rayon

Name chosen by the National Retail Dry Goods Association of America, probably from French rayon (“beam of light, ray”) and so called because it is shiny;^[1] however, the Oxford English Dictionary states that it is apparently a blend of ray +‎ cotton.^[2]

• enPR: rāʹŏn, IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪɒn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪɒn

rayon (countable and uncountable, plural rayons)

1. A manufactured regenerated cellulosic fiber.

   Synonyms: cactus silk, sabra silk, viscose

• rayon on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

From Middle French rayon [1539], from Old French rai (whence English ray), from Latin rādius (whence English radius).^[3][4]

• enPR: rāʹŏn, ʀāyôɴʹ, ʀĕyôɴʹ, IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪɒn/, /reɪˈjɔ̃/, /rɛˈjɔ̃/

rayon (plural rayons)

1. (obsolete, rare) A ray or beam of light.
   • 1591, Joachim du Bellay, “The Visions of Bellay”, in Ed[mund] Sp[enser], transl., Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC, part 2, signature Y3, recto:

     Nor brick, nor marble was the wall in view,
     But ſhining Chriſtall, which from top to baſe
     Out of her womb a thouſand rayons threw, […]

   • a. 1609, Alex. Hume, Day Estivall, page 177:

     The rayons of the Sunne we see, Diminish in their strength.

   • 1859, Singleton, Virgil, volume II, page 244:

     Here stood A cave,…unreached by rayons of the Sun.

2. A circular area whose extent is measured by the length of the radius of the circle which bounds it.

   Synonym: radius

   • 1878, Lady Herbert, transl., Hübner’s Ramble, part iii, chapter i, page 459:

     Within a rayon of a certain number of miles.

   • 1879 May 26th, Daily News, page 5/6:

     I found myself within his rayon at Newcastle, which is one of his bases of supply.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

rayon (plural rayons)

1. Alternative spelling of raion.

• Audio:

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rayon (definite accusative rayonu, plural rayonlar)

1. district, rayon (second level subdivision unit ex-USSR countries).

rayon

1. region, rayon (second level subdivision unit in Ukraine, Russia and other ex-USSR countries).

• Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Borrowed from French rayon.

• IPA^(key): /raːˈjɔn/, /rɛˈjɔn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ra‧y‧on

rayon n (plural rayons, diminutive rayonnetje n)

1. region, regional section or subdivision (e.g. of a city or local government, of the area of operation of a business)

• rayonhoofd
• rayonkartel

• → Indonesian: rayon

• IPA^(key): /ʁɛ.jɔ̃/ ~ /ʁe.jɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

From rai +‎ -on. Unrelated to rayer.

rayon m (plural rayons)

1. ray, beam (of light, etc.) [from 1474]
2. spoke (of wheel) [from 1538]
3. (geometry) radius [from 1639]

Inherited from Middle French royon, rayon, from Old French raie, ree (“honeycomb”), from Frankish *hrātu (“honeycomb”). Sense 1 is original, but sense 2 coincidentally happens to be attested earlier.

rayon m (plural rayons)

2. honeycomb [from 1538]
4. shelf (for books, merchandise, etc.) [from 1429]
   • 2021 April 24, “La Corée du Nord rouvre sa frontière avec la Chine [North Korea reopens its border with China]”, in Le Monde‎^[2]:

     Les importations de ces dernières semaines sont principalement des engrais, afin d'éviter un nouveau recul de la production agricole. Mais réapparaissent aussi, dans des magasins de Pyongyang, des produits non essentiels (chocolat, fruits séchés, etc.), qui avaient disparu des rayons.

     Imports in recent weeks are primarily fertilizers, in order to prevent a further decline in agricultural production. But non-essential products (chocolate, dried fruits, etc.), which had disappeared from the shelves, are also reappearing in the shops of Pyongyang.

6. department (of department store), section (of shop) [from 1841]

Inherited from Old French roion, reun, roïon. By surface analysis, raie +‎ -on.

rayon m (plural rayons)

1. (agriculture) row (for planting seeds in)

• “rayon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• From Dutch rayon, from French rayon
  • from Old French ree, from Frankish *hrātu (“honeycomb”).
• Sense raion is a semantic loan from Russian райо́н (rajón).

• IPA^(key): [ˈrajɔn]
• Hyphenation: ra‧yon

rayon (plural rayon-rayon)

1. region, regional section or subdivision (e.g. of a school enrollment, of the area of operation of a business)
2. raion: an administrative unit of some Eastern European and Asian states

rayon (plural rayon-rayon)

1. rayon: a manufactured regenerated cellulosic fiber

• “rayon” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

rayon m (plural rayons)

1. ray, beam (of light etc.)
2. spoke (of wheel)

Borrowed from English rayon.

rayon m (plural rayons)

1. (Jersey) rayon