▪ I. rye, n.1
(raɪ)
Forms: 1 ryᵹi, ryᵹe, 4 ruȝe, reye, 4–6 ry, 5–8 rie, 5– rye (7 rey, rhie).
[OE. ryᵹe, = ON. rug-r (Fær. rug-ur, Norw. rug; MSw. rugh, rogh, rygh, Sw. råg; MDa. rugh, roug, roff, Da. rug):—original *rugiz. (The long vowel of mod.Icel. r{uacu}gur, Norw. dial. ruug, is of later origin.) Forms corresponding to *rugiz are found in the Balto-Slavic languages, as OPruss. rugis, Lith. rug{ytilde}s (a single grain; pl. rugie{itilde} rye), Lett. rudsis (pl. rudsi), Russ. rozhĭ; also Esthonian rukis, ru'is, Finnish ru'is (gen. rukiin); it is probable that the original home of the word was in eastern Europe. Outside of OE. and ON., the Teutonic languages exhibit derivative forms which represent an earlier *ruggn- (with normal doubling of g before n), as OS. roggo (MLG. rogge, MDu. rogge, rugge, etc.; LG., Du., WFris. rogge, NFris. rog, răg, ruag, etc.), OHG. roggo (MHG. rogge, G. roggen) and rocco, rocko (MHG. rocke, G. rocken, now rare).]
1. A food-grain obtained from the plant Secale cereale, extensively used in northern Europe.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. S 339 Sicalia, ryᵹe [Epinal ryᵹi]. a 1327 Pol. Songs (Camden) 152 Ruls [sic] ys oure ruȝe ant roted in the stre. a 1352 Minot Poems (ed. Hall) i. 20 Þai sent þaire schippes on ilka side With flesch and wine and whete & rye. 1430–1 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 369/1 Whete and Rye, and Floure. a 1470 Brut ccli. (1908) 507 Stephen Brown,..Mair of London,..brought to London certeyn shippes laden with Rye. 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 14 For euerye last of wheat and rie, xxvi.s. viii. 1577 Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 153 Wheate and rie will be no graine for poore men to feed on. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 26 The seed is not much vnlike to Rie, though much smaller. 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 761 The Company gave order to make bread both of this Rey alone, and of the same Rey mingled in different proportions with good Rey. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 125 They sow it..in the driest time they can, according to the old Saying of Sowing, Rye in the Dust, and Wheat in the Dirt. 1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. to People 266, I have generally, at Michaelmas, sown a few acres of rye for feed in the following spring. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 149 The power..would grind one boll of good rye in one hour. 1864 Longfellow Wayside Inn 214 A scant handful..of wheat, Or rye, or barley, or some other grain. |
2. a. The plant
Secale cereale, which has some resemblance to wheat, but flourishes in poorer soils; the principal cereal of northern Europe, but in Great Britain now chiefly cultivated as a forage crop. Also
collect., a number of growing plants of this kind (in a field).
| c 1440 tr. Pallad. on Husb. i. 165 Thy whete..In lond to faat wol turne into other corn, And rie of whete ysowen wul vp growe. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems liii. 17 Lyk a stirk stack⁓arand in the ry. 1562 Child-Marriages 107 [He] was ware also of John Leigh ronnynge further into the Ry, belike to hide hym-self. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 61 Thy rich Leas Of Wheate, Rye, Barley, Fetches, Oates and Pease. 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 758 A strange sort of Rey, growing sometimes in certain parts of France. 1762 Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. I. 373 Both wheat and rye may be cut somewhat before they are thoroughly ripe. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xiii. (1794) 143 In Rie, the exterior valve or chaff of the corolla ends in a long beard or awn. 1833 Tennyson Lady of Shalott i. 2 Long fields of barley and of rye. 1872 Oliver Elem. Bot. ii. 276 The spikelets in Rye..are arranged singly upon the rachis, as in Wheat. |
b. pl. Rye-crops.
| 1795 Scots Mag. LVII. 273/1 The Ryes are in general healthy and vigorous. |
c. wild rye: (see
quots.).
| c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 787 Hec silago, wyld rye. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 325 Rye, Wild, Hordeum. 1796 Withering Brit. Pl. (ed. 3) II. 171 Hordeum murinum. Wall Barley, Way Bennet, Wild Rye. 1846–50 A. Wood Class-Bk. Bot. 620 Elymus Virginicus. Lime Grass. Wild Rye. |
3. ellipt. a. Rye-whisky.
U.S. and
Canad. colloq.| 1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West II. 56 The painful effects of ‘old rye’ in the abstract upon the body. 1860 Grumbler (Toronto) 19 May 3/3 And, tho' the crowd may smile at me, I'll take some neat ‘old rye’. 1873 G. W. Perrie Buckskin Mose xvii. 248 But for the quantity of rye we had all of us been swallowing, the others must have seen through this impudent operation as I had done. 1894 Outing XXIV. 60/1, I knew better than to put straight rye on top of it [cider]. 1913 J. London Valley of Moon 392 Some drink rain and some champagne..; But I will try a little rye. 1930 D. Runyon in Collier's 1 Feb. 12/3 Wilbur is a great hand for drinking Scotch, or rye. 1945 P. Cheyney I'll say she Does! iii. 66, I..finish off my rye an' pour myself another four fingers. 1974 E. McGirr Murderous Journey 31 He slopped along..towards the living-room bar. I took a straight rye. |
b. Comb. in the names of drinks, as
rye-and-dry (see
dry n. 2 c),
rye-and-ginger,
rye-and-orange,
rye-and-soda,
rye-on-the-rocks.
| 1909 G. Ade Let. 24 Mar. (1973) 45, I have just had a rye & soda. 1942 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 127 Say? What's mine? A Rye and dry. 1956 ‘N. Shute’ Beyond Black Stump 5 ‘What's it to be?’ ‘Orange juice,’ said the young man. Mr Johnson ordered it, with rye on the rocks for himself. 1963 R. I. McDavid Mencken's Amer. Lang. 168 Canadian topers have an array of combinations..as rye and orange (Canadian whiskey and orange pop). 1964 Time (Canada ed.) 31 Jan. 7/1 Accepting a rye and ginger, Mike Pearson then went back to writing out a personal report. |
4. ellipt. Rye-bread.
| 1941 [see pastrami]. 1969 [see mayo]. 1971 ‘O. Bleeck’ Procane Chron. xiv. 123 A Danish sardine sandwich..between two thick slices of German rye. 1976 H. MacInnes Agent in Place v. 48 A ham on rye with a gallon of coffee. |
5. attrib. a. In sense ‘made, prepared, or derived from rye’, as
rye-beer,
rye-cake,
rye-dough,
rye-loaf,
rye-mush,
rye-paste,
rye-whisky.
| 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. 699 Quass or *Rye Beer is a favourite drink in Russia. |
| 1549 Compl. of Scot. vi. 43 Thai hed na breyd bot *ry caikis. 1875 Encycl. Brit. III. 250/2 In the country part of Sweden no bread is made but rye-cakes. |
| 1600 Breton Pasquils Fooles-cappe Wks. (Grosart) I. 20/2 As though she were an Image of *Rie Dowe. |
| c 1440 Jacob's Well 192 Þe aungelys seyden to him, ‘Perys, make þis *rye-loof heuyere in almes-dede, ellys þe feendys schal haue þis soule’. a 1652 Brome Eng. Moor iv. iv, He keeps this Rie-loaf for his own white tooth. 1897 E. L. Voynich Gadfly (1904) 91/1 Cutting off a chunk from the rye-loaf on the table. |
| 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 41 In some parts of the West, another mush is frequently used, but as it is made of rye after the manner of a Hasty Pudding, it is called *Rye Mush. |
| 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. ii. ii. (1668) 74 *Rye-paste would be kneaded only with hot water, and a little butter. |
| 1897 Flandrau Harvard Episodes 328, I think I should like a little, a very little, *rye whiskey and water. |
b. Miscellaneous, as
ryebloom,
rye-crop,
rye-ear,
rye-field,
rye-grain,
rye-ground,
rye-grower,
rye-harvest,
rye-hay,
rye-seed,
rye-seedtime,
rye-sheaf,
rye-stalk,
rye-stubble;
ryehigh adj.| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 261 The bag of Goulding, Collis, Ward led Bloom by *ryebloom flowered tables. |
| 1764 Museum Rust. IV. 223 We depend much on our *rye-crops, which are very valuable. |
| 1855 Househ. Words XI. 129/1 Ophthalmoxystic as a name for a little *rye-ear brush used to smooth the eyebrows. |
| 1762 Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. I. 373 It certainly is extremely wrong ever to turn cattle of any kind into a *rye-field, to feed there. c 1841 Longfellow Frithiof's Saga Poems (1855) 223 Man-high was waving the rye-field. |
| 1881 Watts Dict. Chem. 3rd Suppl. II. 1768 A. Muntz..has found in unripe *rye-grain a peculiar substance called synanthrose. |
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §18 To set out the shepefolde..vppon the *rye-grounde, if he haue any. 1764 Museum Rust. IV. 348, I own the rye-ground more advantageous to the farmer. |
| Ibid. 350 Any balance..would fall considerably on the side of the *rye-growers. |
| 1577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. 41 *Rye and Wheate haruest. |
| 1801 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 312 The whole to be laid off in *rye hay, (not rye grass hay, but hay made from rye cut green). |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 282 O'er *ryehigh blue. Bloom stood up. |
| 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 878 The grey-coloured substance..was separated into..gluten, starch, and the coats of the *rye-seeds. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Semailles de seigles, *rye-seed-time. |
| 1587 L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Horses 188 Some giue a *Rie-sheafe. |
| 1859 A. Cary Country Life (1876) 127 She leaped fences and divided hedges and underbrush as lightly as *rye-stalks. |
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 135 'Tis good to plow the Wheat or *Rye-stubble up in November. |
6. Special combs., as
rye and Indian (also Injun) (bread) U.S., bread made from a mixture of rye and (Indian) cornmeal;
rye-asthma (see
quot.);
rye brome (grass), a variety of brome,
Bromus secalinus, with rye-like seeds, occurring as a weed in wheat-fields;
rye coffee U.S., a drink resembling coffee, made from roasted rye;
rye-crake Sc., the corn-crake;
rye-land, land, usually of a light or inferior quality, suitable for the cultivation of rye;
rye-moth (see
quot.);
rye waltz N. Amer. (see
quot.);
rye-worm (see
quot. 1856).
| 1840 Knickerbocker XVI. 18 There were eggs and fried ham,..*rye-and-Indian bread. 1887 A. W. Tourgée Button's Inn 224 She passed around a hot plateful of toasted slices of ‘rye and Indian’. 1932 L. I. Wilder Little House in Big Woods iv. 45 She baked salt-rising bread and rye 'n' Injun bread and Swedish crackers. |
| 1875 tr. von Ziemssen's Cycl. Med. II. 540 In England it is called Hay Fever, or Hay Asthma. It is also called June cold, *Rye asthma. |
| 1812 W. Withering Jr. Withering's Brit. Plants (ed. 5) II. 210 Smooth *Rye Brome-grass... In corn-fields. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 942 Smooth rye-brome grass, Bromus secalinus. 1954 C. E. Hubbard Grasses 67 ‘Rye Brome’ was no doubt introduced into the British Isles long ago with the seeds of cereals. |
| 1769 Boston Gaz. 16 Oct. 1/3 And as true Daughters of Liberty, they made their Breakfast upon *Rye Coffee, and their Dinner was partly made of that sort of Venison called Bear. 1877 H. Ruede Jrnl. 13 June in Sod-House Days (1937) 99 Most people out here don't drink real coffee, because it is too expensive... So rye coffee is used a great deal—parched brown or black according to whether the users like a strong or mild drink. 1951 L. Craig Singing Hills iv. 31 Every one had coffee... When I tasted mine I thought, for a moment, that poison had been put in it; it certainly was not like anything I had ever tasted before, for never before had I drunk rye coffee. |
| 1807–10 Tannahill Poems (1846) 128 The *rye-craik rispt his clamorous throat. |
| 1676 Phil. Trans. II. 797 The..Improvement of the greatest part of Worcester, Gloucester,..Stafford and Shropshire, in all their *Ryelands. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 125 A little sprinkling of Dung or Mud upon Rye-Land will mightily advance a Crop. 1764 Museum Rust. IV. 349 Rye-land is lighter..than wheat-land. |
| 1856 Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 779/2 The caterpillars..of the *rye-moth (Pyralis Secalis) live within the spathe. |
| 1941 W. C. Handy Father of Blues ii. 16 The waltz was popular, as was also the *rye waltz, a combination of three-four and two-four tempos. |
| 1856 Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 779/2 The *rye-worms..are the larvæ of little flies called Oscinis pumilionis. 1891 Pall Mall G. 7 Oct. 5/2 The appearance of the rye-worm is notified over several hundreds of acres. |
▪ II. † rye, n.2 Obs. Also 5
ree,
rey,
ry, 7
rie.
[prob. of AF. origin.] A disease in hawks.
| c 1450 in Reliq. Antiq. I. 295 The Ree cometh in faute of hote mete, of colde, other of smoke, other els of grete fervent hete in the neste. a 1450 Treat. Fishing w. Angle (1883) 3 Þen schall sche haue the frounce, þe Rey [1496 Rye], þe Cray, and mony oþer seknes. 1485 Bk. S. Albans a iiij, For defawte of hoote meete this sekenese the Ry commyth. c 1575 Bk. Sparhawkes (1886) 27 Rye is a Stuffinge or Swellinge of the head growinge by colde or euell dyet. 1618 Latham Falconry (1633) 129 Of all the diseases that belongs to these Hawkes, there bee onely three that they bee most subiect vnto, which is the Rye, the Crampe, and the Craye. 1725 Family Dict. s.v. Rye, The Cold or Rye in her Head, being apt, in time, to fall into her Eyes. |
| transf. 1759 Brown Compl. Farmer 78 [It] will preserve them [hens] from the rye and other diseases in the head. |
▪ III. rye, n.3 slang. (
raɪ)
[ad. Romany rai gentleman; cf. Skr. rāj to rule.] A man, gentleman. Also
Comb., as
rye mort, a lady (in
quot.,
attrib.);
rye mush, a gentleman. See also
Romany rye s.v. Romany3 3 b.
| 1851 Borrow Lavengro II. xxvi. 242, I had always..been a great favourite with Mrs. Petulengro, who had frequently been loud in her commendation of the young rye, as she called me. 1857 ― Romany Rye I. vi. 74 Gentility will carry the day, madam, even with the young rye. He will ask words of the black lass, but beg the words of the fair. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid 55 He did not feel choosey; why, he could be a rye mush himself for one night. Ibid. 232 Anyone taking a quick look at her might think she was on the up-and-up. She would give that impression too, to anyone who heard her talk and saw her act. Though..she would have to give up that rye mort touch. 1939 ― What Immortal Hand xiv. 151 If she's gone and got herself tangled up with a lot of rye mushes she don't want to have nothing to do with a gaol-bird like me. |
▪ IV. † rye, v. Obs.—1 [Of obscure origin.] intr. To fish in some special manner.
| 1496 Treat. Fishing w. Angle (1883) 11 Lynes for the dubbyd hoke to fysshe for the trought and graylynge: and..smalle lynes for to rye for the roche and the darse. |
▪ V. rye see
ree v. and
rie.