# ray

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɹeɪ/ · frequency rank #2,087

## Definitions
1. A beam of light or radiation.
2. A rib-like reinforcement of bone or cartilage in a fish's fin.
3. One of the spheromeres of a radiate, especially one of the arms of a starfish or an ophiuran.
4. 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.
5. Sight; perception; vision; from an old theory of vision, that sight was something which proceeded from the eye to the object seen.
6. A line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point.

## Etymology
Via Middle English, borrowed from Old French rai, from Latin radius (“staff, stake, spoke”). Doublet of radius.

## Easily confused with
- **re** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-re)
- **RS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rs)
- **rd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rd)
- **RT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rt)
- **RM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rm)
- **RN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rn)
- **RI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-ri)
- **RP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rp)
- **RC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rc)
- **RF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rf)
- **RV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rv)
- **RR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rr)
- **RL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rl)
- **RH** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rh)
- **RW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rw)
- **run** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-run)
- **red** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-red)
- **row** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-row)
- **rid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rid)
- **rep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ray-vs-rep)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ray