rice

Pronunciation

• IPA: /raɪs/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ris, rys,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French ris (modern riz),^[4][2][5] from Italian riso,^[4][2][6] from Latin oryza,^[4][2] from Ancient Greek ὄρυζα (óruza, “rice”),^[4][2][5] from an Indo-Iranian source,^[4][2] related to Sanskrit vrīhi “rice”^[4][3] and Pashto vrižē,^[4][2] a word of unknown or non-Indo-European origin.^[2][3] The Greek word, directly or indirectly, is the source of the European words for the grain, as German Reis and Polish ryż.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The seeds of the rice plant: 1234 in the OED and Barnhart,^[7][2] the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The plant itself is called rice from 1562,^[7] and a variety of rice from 1681.^[7] Rice was brought to the Mediterranean by the Arabs and introduced to the Carolinas in 1647.^[4] Rice pudding is by 1639,^[4] and rice paper, originally used in China, from 1810.^[4] The verb, to press food into rice-like grains, is from 1923.^[2]

Timeline

• 1234 – the grain.^[7][2]
• 1562 – the plant.^[7]
• 1639 – rice pudding.^[4]
• 1810 – rice paper.^[4]
• 1923 – verb.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A cereal grass grown widely in warm, wet regions.
2. Its starchy grains, a staple food in much of the world.

Verb

1. To press cooked food through a sieve into rice-like pieces.

Word family

• ricey
• ricebird
• ricer
• arborio rice
• brown rice
• dirty rice
• fried rice
• Indian rice

Related words

• risotto

Usage notes

Unrelated is Middle English rice “twigs, brushwood”, from Old English hrīs, used until the 17th century and later in East Anglian dialect for pea stems.^[7][3]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press