ray

A2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ɹeɪ/ UK /ɹeɪ/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like rare /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/

Freq #1297

Meanings

1

noun
A narrow beam of light or other energy.

I saw a ray of light through the clouds.
2

verb
To send out light or energy in beams.

The tower rays a laser beam across the sky.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

arsacia

Word family

Forms raylessrays

Derived forms berayblu-rayeigenrayfinrayhalf-rayheat-rayhemiraylightrayoutrayraycasterrayfulraygrantite

Related forms rhagianarhazes

Appears in

Phrases (4)

See all

cathode ray
a stream of electrons coming from the negative electrode in a discharge tube

Noun + noun
cosmic ray
a high-energy particle or radiation arriving from outside the Earth

Adjective + noun
gamma ray
high-energy electromagnetic radiation emitted in radioactive decay

Noun + noun
roentgen ray
an X-ray, especially in older scientific terminology

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Ray meaning a beam of light is a medieval word derived from Latin radius, “spoke” or “ray,” also the source of radiate, radio, and radius. Ray as the name of a fish is an unrelated word derived from Latin raia.

Etymology

* As an English surname, from pet forms derived from the root of Raymond. * Also as an English surname, from Old French rei (“king”). Compare Roy, King. * Also as an English surname, from Old English rā (“roe deer”). Compare Roe. * Also as an English surname, variant of Wray and Rye. * As a Scottish Gaelic surname, shortened from McRae. * As a French surname, from the verb raier (“to gush out, flow, radiate”). Compare Leray. * As a Polish and Slovene surname, Americanized from Raj, from raj (“paradise”). * As an Indian surname, variant of Rai.

rei Old French rā Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# ray

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ɹeɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /ɹeɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 1297

## Meanings
1. A narrow beam of light or other energy.
2. To send out light or energy in beams.

## Examples
- I saw a ray of light through the clouds.
- The tower rays a laser beam across the sky.

## Synonyms
- arsacia

## Derived Forms
- beray
- blu-ray
- eigenray
- finray
- half-ray
- heat-ray
- hemiray
- lightray
- outray
- raycaster
- rayful
- raygrantite

## Related Forms
- rhagiana
- rhazes

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: rei
- Root: rā

## Etymology
* As an English surname, from pet forms derived from the root of Raymond. * Also as an English surname, from Old French rei (“king”). Compare Roy, King. * Also as an English surname, from Old English rā (“roe deer”). Compare Roe. * Also as an English surname, variant of Wray and Rye. * As a Scottish Gaelic surname, shortened from McRae. * As a French surname, from the verb raier (“to gush out, flow, radiate”). Compare Leray. * As a Polish and Slovene surname, Americanized from Raj, from raj (“paradise”). * As an Indian surname, variant of Rai.

## AI Etymology
Ray * As an English surname, from pet forms derived from the root of Raymond. * Also as an English surname, from Old French rei (“king”). Compare Roy, King. * Also as an English surname, from Old English rā (“roe deer”). Compare Roe. * Also as an English surname, variant of Wray and Rye. * As a Scottish Gaelic surname, shortened from McRae. * As a French surname, from the verb raier (“to gush out, flow, radiate”). Compare Leray. * As a Polish and Slovene surname, Americanized from Raj, from raj (“paradise”). * As an Indian surname, variant of Rai. Modern senses include a narrow beam of light or other energy. and to send out light or energy in beams.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as beray, blu-ray, eigenray, finray, half-ray, and heat-ray and related forms such as rhagiana and rhazes.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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ray