rice

Pronunciation: /ɹaɪs/

The English word “rice” has 12 meanings listed here.

noun

Cereal plants, Oryza sativa of the grass family whose seeds are used as food.
A specific variety of this plant.
The seeds of this plant used as food.
The seeds of wild rice, used as food.
The types of automobile modifications characteristic of a rice burner.
An instance of customization of a user interface.
A twig or stick.
A bobbin or spool.

verb

To squeeze through a ricer; to mash or make into rice-sized pieces (especially potatoes).
To harvest wild rice (Zizania spp.)
To throw rice at a person (usually at a wedding).
To customize the user interface of a computer system, e.g. a desktop environment. (derived from rice out)

Etymology

From Middle English rys, from Old French ris, from Old Italian riso, risi, from Byzantine Greek ὄρυζα (óruza), from an Eastern Iranian language related to Middle Persian blnc (*brinǰ), Northern Kurdish riz (beyond Euphrates) and Zazaki riz. Theorized to have come to Iranian languages from Sanskrit व्रीहि (vrīhi). Prior to Sanskrit, it is speculated to be possibly a borrowing from a Dravidian…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.