Name chosen by the National Retail Dry Goods Association of America, probably from French rayon (“a beam of light, ray”) and so called because it is shiny; however, the Oxford English Dictionary states that it is apparently a blend of ray + cotton.
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) A manufactured regenerated cellulosic fiber.
cmn 嫘縈 /嫘萦 (cellulosic fiber) · cs rajon (cellulosic fiber) · ja 人絹 (cellulosic fiber) · sh rajon (cellulosic fiber) · bg изкуствена коприна (cellulosic fiber) · fi viskoosi (cellulosic fiber) · pl sztuczny jedwab (cellulosic fiber) · ja レーヨン (cellulosic fiber) · cs umělé hedvábí (cellulosic fiber) · ja 人造絹糸 (cellulosic fiber) · ca raió (cellulosic fiber) · fr rayonne (cellulosic fiber) · fi raion (cellulosic fiber)
rayon en · NOUN · etymology 2
Pronunciation
ʀāyôɴʹ
/reɪˈjɔ̃/
ʀĕyôɴʹ
rāʹŏn
/ˈɹeɪɒn/
/rɛˈjɔ̃/
Etymology
From Middle French rayon [1539], from Old French rai (whence English ray), from Latin rādius (whence English radius).
Meanings
(obsolete, rare) A ray or beam of light.
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, […] 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:
Here stood A cave,…unreached by rayons of the Sun. 1859, Singleton, Virgil, volume II, page 244:
The rayons of the Sunne we see, Diminish in their strength. a. 1609, Alex. Hume, Day Estivall, page 177:
A circular area whose extent is measured by the length of the radius of the circle which bounds it.
Within a rayon of a certain number of miles. 1878, Lady Herbert, transl., Hübner’s Ramble, part iii, chapter i, page 459:
I found myself within his rayon at Newcastle, which is one of his bases of supply. 1879 May 26th, Daily News, page 5/6: