# read

> English word · Verb · IPA /ɹiːd/ · frequency rank #266

## Definitions
1. To look at and interpret letters or other information that is written.
2. To look at and interpret letters or other information that is written.
3. To look at and interpret letters or other information that is written.
4. To speak aloud words or other information that is written. (often construed with a to phrase or an indirect object)
5. To interpret, or infer a meaning, significance, thought, intention, etc., from.
6. To consist of certain text.
7. To substitute a corrected piece of text in place of an erroneous one; used to introduce an emendation of a text.
8. To substitute a corrected piece of text in place of an erroneous one; used to introduce an emendation of a text.
9. To be able to hear what another person is saying over a radio connection.
10. To observe and comprehend (a displayed signal).
11. To study (a subject) at a high level, especially at university.
12. To fetch data from (a storage medium, etc.).
13. To recognise (someone) as being transgender.
14. To call attention to the flaws of (someone) in a playful, taunting, or insulting way.
15. To imagine sequences of potential moves and responses without actually placing stones.
16. To think, believe; to consider (that).
17. To advise; to counsel. See rede.
18. To tell; to declare; to recite.

## Etymology
From Middle English reden, from Old English rǣdan (“to counsel, advise, consult; interpret, read”), from Proto-West Germanic *rādan, from Proto-Germanic *rēdaną (“advise, counsel”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ- (“to arrange”).
Cognate with Scots rede, red (“to advise, counsel, decipher, read”), Saterland Frisian räide (“to advise, counsel”), West Frisian riede (“to advise, counsel”), Dutch raden (“to advise; guess”), German raten (“to advise; guess”), Danish råde (“to advise”), Swedish råda (“to advise, counsel”), Persian رده (rade, “to order, to arrange, class”). In West Germanic the verb had a sense “interpret”, which developed further into “interpret letters” in English and “interpret by intuition, guess” on the continent. Compare rede.

## Easily confused with
- **red** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-red)
- **rid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rid)
- **rep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rep)
- **rod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rod)
- **rev** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rev)
- **ref** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-ref)
- **rex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rex)
- **res** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-res)
- **Rey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rey)
- **reg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-reg)
- **RNA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rna)
- **rec** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rec)
- **ren** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-ren)
- **REM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rem)
- **ret** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-ret)
- **RSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rsa)
- **rei** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rei)
- **rel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-rel)
- **ria** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-ria)
- **reb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/read-vs-reb)

## Common misspellings (5)
`erad`, `raed`, `readd`, `reda`, `rread`

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