reed

B2 Topic:Plants & Agriculture

US /ɹiːd/ See IPA manual

Freq #5166

Meanings

1

noun
A tall, thin plant with a hollow stem that grows in or near water.

Ducks hid among the reeds at the edge of the pond.
2

noun
A thin strip of wood or metal in some instruments that vibrates to make a sound.

The clarinetist fitted a new reed onto the mouthpiece.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a thin strip of wood or... vibrating reed

Word family

Forms reedlikereedsreedy

Derived forms bur-reeddouble-reedmultireedredbridgereed-macereedbirdreedbuckreedenreederreedfishreedgrassreedhaunter

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English red, reed, from Old English hrēod, from Proto-West Germanic *hreud, of uncertain origin. Akin to Saterland Frisian Rait (“reed”), West Frisian reid (“reed”), Dutch riet (“reed”), German Ried (“reed”). No cognates in North Germanic languages, but the existence of an otherwise unattested Gothic *𐌷𐍂𐌹𐌿𐌳 (*hriud) was supposed by the brothers Grimm. They also theorised that the word may have a relation to the retas mentioned in Noctes Atticae (Aulus Gellius). The measuring reed sense is the translation of Akkadian qanûm ("cane") used in the Bible and elsewhere.

red Middle English hrēod Old English *hreud Proto-West Germanic

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Topics

Plants & Agriculture

External links

# reed

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɹiːd/
**Frequency rank:** 5166

## Meanings
1. A tall, thin plant with a hollow stem that grows in or near water.
2. A thin strip of wood or metal in some instruments that vibrates to make a sound.

## Examples
- Ducks hid among the reeds at the edge of the pond.
- The clarinetist fitted a new reed onto the mouthpiece.

## Derived Forms
- bur-reed
- double-reed
- multireed
- redbridge
- reed-mace
- reedbird
- reedbuck
- reeden
- reeder
- reedfish
- reedgrass
- reedhaunter

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: red
- Root: hrēod
- Root: *hreud

## Etymology
From Middle English red, reed, from Old English hrēod, from Proto-West Germanic *hreud, of uncertain origin. Akin to Saterland Frisian Rait (“reed”), West Frisian reid (“reed”), Dutch riet (“reed”), German Ried (“reed”). No cognates in North Germanic languages, but the existence of an otherwise unattested Gothic *𐌷𐍂𐌹𐌿𐌳 (*hriud) was supposed by the brothers Grimm. They also theorised that the word may have a relation to the retas mentioned in Noctes Atticae (Aulus Gellius). The measuring reed sense is the translation of Akkadian qanûm ("cane") used in the Bible and elsewhere.

## AI Etymology
Reed comes from Middle English red, reed, from Old English hrēod, from Proto-West Germanic *hreud, of uncertain origin. Akin to Saterland Frisian Rait (“reed”), West Frisian reid (“reed”), Dutch riet (“reed”), German Ried (“reed”). No cognates in North Germanic languages, but the existence of an otherwise unattested Gothic *𐌷𐍂𐌹𐌿𐌳 (*hriud) was supposed by the brothers Grimm. They also theorised that the word may have a relation to the retas mentioned in Noctes Atticae (Aulus Gellius). The measuring reed sense is the translation of Akkadian qanûm ("cane") used in the Bible and elsewhere. Modern senses include a tall, thin plant with a hollow stem that grows in or near water. and a thin strip of wood or metal in some instruments that vibrates to make a sound.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as bur-reed, double-reed, multireed, redbridge, reed-mace, and reedbird.

## Topics
- Plants & Agriculture

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