# rye

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɹaɪ/ · frequency rank #14,628

## Definitions
1. A grain used extensively in Europe for making bread, beer, and (now generally) for animal fodder.
2. The grass Secale cereale from which the grain is obtained.
3. Ellipsis of rye bread.
4. Ellipsis of rye whiskey, whiskey made mainly or wholly from rye grain.
5. A drink (serving) of rye whiskey.
6. Caraway (from the mistaken assumption that the whole seeds, often used to season rye bread, are the rye itself)
7. Ryegrass, any of the species of Lolium.
8. A disease of hawks.

## Etymology
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.

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

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