race

English Online Dictionary. What means race‎? What does race mean?

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: rās, IPA^(key): /ɹeɪs/
• Rhymes: -eɪs

Etymology 1

From Middle English race, partially from Old English rǣs (“a race, swift or violent running, rush, onset”), from Proto-West Germanic *rās; and partially from Old Norse rás (“a running, race”); both from Proto-Germanic *rēsō (“a course”), from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁s- (“to flow, rush”). Cognate with Middle Low German râs (“a strong current”), Dutch ras (“a strong whirling current”), Danish ræs, Norwegian and Swedish ras, Norwegian rås.

Noun

race (countable and uncountable, plural races)

1. A contest between people, animals, vehicles, etc. where the goal is to be the first to reach some objective.
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
2. Swift progress; rapid motion; an instance of moving or driving at high speed.

   Synonyms: dash, running, rush
3. (electronics, computing) A race condition; a bug or problem that occurs when two or more components attempt to use the same resource at the same time.

   Synonyms: race condition, race hazard

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
4. A sequence of events; a progressive movement toward a goal.

   Synonyms: course, procedure, process, train; see also Thesaurus:sequence
5. A fast-moving current of water.

   Synonym: rip

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
6. A water channel, especially one built to lead water to or from a point where it is utilised, such as that which powers a millwheel.

   Hyponyms: headrace, mill race, wheel-race, tailrace
7. A path that something or someone moves along.

   Synonyms: career, course, progress

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
8. A guide or channel that a component of a machine moves along:
   1. (sewing, weaving) A groove on a sewing machine or a loom along which the shuttle moves.

      Synonym: shuttle race
   2. (engineering) A ring with a groove in which rolling elements (such as balls) ride, forming part of a rolling-element bearing (for example, a ball bearing).
9. (gambling) A keno gambling session.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

race (third-person singular simple present races, present participle racing, simple past and past participle raced)

1. (intransitive) To take part in a race (in the sense of a contest).
2. (transitive) To compete against in a race (contest).
3. (intransitive) To move or drive at high speed; to hurry or speed.

   Synonyms: rush, shift, zip, zoom

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
4. (intransitive, of a motor) To run rapidly when not engaged to a transmission.

Translations

Etymology 2

1560s, via Middle French race from Italian razza (early 14th century), of uncertain origin.

Noun

race (countable and uncountable, plural races)

1. A group of sentient beings, particularly people, distinguished by common ancestry, heritage or characteristics (see Wikipedia's article on historical definitions of race):

   Synonyms: breed, strain, kind, lineage, people, variety

   1. A large group of people distinguished from others on the basis of a common heritage.

      Synonyms: clan, ethnicity, ethnic group, ethnie, nationality, tribe

      • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
   2. A large group of people distinguished from others on the basis of common physical characteristics, such as skin color or hair type.

      Hyponyms: black, white, caucasian, mongoloid

      • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
   3. A large group of people distinguished from others on the basis of shared characteristics or qualities, for example social qualities.
      • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
   4. (fantasy, science fiction, mythology) A large group of nonhumans distinguished from others on the basis of a common heritage.
      • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
2. A group of organisms distinguished by common characteristics:

   Synonyms: kind, strain, variety

   1. (biology) A population geographically separated from others of its species that develops significantly different characteristics; a mating group.

      Synonyms: ecospecies, ecotype, subspecies

      • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
   2. (botany) A strain of plant with characteristics causing it to differ from other plants of the same species.

      Hyponyms: cultigen, cultivar, indigen

      • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
   3. (animal husbandry) A breed or strain of domesticated animal.
      • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
   4. (mycology, bacteriology, informal) An infraspecific rank.

      Synonyms: pathotype, pathovar

      • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.
3. (by extension) A category or kind of thing distinguished by common characteristics.

   Synonyms: class, type; see also Thesaurus:class
4. (obsolete) The sexual activity of conceiving and bearing biological offspring.

   Synonyms: breeding, procreation, progenation, propagation, reproduction
5. (obsolete) Peculiar flavour, taste, or strength, as of wine; that quality, or assemblage of qualities, which indicates origin or kind, as in wine; hence, characteristic flavour.

   Synonym: typicity
6. (obsolete) Characteristic quality or disposition.

   Synonyms: attribute, idiosyncrasy, quirk, trait; see also Thesaurus:characteristic
7. (archaic, uncountable) Ancestry.

   Synonyms: extraction, family, house, line, pedigree, stirp

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

race (third-person singular simple present races, present participle racing, simple past and past participle raced)

1. To assign a race to; to perceive as having a (usually specified) race.
   • 2020 March 24, Sophie Lewis, The coronavirus crisis shows it's time to abolish the family:

     [T]he private family qua mode of social reproduction still, frankly, sucks. It genders, nationalizes and races us. It norms us for productive work.

Etymology 3

Mid 16th century. From Middle French raïz, raiz, rais (“root”), from Latin radix (“root”), from Proto-Italic *wrādīks, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds.

Noun

race (plural races)

1. A rhizome or root, especially of ginger.
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:race.

Translations

Etymology 4

Verb

race (third-person singular simple present races, present participle racing, simple past and past participle raced)

1. Obsolete form of raze.

   Synonyms: demolish, destroy, tear up; see also Thesaurus:destroy

References

• “race”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• race in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “race”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• Diez, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Sprachen, "Razza."

Anagrams

• -care, Acre, CERA, Care, Cera, Crea, acer, acre, care, e-car

Danish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French race, from Italian razza.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʁɑːsə]

Noun

race c (singular definite racen, plural indefinite racer)

1. race (subdivision of species)
2. breed

Inflection

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English race.

Alternative forms

• ræs

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɹɛjs], [ˈʁɛˀs]

Noun

race n (singular definite racet, plural indefinite race)

1. a race (a contest where the goal is to be the first to reach some objective)
2. a rush

Inflection

Etymology 3

Borrowed from English race.

Alternative forms

• ræse

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʁɛːsə]

Verb

race (imperative race, infinitive at race, present tense racer, past tense racede, perfect tense er/har racet)

1. to race (to compete in a race, a contest where the goal is to be the first to reach some objective)
2. to rush

Further reading

• race on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reːs/
• Hyphenation: race
• Rhymes: -eːs
• Homophone: rees

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English race.

Noun

race m (plural races, diminutive raceje n)

1. A speed contest, a race.

   Synonym: wedloop

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

race

1. inflection of racen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive
   3. imperative

French

Etymology

As Middle French rasse "entirety of ancestors and descendants of the same family or people", from ca. 1480, spelling Middle French race recorded in 1549, from Italian razza (13th century), of uncertain origin (more at razza).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁas/
• Rhymes: -as

Noun

race f (plural races)

1. race (classification)
2. kind

   Synonym: espèce

3. (zoology) breed

Related terms

Descendants

• → German: Rasse
  • → Czech: rasa
  • → Polish: rasa
  • → Serbo-Croatian: rasa
  • → Slovene: rasa
• → Romanian: rasă

References

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

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• acre, âcre, care, caré, créa, racé

Middle French

Etymology

16th century (spelling rasse from 1480), from Italian razza (early 14th century), of uncertain origin.

Noun

race f (plural races)

1. race; breed

Descendants

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈra.t͡sɛ/
• Rhymes: -at͡sɛ
• Syllabification: ra‧ce

Noun

race f

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of raca

Swedish

Etymology

From English race.

Noun

race n

1. race (competition)

Declension

Derived terms

• köra sitt eget race

References

• race in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• race in Svensk ordbok (SO)