# rayon
## English
### Etymology 1

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; however, the Oxford English Dictionary states that it is apparently a blend of ray +‎ cotton.

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: rāʹŏn, IPA: /ˈɹeɪɒn/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪɒn

#### Noun

rayon (countable and uncountable, plural rayons)
* A manufactured regenerated cellulosic fiber.
    Synonyms: cactus silk, sabra silk, viscose

##### Translations
#### Further reading

* rayon on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Etymology 2

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

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: rāʹŏn, ʀāyôɴʹ, ʀĕyôɴʹ, IPA: /ˈɹeɪɒn/, /reɪˈjɔ̃/, /rɛˈjɔ̃/

#### Noun

rayon (plural rayons)
* (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.
* 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.

##### Related terms

* rayonnance (noun)
* rayonné (adjective)

##### Translations
### Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Noun

rayon (plural rayons)
* Alternative spelling of raion

### References

* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “rayon (n.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* ↑ “rayon, n.³ and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
* ↑ “rayon, n.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
* ↑ James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Rayon”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VIII, Part 1 (Q–R), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 185, column 1.

## Azerbaijani
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

rayon (definite accusative rayonu, plural rayonlar)
* district, rayon (second level subdivision unit ex-USSR countries).

#### Declension
## Crimean Tatar

* The Tea room is discussing this entry at the moment.
* Please come along and share your opinions on this and the other topics being discussed there. The user who started this topic summarised the issue as: “The forms “rayondır”, “rayonındaki”, and “rayonlar” occur in the Vikipediya (Crimean Tatar Wikipedia) article for Canköy rayonı (Dzhankoi Raion), none of which occur in the declension table. Whilst “rayondır” and “rayonındaki” may feature possessive suffixes, “rayonlar” is a clear nominative plural, yet the table lacks plural forms for this obviously countable noun.”

### Noun

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

#### Declension
### References

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

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from French rayon.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /raːˈjɔn/, /rɛˈjɔn/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: ra‧y‧on

### Noun

rayon n (plural rayons, diminutive rayonnetje n)
* region, regional section or subdivision (e.g. of a city or local government, of the area of operation of a business)

#### Derived terms

* rayonhoofd
* rayonkartel

#### Descendants

* → Indonesian: rayon

## French
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʁɛ.jɔ̃/ ~ /ʁe.jɔ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Etymology 1

From rai +‎ -on. Unrelated to rayer.

#### Noun

rayon m (plural rayons)
* ray, beam (of light, etc.) [from 1474]
* spoke (of wheel) [from 1538]
* (geometry) radius [from 1639]

##### Derived terms

* rayon cosmique
* rayon d’action
* rayon gamma
* rayon X
* rayonnant
* rayonner

##### Related terms

* rayonnement

##### Descendants

* → Russian: райо́н (rajón), раіо́нъ (raión) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
** → English: raion
** → Ingrian: raijona, rajona
** → Romanian: raion
** → Uyghur: رايون (rayon)
** → Buryat: район (rajon)
** → Yakut: оройуон (oroyuon)

### Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle French royon, rayon, derived from Old French raie (“honeycomb”), ree (“id.”), from Frankish *hrātu (“honeycomb”). The "honeycomb" meaning is original, but the "shelf" meaning coincidentally happens to be attested earlier.

#### Noun

rayon m (plural rayons)
* honeycomb [from 1538]
* 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: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.
* department (of department store), section (of shop) [from 1841]

##### Derived terms

* chef de rayon
* en connaître un rayon
* manquer un rayon
* rayonnage
* stop rayon

##### Descendants

* → German: Rayon
* → Polish: rejon
* → Turkish: reyon

### Etymology 3

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

#### Noun

rayon m (plural rayons)
* (agriculture) row (for planting seeds in)

### Further reading

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

## Indonesian
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈrajɔn]
* Hyphenation: ra‧yon

### Noun

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

#### Affixed terms

* perayonan

### Noun

rayon (plural rayon-rayon)
* rayon: a manufactured regenerated cellulosic fiber

### Further reading

* “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.

## Middle French
### Noun

rayon m (plural rayons)
* ray, beam (of light etc.)
* spoke (of wheel)

## Norman
### Etymology

Borrowed from English rayon.

### Noun

rayon m (plural rayons)
* (Jersey) rayon