rice

/ɹaɪs/

//ɹaɪs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"rice" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“rice” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,758 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#2,758
frequency rank, English
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Cereal plants, Oryza sativa of the grass family whose seeds are used as food.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

rice vs rid
50% similar
rice vs Rio
25% similar
rice vs rip
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for rice
PropertyValue
Headwordrice
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹaɪs/
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,758
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “rice” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). rice lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for rice is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹaɪs/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,758 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for rice, with forms such as "irce", "rcie", and "ricce". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "rid", "Rio", "rip", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English rys, from Old French ris, from Old Italian riso, risi, from Byzantine Greek ὄρυζα (óruza), from an Eastern Iranian language related to Middle Persian blnc (*brinǰ), Northern Kurdish riz (beyond Euphrates) and Zazaki riz. Theorized to com… The correct English form is rice, spelled R-I-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Cereal plants, Oryza sativa of the grass family whose seeds are used as food.
  2. 2
    A specific variety of this plant.
  3. 3
    The seeds of this plant used as food.
  4. 4
    The types of automobile modifications characteristic of a rice burner.
  5. 5
    An instance of customization of a user interface.

Etymology

From Middle English rys, from Old French ris, from Old Italian riso, risi, from Byzantine Greek ὄρυζα (óruza), from an Eastern Iranian language related to Middle Persian blnc (*brinǰ), Northern Kurdish riz (beyond Euphrates) and Zazaki riz. Theorized to 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). Doublet of arroz.

This word in other languages

arroz(Español)riz(Français)Reis(Deutsch)arroz(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: irce,rcie,ricce,riec,rrice

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of rice - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

irce2rcie2ricce1riec2rrice1
Edit distance from "rice"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "rice"?
"rice" is spelled R-I-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹaɪs/.
What does "rice" mean?
As a noun, "rice" means: Cereal plants, Oryza sativa of the grass family whose seeds are used as food.
What words are commonly confused with "rice"?
"rice" is commonly confused with "rid", "Rio", "rip". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "rice"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rice" is /ɹaɪs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "rice"?
From Middle English rys, from Old French ris, from Old Italian riso, risi, from Byzantine Greek ὄρυζα (óruza), from an Eastern Iranian language related to Middle Persian blnc (*brinǰ), Northern Kurdish riz (beyond Euphrates) and Zazaki riz. Theori... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “rice”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is R-I-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ɹaɪs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “rid” - see the side-by-side comparison. rice vs rid
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list