beam of light or radiation
• Tashelhit: aẓnẓar — beam of light or radiation
• Telugu: కిరణము (kiraṇamu) — beam of light or radiation
• Thai: แสง (sɛ̌ɛng) — beam of light or radiation
• Thai: รังสี (rang-sǐi) — beam of light or radiation
• Tocharian B: swāñco — beam of light or radiation
• Turkish: ışın — beam of light or radiation
• Turkish: hüzme — beam of light or radiation
• Turkish: şua — beam of light or radiation
• Turkmen: şöhle — beam of light or radiation
• Turkmen: nur — beam of light or radiation
• Ukrainian: про́мінь (próminʹ) — beam of light or radiation
• Urdu: کرن (kiran) — beam of light or radiation
• Uyghur: نۇر (nur) — beam of light or radiation
• Uyghur: شولا (shola) — beam of light or radiation
• Uzbek: nur — beam of light or radiation
• Uzbek: shula — beam of light or radiation
• Venetan: rajo — beam of light or radiation
• Vietnamese: tia — beam of light or radiation
• Walloon: rai — beam of light or radiation
• Walloon: rayeye — beam of light or radiation
• Welsh: pelydr — beam of light or radiation
• Yiddish: שטראַל (shtral) — beam of light or radiation
• Bulgarian: шип (šip) — reinforcing in a fish's fin
• Finnish: piikki — reinforcing in a fish's fin
• Finnish: ruoto — reinforcing in a fish's fin
• Armenian: ճառագայթ (čaṙagaytʻ) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Bulgarian: лъч (lǎč) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Catalan: semirecta — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Chinese Mandarin: 射线 (shèxiàn) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Czech: polopřímka — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Danish: stråle — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Dutch: straal — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Esperanto: radio — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Esperanto: radiuso — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Esperanto: raio — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Estonian: kiir — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Finnish: säde — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Finnish: puolisuora — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• French: demi-droite — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• German: Strahl — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• German: Halbgerade — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Greek: ημιευθεία (imieftheía) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Hebrew: קֶרֶן (kéren) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Hungarian: félegyenes — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Italian: raggio — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Italian: semiretta — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Latvian: stars — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Persian: نیمخط (nim-xat) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Polish: promień — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Polish: półprosta — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Portuguese: raio — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Romanian: semidreaptă — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Russian: луч (luč) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Russian: полупряма́я (poluprjamája) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Serbo-Croatian: полуправац — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Serbo-Croatian: pȍlupravac — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Slovak: polpriamka — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Spanish: semirrecta — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Swedish: stråle — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Tagalog: sinag — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Telugu: రేఖ (rēkha) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Thai: รังสี (rang-sǐi) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Turkish: ışın — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Ukrainian: про́мінь (próminʹ) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Urdu: شعاع (śuā) — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Vietnamese: tia — mathematics: line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point
• Aklanon: pagi — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Arabic: شِفْنِين (šifnīn) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Arabic: شِفْنِين بَحْرِيّ (šifnīn baḥriyy) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Armenian: կատվաձուկ (katvajuk) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Asturian: raya — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Basque: arraia — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Belarusian: скат (skat) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Bulgarian: скат (skat) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Burmese: လိပ်ကျောက် (lipkyauk) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Catalan: rajada — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Cebuano: pagi — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Chinese Cantonese: 魔鬼魚 /魔鬼鱼 — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Chinese Mandarin: 鱝 /鲼 (fèn) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Chinese Mandarin: 鰩 /鳐 (yáo) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Chinese Mandarin: 魟魚 /𫚉鱼 (hóngyú) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Czech: rejnok — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Danish: rokke — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Dhivehi: މަޑި (maḍi) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Dutch: rog — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Esperanto: rajo — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Estonian: rai — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Finnish: rausku — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• French: raie — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Georgian: სკაროსი (sḳarosi) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• German: Rochen — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Greek: σαλάχι (saláchi) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Greek: νάρκη (nárki) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Greek: μουδιάστρα (moudiástra) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Ancient Greek: βατίς (batís) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Greenlandic: allernaq — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Greenlandic: tarraleqisaaq — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Hungarian: rája — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Icelandic: skata — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Indonesian: pari — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Irish: roc — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Italian: razza — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Japanese: 鱝 (ei) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Japanese: 鱏 (ei) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Japanese: エイ (ei) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Javanese: pe — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Kalmyk: шувтру (şuvtru) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Kannada: ತೊರಕೆ (torake) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Kapampangan: pagi — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Korean: 가오리 (gaori) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Korean: 홍어 (hong'eo) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Latin: raia — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Latvian: raja — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Macedonian: ража (raža) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Malay: pari — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Malayalam: തിരണ്ടി (tiraṇṭi) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Māori: whai — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Minangkabau: pari — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Norman: cârrée — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Norman: raie — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Norman: fliée — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Norwegian Bokmål: rokke — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Norwegian Nynorsk: rokke — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Polish: płaszczka — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Portuguese: arraia — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Portuguese: raia — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Russian: скат (skat) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Serbo-Croatian: ража — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Serbo-Croatian: raža — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Slovak: raja — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Lower Sorbian: rochon — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Spanish: raya — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Swedish: rocka — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Tagalog: pagi — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Tamil: திருக்கை (tirukkai) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Tausug: pagi — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Telugu: టెంకి (ṭeṅki) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Thai: กระเบน (grà-been) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Turkish: vatoz — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Ottoman Turkish: كدی بالغی (kedi balığı) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Ottoman Turkish: طرپانه (tırpana) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Ukrainian: скат (skat) — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Vietnamese: cá đuối — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Welsh: morgath — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Welsh: cath fôr — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Wolof: umbulaan wi — marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail
• Bulgarian: излъчвам (izlǎčvam) — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays
• Czech: zářit — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays
• Czech: vyzařovat — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays
• Esperanto: raii — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays
• Estonian: kiirgama — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays
• Estonian: kiiritama — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays
• Malay: sinar — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays
• Malay: menyinar — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays
• Malay: bersinar — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays
• Māori: whakawanawana — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays
• Serbo-Croatian: zráčiti — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays
• Turkish: ışımak — to emit something as if in rays, to radiate as if in rays