rye
noun/ɹaɪ/
Etymology Inherited from Middle English rye, rie, from Old English ryġe, from Proto-West Germanic *rugi, from Proto-Germanic *rugiz. Germanic cognates include Dutch and West Frisian rogge, Low German Rogg, German Roggen, Rocken, Old Norse rugr (Danish rug, Swedish råg); non-Germanic cognates include Russian рожь (rožʹ) and Latvian rudzi.
9 senses
- 1A grain used extensively in Europe for making bread…
- 2The grass Secale cereale from which the grain is obtained.
- 3Ellipsis of rye bread.
- 4Ellipsis of rye whiskey, whiskey made mainly or wholly…
- 5A drink (serving) of rye whiskey.
- 6Caraway (from the mistaken assumption that the whole…
- 7Ryegrass, any of the species of Lolium.
- 8A disease of hawks.
- 9A young man.
A grain used extensively in Europe for making bread, beer, and (now generally) for animal fodder.
- They bought a sack of rye and a sack of wheat with the intent to try their hand at milling and baking.
The grass Secale cereale from which the grain is obtained.
- This field will be planted to rye next spring.
Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of rye bread.
- Customer: A tuna sandwich, please. Waiter: Sure, hon. You want that on white, wheat, or rye?
Canada, US, Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of rye whiskey, whiskey made mainly or wholly from rye grain.
- He likes any whiskey, but his favorite is rye.
- “Gimme a shot of rye.” The whiskey stung his throat hot and fragrant.1925, John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, 2nd section, page 146:
2 more examples
- I bought a pint of rye at the liquor counter and carried it over to the stools and set it down on the cracked marble counter.1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 159:
- Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ’n rye/Singin’, "This’ll be the day that I die."1971, “American Pie”, in American Pie, performed by Don McLean:
- I'll have a rye, neat, please.
- It concerns the gnomelike quality of the average American at a party. I have been to many parties where staid American business men have been transformed by a few ryes or bourbons into unpredictable gremlins out for adventure.1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 17:
Broadly, Proscribed, Sometimes Caraway (from the mistaken assumption that the whole seeds, often used to season rye bread, are the rye itself)
Broadly, Proscribed, Sometimes Ryegrass, any of the species of Lolium.
A disease of hawks.
- And if it [vndeꝛ the peꝛch] be grene ſhe engenderith the Ry. The condicion of this euell is this, it wil ariſe in the hede and make the hede to ſwell, ⁊ the iyen all glaymous, and dyrke, and bot it haue helpe: it will downe in to the legges, and maake the legges to rancle, and if it goo fro the legges in to the hede a gayne, thi hawke is bot looſt.1486, Juliana Berners, Book of Saint Albans:
- Of all the diseases that belongs to these Hawkes, there bee onely three that they bee most subiect vnto, which is the Rye, the Crampe, and the Craye.1618, Symon Latham, Latham's Falconry:
A young man.
- The Rye is my uncle, Hans Breitmann, Mr. Leland, whom all the Romanies know. His gipsy lore was great; […]1893, Elizabeth Robins Pennell, To Gipsyland, page 2:
- Derived terms
- Robin's rye, rock and rye, Romany rye, rye bread, rye flake, ryeflour, rye flour, ryegrass, rye grass, ryelage, ryemeal, rye seed, rye wolf, rye-worm, wild rye