Etymology
From Middle English rys, from Old French ris, from Old Italian riso, risi, from Byzantine Greek ὄρυζα or óruza, from an Eastern Iranian language related to Middle Persian blnj or *brinǰ. Theorized to come to Iranian languages from Sanskrit व्रीहि or vrīhi.
Prior to Sanskrit, it is speculated to be either a borrowing from a Dravidian language (compare Proto-Dravidian *wariñci (rice)), thence from Austroasiatic languages such as Proto-Mon-Khmer *sruʔ (paddy rice).
Noun
rice (countable and uncountable, plural rices)
- (uncountable) Cereal plants, Oryza sativa of the grass family whose seeds are used as food.
- (countable) A specific variety of this plant.
- (uncountable) The seeds of this plant used as food.
Derived terms
- black rice
- brown rice
- fried rice
- golden rice
- Mexican rice
- puffed rice
- rice cake
- rice milk
- rice paddy
- rice pudding
- rice water
- rice wine
- Spanish rice
- white rice
- wild rice
Verb
rice (third-person singular simple present rices, present participle ricing, simple past and past participle riced)
- (transitive) To squeeze through a ricer; to mash or make into rice-sized pieces (especially potatoes).
- (intransitive) To harvest wild rice.
Credits
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