Etymologically
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rice

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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
  • 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