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ray

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English has two common words spelled ray: the beam of light, from Latin radius, and the fish, from Latin raia.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

ray1 beam

Etymology

The beam is inherited from Middle English rai,[5] borrowed from Old French rai (“ray of the sun, spoke of a wheel”),[5][2][6] from Latin radius (“ray, spoke, staff, rod”),[5][2] perhaps from an earlier form cognate with Welsh gwraidd “root” and possibly related to Latin rādīx “root”.[2][7] The verb is from the noun.[2][8] It is a doublet of radius and related to radiate and radio.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A beam of light from a luminous body: early 14th century in Etymonline[5] and the OED,[9] about 1380 in Barnhart.[2]

Semantic evolution

It was not common before the 17th century,[5] and of the sun it usually referred to heat, while beam was preferred for light.[5] A ray is usually a smaller amount of light than a beam, and in science a beam is a collection of parallel rays.[5] A beam or glance of the eye is from 1531[9] and figurative influences comparable to light from 1634.[9] “A trace”, as in not a ray of hope, is from 1773.[9] The verb, “to radiate”, is from 1598, in Florio.[2][7] A ray of sunshine, a cheerful person, is from the late 19th century,[1] 1915 in the OED,[9] and the science-fiction ray gun is recorded by 1931.[5]

Timeline

  • early 14th century – a beam of light.[5][9]
  • 1531 – a glance of the eye.[9]
  • 1598 – verb, to radiate.[2][7]
  • 1773 – a trace.[9]
  • 1915 – ray of sunshine.[9]
  • 1931 – ray gun.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A thin line or narrow beam of light or other radiant energy.
  2. Light; radiance.
  3. A small amount; a trace: a ray of hope.
  4. In geometry, a straight line extending from a point.
  5. Something shaped like a line spreading from a centre, such as an arm of a starfish or a ray flower.

Verb

  1. To send out as rays; to emit.
  2. To shine in rays.

Word family

  • rayless
  • raygun
  • X-ray

ray2 fish

Etymology

The fish is inherited from Middle English raye,[7] borrowed from Old French raie and directly from Latin raia,[5][2] a word of uncertain origin.[2] De Vaan describes it as unknown but with apparent Germanic cognates (Middle Dutch rogghe, Old English reohhe), perhaps from a substrate language.[5] The old etymology, from its resemblance to the rays of a fan, is not accepted.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A flat cartilaginous fish related to the sharks: 1323–4 in the OED and Barnhart.[9][2]

Semantic evolution

Names for kinds of ray, such as eagle ray, stingray and whip ray, are from 1611 on.[9] All skates are rays, but not all rays are called skates.[5]

Timeline

  • 1323–4 – the fish.[9][2]
  • 1611 – names for kinds of ray.[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Any of various cartilaginous fishes with a flattened body, wide fins joined to the head and a narrow tail, such as the skate and stingray.

Word family

  • stingray
  • manta ray
  • radius
  • radiate
  • radio
  • radiant
  • radix
  • beam
  • skate

Usage notes

Several rare or obsolete words share the spelling: ray “array”, an aphetic form of array;[8][9][7] ray, a striped cloth;[8][7] and ray as a variant of re, the second note of the scale.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press