read

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read

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From Middle English reden, from Old English rǣdan (“to counsel, advise, consult; interpret, read”), from Proto-West Germanic *rādan, from Proto-Germanic *rēdaną (“advise, counsel”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ- (“to arrange”).

Cognate with Scots rede, red (“to advise, counsel, decipher, read”), Saterland Frisian räide (“to advise, counsel”), West Frisian riede (“to advise, counsel”), Dutch raden (“to advise; guess”), German raten (“to advise; guess”), Danish råde (“to advise”), Swedish råda (“to advise, counsel”), Persian رده (rade, “to order, to arrange, class”). In West Germanic the verb had a sense “interpret”, which developed further into “interpret letters” in English and “interpret by intuition, guess” on the continent. Compare rede.

• (UK) enPR: rēd, IPA^(key): /ɹiːd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹid/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːd
• Homophones: reed, rede

read (third-person singular simple present reads, present participle reading, simple past read, past participle read or (archaic, dialectal) readen)

1. (transitive or intransitive) To look at and interpret letters or other information that is written.

   Synonyms: interpret, make out, make sense of, understand, scan

   Have you read this book?

   He doesn’t like to read.

   • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond‎^[1]:

     During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]

   • 1982, Robert M. Evenson, “"Liberated" Woman"”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer:

     She reads Playgirl magazine, goes to a male-strip joint and then complains about sexual harassment on the job.

   • 1983, James C. H. Shen, “A Round of Calls”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally‎^[2], Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., →ISBN, page 112:

     On this occasion he was carrying in his right hand a copy of the English-language China News, an odd touch because the President did not read English.

2. (transitive or intransitive) To speak aloud words or other information that is written. (often construed with a to phrase or an indirect object)

   Synonyms: read aloud, read out, read out loud, speak

   He read us a passage from his new book.

   All right, class, who wants to read next?

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […] and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.

   • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

     He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement. […]

3. (transitive) To read work(s) written by (a named author).

   At the moment I'm reading Milton.

4. (transitive) To interpret, or infer a meaning, significance, thought, intention, etc., from.

   She read my mind and promptly rose to get me a glass of water.

   I can read his feelings in his face.

5. To consist of certain text.

   On the door hung a sign that reads "No admittance".

   The passage reads differently in the earlier manuscripts.

6. (ergative) Of text, etc., to be interpreted or read in a particular way.

   Arabic reads right to left.

   That sentence reads strangely.

7. (transitive, often humorous) To substitute (a corrected piece of text in place of an erroneous one); used to introduce an emendation of a text.

   Synonym: sic pro

   Our school focuses primarily on the liberal arts (read "useless degrees").

   • 1832, John Lemprière et al., Bibliotheca classica, Seventh Edition, W. E. Dean, page 263:

     In Livy, it is nearly certain that for Pylleon we should read Pteleon, as this place is mentioned in connection with Antron.

   • 2023 May 12, Lia Mappoura, “I tried Glossier's brand new G Suit lip crèmes so you don't have to – you're welcome”, in Cosmopolitan‎^[3]:

     I also did a long-wear test, as y'do and after scoffing my face with some food (read: I am feral when it comes to a midday snack, so what), the striking colour that I was wearing, named 'Jet', had stayed put. Pigment, check ✅.

8. (informal, usually ironic) Used after a euphemism to introduce the intended, more blunt meaning of a term.
   • 2009, Suzee Vlk et al., The GRE Test for Dummies, 6th edition, Wiley Publishing, →ISBN, page 191:

     Eliminate illogical (read: stupid) answer choices.

9. (transitive, telecommunications) To be able to hear what another person is saying over a radio connection.

   Synonyms: copy, hear, receive

   Do you read me?

   • 1968, Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey, spoken by Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea):

     Hello, HAL. Do you read me, HAL?

10. (transitive, rail transport) To observe and comprehend (a displayed signal).

    A repeater signal may be used where the track geometry makes the main signal difficult to read from a distance.

11. (transitive, Commonwealth, except Scotland) To make a special study of, as by perusing textbooks.

    Synonyms: learn, study

    I am reading theology at university.

    • 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 94:

      Crabbe wanted him to go to England, to read for a degree there.

12. (computing, transitive) To fetch data from (a storage medium, etc.).

    to read a hard disk

    to read a port

    to read the keyboard

13. (transitive, LGBTQ) To recognise (someone) as being transgender.

    Synonym: clock

    Every time I go outside, I worry that someone will read me.

14. (at first especially in the black LGBTQ community) To call attention to the flaws of (someone) in either a playful, a taunting, or an insulting way.
    • 1976 August 7, Tommi Avicolli, “The Politics of Camp”, in Gay Community News, page 9:

      I've seen drags "read" an unattractive transsexual until she was almost in tears.

    • 1997, Framing Culture: Africanism, Sexuality and Performance, page 186 (also discussing Paris is Burning):

      Snapping, we are told, comes from reading, or exposing hidden flaws in a person's life, and out of reading comes shade […]

    • 2003, Philip Auslander, Performance: Media and technology, page 179:

      CB [a black gay person being quoted]: "So, one time I read him and we were standing downstairs at the front desk in the dorm and I read him and there was this little bell […] ." In the first example, the interviewee [CB] used snapping to read his white friend in a playful way, […] .

    • 2013, Queer Looks, page 114 (discussing Paris is Burning and "the ball world"):

      [One] assumes that such language contests are racially motivated—black folks talking back to white folks. However, the ball world makes it clear that blacks can read each other too.

15. (go) To imagine sequences of potential moves and responses without actually placing stones.
16. (obsolete) To think, believe; to consider (that).
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

      But now, faire Ladie, comfort to you make, / And read […] / That short reuenge the man may ouertake […]

17. (obsolete) To advise; to counsel. See rede.
    • 1528 October 12 (Gregorian calendar), William Tyndale, “The .IIIJ. Senses of yͤ Scripture”, in The Obediẽce of a Christen Man […], [Antwerp]: [Johannes Hoochstraten], →OCLC, folio cxlvi, verso:

      [T]herfore / I red the [thee] / gete the [thee] to Gods vvorde ãd [and] therby trye all doctrine and agenſt that receave nothinge.

    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 6:

      This is the wandring wood, this Errours den, / A monster vile, whom God and man does hate: / Therefore I read beware.

18. (obsolete) To tell; to declare; to recite.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

      But read how art thou named, and of what kin.

• Unlike the much less common sic pro which is set off in square brackets, admonitions for the reader to emend a quote to read a separate meaning are typically put within parentheses.
• The past tense and past participle are pronounced /ɹɛd/.

read (plural reads)

1. A reading or an act of reading, especially of an actor's part of a play or a piece of stored data.
   • 1879, Frederick James Furnivall, letter to the editor of "The Spectator":

     One newswoman here lets magazines for a penny a read.

   • 1958, Philip Larkin, Self's the Man:

     And when he finishes supper / Planning to have a read at the evening paper / It's Put a screw in this wall— / He has no time at all […]

   • 2006, MySQL administrator's guide and language reference, page 393:

     In other words, the system can do 1200 reads per second with no writes, the average write is twice as slow as the average read, and the relationship is linear.

2. (in combination) Something to be read; a written work.

   His thrillers are always a gripping read.

3. A person's interpretation or impression of something.

   What's your read of the current political situation?

4. (at first especially in the black LGBTQ community) An instance of reading (“calling attention to someone's flaws; a taunt or insult”).
   • 1997, Framing Culture: Africanism, Sexuality and Performance, page 186 (also discussing Paris is Burning):

     [As] Corey points out, "if you and I are both black queens then we can't call each other black queens because that's not a read. That's a [fact]."

   • 2003, Philip Auslander, Performance: Media and technology, page 185:

     Like most African-American women, Pearlie Mae uses snapping in many of the same ways that black gay men use it: to accentuate a read.

   • 2013, bell hooks, Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom, →ISBN:

     I learned that it was acceptable to be witty, especially if you were one of the wearblackallthetime, deconstructivist, radical, feministbitchydiva girls who could give a harsh read (i.e., critique) or throw shade […] .

5. (biochemistry) The identification of a specific sequence of genes in a genome or bases in a nucleic acid string

From Middle English redde (simple past), red, rad (past participle), from Old English rǣdde (simple past), (ġe)rǣded (past participle), conjugations of rǣdan (“to read”); see above.

• enPR: rĕd, IPA^(key): /ɹɛd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛd
• Homophones: red, redd

read

1. inflection of read:
   1. simple past tense
   2. past participle

English terms starting with “read”

• 'eard, DARE, Dare, Dear, Rade, Reda, ared, dare, dear, rade

read

1. nominative plural of rida

From Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós < *h₁rewdʰ-.

Germanic cognates: Old Frisian rād (West Frisian read), Old Saxon rōd (Low German root, rod), Dutch rood, Old High German rōt (German rot), Old Norse rauðr (Danish rød, Swedish röd, Icelandic rauður), Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌸𐍃 (rauþs).

Indo-European cognates: Ancient Greek ἐρυθρός (eruthrós), Latin ruber, Old Irish rúad, Lithuanian raũdas, Russian рудо́й (rudój).

• IPA^(key): /ræ͜ɑːd/

rēad

1. red

• rēadnes

• Middle English: red, redde, reed, read, ræd
  • English: red
  • Scots: rede, reid
  • Yola: reed

read

1. past participle of rea

• edra, reda

From Old Frisian rād.

read

1. red

• reahart

• “read”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011