Etymograph

English

rice

Rice comes from Middle English rys, and goes back to Byzantine Greek ὄρυζα.

  1. Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453ὄρυζα1óruza
  2. Old Italianmodernriso1
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ris1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rys1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1831rice1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rice
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Daniel Jay Browne, The Naturalist: “Rice is a tropical plant; yet Carolina and Georgia…”.

Lineage

  1. Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453ὄρυζαWiktionary, English riceóruza
  2. Old ItalianmodernrisoWiktionary, English rice
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400risWiktionary, English rice
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rysWiktionary, English rice
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1831riceWiktionary, English rice. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Daniel Jay Browne, The Naturalist: “Rice is a tropical plant; yet Carolina and Georgia…”

The story

Theorized to have come to Iranian languages from Sanskrit व्रीहि (vrīhi). Prior to Sanskrit, it is speculated to be possibly a borrowing from a Dravidian language (compare Proto-Dravidian *wariñci (‘rice’)), or from Austroasiatic languages further east. Alternatively Byzantine Greek ὄρυζα (óruza) is said to be from Hebrew אורז (órez), from South Arabian areez ultimately from Old Tamil 𑀅𑀭𑀺𑀘𑀺 (arici).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Byzantine Greek ὄρυζα

Another origin of rice

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kreys-‘to turn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrīsą‘bush’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrīsreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrīs‘branch’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ris
  6. Englishtodayrice

Today it means

noun Cereal plants, Oryza sativa of the grass family whose seeds are used as food.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rice”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Byzantine Greek ὄρυζα / rice

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