rice

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: F. riz (cf. Pr. ris, It. riso), L. oryza, Gr. …, …, probably from the Persian; cf. OPers. brīzi, akin to Skr. vrīhi; or perh. akin to E. rye. Cf. Rye.

Botany A well-known cereal grass (Oryza sativa) and its seed. This plant is extensively cultivated in warm climates, and the grain forms a large portion of the food of the inhabitants. In America it grows chiefly on low, moist land, which can be overflowed.

Ant rice. Botany See under Ant. — French rice. Botany See Amelcorn. — Indian rice., a tall reedlike water grass (Zizania aquatica), bearing panicles of a long, slender grain, much used for food by North American Indians. It is common in shallow water in the Northern States. Called also water oat, Canadian wild rice, etc. — Mountain rice, any species of an American genus (Oryzopsis) of grasses, somewhat resembling rice. — Rice bunting. Zoology Same as Ricebird. — Rice hen Zoology, the Florida gallinule. — Rice mouse Zoology, a large dark-colored field mouse (Calomys palistris) of the Southern United States. — Rice paper, a kind of thin, delicate paper, brought from China, — used for painting upon, and for the manufacture of fancy articles. It is made by cutting the pith of a large herb (Fatsia papyrifera, related to the ginseng) into one roll or sheet, which is flattened out under pressure. Called also pith paper. — Rice troupial Zoology, the bobolink. — Rice water, a drink for invalids made by boiling a small quantity of rice in water. — Rice-water discharge Medicine, a liquid, resembling rice water in appearance, which is vomited, and discharged from the bowels, in cholera. — Rice weevil Zoology, a small beetle (Calandra oryzae, or Sitophilus oryzae) which destroys rice, wheat, and Indian corn by eating out the interior; — called also black weevil.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54