ray 1  (r ā)
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n.1. a. A narrow stream of radiant energy, especially visible light, traveling in a straight or nearly straight line. b. A narrow stream of particles such as protons traveling in a straight or nearly straight line. c. A rapidly moving particle traveling in a straight or nearly straight line. d. rays Sunshine: Let's go to the beach and catch some rays. 2. A small amount; a trace: not a ray of hope left. 3. Mathematics A straight line extending from a point. Also called half-line. 4. A structure or part having the form of a straight line extending from a point, such as: a. Any of the bright streaks that are seen radiating from some craters on the moon. b. A ray flower or the strap-shaped portion of the corolla of a ray flower. c. A branch of an umbel. d. One of the bony spines supporting the membrane of a fish's fin. e. One of the arms of a starfish or other radiate animal. tr.v. rayed, ray·ing, rays 1. To send out as rays; emit. 2. To supply with rays or radiating lines. 3. To cast rays on; irradiate.
[Middle English rai, from Old French, from Latin radius, pointed stick, spoke, radius of a circle, ray of light (from the representation of rays of light as spearlike shafts), of unknown origin.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ray 2  (r ā)
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n.1. Any of various cartilaginous fishes of the superorder Batoidea, having ventral gill slits, enlarged pelvic fins that are fused to the sides of the head, and a flattened body, and including the stingrays, skates, and guitarfishes. 2. Any of various members of this superorder having a whiplike tail usually with a stinging spine, such as a stingray, considered in contrast to a guitarfish, sawfish, or skate.
[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman raie, from Latin raia; possibly akin to Dutch rog and Old English reohhe (both the Latin and the Germanic perhaps ultimately being borrowed from the same European substrate source).]  (click for a larger image) ray2ventral view of a manta ray Manta birostris |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Ray  (r ā), John 1627-1705.
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English naturalist and theologian who cataloged many plants and animals, wrote works on natural theology, and established "species" as the basic classification of living things. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Ray  (r ī), Satyajit 1921-1992.
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Indian filmmaker whose works, especially the trilogy including The World of Apu (1959), offer a contemplative depiction of Bengali life.  (click for a larger image) Satyajit Ray |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
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