RAY
ray
(noun) cartilaginous fishes having horizontally flattened bodies and enlarged winglike pectoral fins with gills on the underside; most swim by moving the pectoral fins
ray
(noun) any of the stiff bony spines in the fin of a fish
re, ray
(noun) the syllable naming the second (supertonic) note of any major scale in solmization
beam, beam of light, light beam, ray, ray of light, shaft, shaft of light, irradiation
(noun) a column of light (as from a beacon)
beam, ray, electron beam
(noun) a group of nearly parallel lines of electromagnetic radiation
ray
(noun) a branch of an umbel or an umbelliform inflorescence
ray
(noun) (mathematics) a straight line extending from a point
irradiate, ray
(verb) expose to radiation; “irradiate food”
radiate, ray
(verb) extend or spread outward from a center or focus or inward towards a center; “spokes radiate from the hub of the wheel”; “This plants radiate spines in all directions”
ray
(verb) emit as rays; “That tower rays a laser beam for miles across the sky”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Noun
ray (plural rays)
A beam of light or radiation.
(zoology) A rib-like reinforcement of bone or cartilage in a fish's fin.
(zoology) One of the spheromeres of a radiate, especially one of the arms of a starfish or an ophiuran.
(botany) A radiating part of a flower or plant; the marginal florets of a compound flower, such as an aster or a sunflower; one of the pedicels of an umbel or other circular flower cluster; radius.
(obsolete) Sight; perception; vision; from an old theory of vision, that sight was something which proceeded from the eye to the object seen.
(mathematics) A line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point.
(colloquial) A tiny amount.
Hyponyms
• death ray
• gamma ray
• manta ray
• stingray
• X-ray
Verb
ray (third-person singular simple present rays, present participle raying, simple past and past participle rayed)
(transitive) To emit something as if in rays.
(intransitive) To radiate as if in rays.
Etymology 2
Noun
ray (plural rays)
A marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail.
Etymology 3
Verb
ray (third-person singular simple present rays, present participle raying, simple past and past participle rayed)
(obsolete) To arrange. [14th-18th c.]
(now rare) To dress, array (someone). [from 14th c.]
(obsolete) To stain or soil; to defile. [16th-19th c.]
Noun
ray (uncountable)
(obsolete) Array; order; arrangement; dress.
Etymology 4
From its sound, by analogy with the letters chay, jay, gay, kay, which it resembles graphically.
Noun
ray (plural rays)
The letter ⟨/⟩, one of two which represent the r sound in Pitman shorthand.
Etymology 5
Alternative forms.
Noun
ray (plural rays)
(music) Alternative form of re
Anagrams
• -ary, Ary, Ayr, RYA, ary, ayr, rya, yar
Etymology 1
Proper noun
Ray
A surname.
A diminutive of the male given name Raymond, also used as a formal given name.
A diminutive of the female given name Rachel, more often spelled Rae.
Etymology 2
Proper noun
Ray
A city near Tehran, Iran.
(historical) a region and satrapy in ancient Iran located between the Alborz and Zagros mountain ranges and the Dasht-e Kavir desert; Rhagiana
Synonyms
• Arsacia
Anagrams
• -ary, Ary, Ayr, RYA, ary, ayr, rya, yar
Source: Wiktionary
Ray, v. t. Etym: [An aphetic form of array; cf. Beray.]
1. To array. [Obs.] Sir T. More.
2. To mark, stain, or soil; to streak; to defile. [Obs.] "The fifth
that did it ray." Spenser.
Ray, n.
Definition: Array; order; arrangement; dress. [Obs.]
And spoiling all her gears and goodly ray. Spenser.
Ray, n. Etym: [OF. rai, F. rais, fr. L. radius a beam or ray, staff,
rod, spoke of a wheel. Cf. Radius.]
1. One of a number of lines or parts diverging from a common point or
center, like the radii of a circle; as, a star of six rays.
2. (Bot.)
Definition: A radiating part of the flower or plant; the marginal florets
of a compound flower, as an aster or a sunflower; one of the pedicels
of an umbel or other circular flower cluster; radius. See Radius.
3. (Zoöl.)
(a) One of the radiating spines, or cartilages, supporting the fins
of fishes.
(b) One of the spheromeres of a radiate, especially one of the arms
of a starfish or an ophiuran.
4. (Physics)
(a) A line of light or heat proceeding from a radiant or reflecting
point; a single element of light or heat propagated continuously; as,
a solar ray; a polarized ray.
(b) One of the component elements of the total radiation from a body;
any definite or limited portion of the spectrum; as, the red ray; the
violet ray. See Illust. under Light.
5. Sight; perception; vision; -- from an old theory of vision, that
sight was something which proceeded from the eye to the object seen.
All eyes direct their rays On him, and crowds turn coxcombs as they
gaze. Pope.
6. (Geom.)
Definition: One of a system of diverging lines passing through a point, and
regarded as extending indefinitely in both directions. See Half-ray.
Bundle of rays. (Geom.) See Pencil of rays, below.
– Extraordinary ray (Opt.), that one or two parts of a ray divided
by double refraction which does not follow the ordinary law of
refraction.
– Ordinary ray (Opt.) that one of the two parts of a ray divided by
double refraction which follows the usual or ordinary law of
refraction.
– Pencil of rays (Geom.), a definite system of rays.
– Ray flower, or Ray floret (Bot.), one of the marginal flowers of
the capitulum in such composite plants as the aster, goldenrod,
daisy, and sunflower. They have an elongated, strap-shaped corolla,
while the corollas of the disk flowers are tubular and five-lobed.
– Ray point (Geom.), the common point of a pencil of rays.
– Röntgen ray ( (Phys.), a kind of ray generated in a very highly
exhausted vacuum tube by the electrical discharge. It is capable of
passing through many bodies opaque to light, and producing
photographic and fluorescent effects by which means pictures showing
the internal structure of opaque objects are made, called
radiographs, or sciagraphs. So called from the discoverer, W. C.
Röntgen.
– X ray, the Röntgen ray; -- so called by its discoverer because of
its enigmatical character, x being an algebraic symbol for an unknown
quantity.
Ray, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Raying.] Etym: [Cf.
OF. raier, raiier, rayer, L. radiare to irradiate. See Ray, n., and
cf. Radiate.]
1. To mark with long lines; to streak. [Obs.] Chaucer.
2. Etym: [From Ray, n.]
Definition: To send forth or shoot out; to cause to shine out; as, to ray
smiles. [R.] Thompson.
Ray, v. t.
Definition: To shine, as with rays. Mrs. Browning.
Ray, n. Etym: [F. raie, L. raia. Cf. Roach.] (Zoöl.)
(a) Any one of numerous elasmobranch fishes of the order Raiæ,
including the skates, torpedoes, sawfishes, etc.
(b) In a restricted sense, any of the broad, flat, narrow-tailed
species, as the skates and sting rays. See Skate. Bishop ray, a
yellow-spotted, long-tailed eagle ray (Stoasodon nĂ rinari) of the
Southern United States and the West Indies.
– Butterfly ray, a short-tailed American sting ray (Pteroplatea
Maclura), having very broad pectoral fins.
– Devil ray. See Sea Devil.
– Eagle ray, any large ray of the family Myliobatidæ, or Ætobatidæ.
The common European species (Myliobatis aquila) is called also whip
ray, and miller.
– Electric ray, or Cramp ray, a torpedo.
– Starry ray, a common European skate (Raia radiata).
– Sting ray, any one of numerous species of rays of the family
Trygonidæ having one or more large, sharp, barbed dorsal spines on
the whiplike tail. Called also stingaree.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition