Word: ice Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH- Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH-so-der. Proto-Germanic *īsą Proto-West Germanic *īs Old English īs Middle English is English ice From Middle English hyse, hyys, ice, ijs, is, yce, ys, yys, from Old English īs, from Proto-West Germanic *īs, from Proto-Germanic *īsą (“ice”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH- (“ice, frost”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian Iis, is (“ice”), Saterland Frisian Ies (“ice”), West Frisian iis (“ice”), Alemannic German Iis, isch, éisch (“ice”), Bavarian, Cimbrian, and Mòcheno ais (“ice”), Dutch ijs (“ice”), German Eis (“ice”), German Low German Ies (“ice”), Luxembourgish Äis (“ice”), Vilamovian ajs (“ice”), Yiddish אײַז (ayz, “ice”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish is (“ice”), Elfdalian ais (“ice”), Faroese ísur (“ice”), Icelandic ís (“ice”); also Cornish yey (“ice”), yeyn (“cold”), Irish oighear (“ice”), Scottish Gaelic deigh, eigh, eighre (“ice”), Welsh iâ (“ice”), Lithuanian ýnis (“hoar frost”), Bulgarian and Russian и́ней (ínej, “hoar frost”), Czech jíní (“frost”), Macedonian and Serbo-Croatian и́ње (“hoar frost”), Ukrainian і́ній (ínij, “hoar frost, rime”), Ossetian их (ix, “ice”), Armenian եղյամ (eġyam, “frost, hoar frost, rime”), Persian یخ (yax, “ice”), Hittite 𒂊𒃷 (“ice”). Superseded non-native Middle English glace (“ice”), borrowed from Old French glace (“ice”). Pronunciation: /aɪs/, [ʌɪs] 1. Water in frozen (solid) form. Labels: uncountable, usually Example: If thou doſt marry, Ile giue thee / This plague to thy dowry: / Be thou as chaſte as yce, as pure as ſnowe, / Thou ſhalt not ſcape calumny, to a Nunnery goe. Example: 1882, Popular Science Monthly (volume 20), "The Freezing of a Salt Lake" It has always been difficult to explain how ice is formed on the surface of oceans while the temperature of maximum density is lower than that of cogelation, and the observations on this lake were instituted in the hope that they might throw light upon the subject. 2. Any frozen volatile chemical, such as ammonia or carbon dioxide. Labels: uncountable, usually 3. Any volatile chemical, such as water, ammonia, or carbon dioxide, not necessarily in solid form, when discussing the composition of e.g. a planet as an ice giant vs a gas giant. Labels: uncountable, usually Example: Above the core is the lower-density liquid mantle composed of ice materials under high pressure and temperature. This massive liquid layer would not be separated into layers of traditional ice compounds, but mixtures of radically different compounds originally consisting of water, carbon dioxide, methane, and ammonia […] Since the mass of the planet is dominated by the liquid mantle that itself consists of heated ices under pressure, both Uranus and Neptune are classified as giant ice planets. Example: Uranus and Neptune are […] usually classified separately as ice giants because they contain a much higher proportion of ice-forming substances such as water, ammonia, and methane. […] In the case of Uranus, the ice mantle must make up between 9.3 and 13.4 Earth masses worth of the total mass of the planet, which is 14.5 Earth masses. Similar proportions apply to Neptune. The commonly used term "ice mantle" is someone misleading, since the substance is actually a hot, slushy mixture that would be more aptly described as a water–ammonia ocean. 4. Something having an extreme coldness of manner. Labels: figuratively, uncountable, usually Example: a heart of ice Example: Her eyes flash with anger, her voice ice. "You afraid of the law? You haven't changed. I want you out of my house now." 5. Something, such as awkwardness, that prevents open social interaction. Labels: figuratively, uncountable, usually Example: The dialogues—or "raps"—usually take place on a monthly or bi-monthly basis and aim at fostering contacts hand at breaking through stereotypical notions held by both sides. "There's no question that there's ice to begin with," said Lance Bradley, who conducts the raps for Chelsea's Tenth Precinct. Example: break the ice 6. The area where a game of ice hockey is played. Labels: uncountable, usually Example: 2006, CBC, Finland, Sweden 'the dream final', February 26 2002, The neighbouring countries have enjoyed many great battles on the ice. They last met for gold at the 1998 world championship, won by Sweden. Three years earlier, Finland bested Sweden for the only world title in its history. 7. Icing; frosting ("a sweet, often creamy and thick glaze made primarily of sugar"). Labels: dialectal, uncountable, usually Example: Well weddings, they were just the usual ... my big brother was married in the Masonic and the Co-operative done the party. Steak pie and tatties, and all that sort of stuff. The wee square Albert cake with ice on it, fruit cake. Then the wee dance after that. There was no drinking at oor wedding! 8. A frozen dessert made of fruit juice, water and sugar. Labels: countable, uncountable, usually 9. An ice cream. Labels: UK, countable, dated, uncountable, usually 10. An individual piece of ice. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable, usually 11. Elephant or rhinoceros ivory that has been poached and sold on the black market. Labels: slang, uncountable, usually 12. An artifact that has been smuggled, especially one that is either clear or shiny. Labels: slang, uncountable, usually 13. Money paid as a bribe. Labels: slang, uncountable, usually Example: Theater operators, theater party agents, playwrights, and others who have ready access to tickets may get in on the “ice” and sometimes the producer is in on it too. Example: This “ice” is bribe money paid to public officials to purchase protection for illegal activities. […] Just consider the “ice” money available to the men involved in the examples just cited. 14. The crystal form of amphetamine-based drugs, including methamphetamine. Labels: slang, uncountable, usually Example: Near-synonym: crystal meth Example: There were times when she could tell the Washingtons were overwhelmed by Jahlil's difficult ways, and one time Jessie even had the nerve to ask Carmiesha if she had smoked anything like crack or ice while she was pregnant with him. 15. One or more diamonds. Labels: slang, uncountable, usually Example: But you can't give cred to anything dude says / Same dude to give you ice and you owe him some head Example: Ice on the wrist with the ice in the chains.