read

See also: Read, réad, and reád

English

Etymology 1

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *rēdaną
Proto-West Germanic *rādan
Proto-West Germanic *raidijan
Old English rǣdan
Middle English reden
English read

    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.

    Pronunciation

    • (UK, Australia, New Zealand) enPR: rēd, IPA(key): /ɹiːd/
    • (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ɹid/
    • (Early Modern) IPA(key): /rɛːd/, /riːd/[1]
    • Audio (UK); “to read”:(file)
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Homophones: reed, rede
    • Rhymes: -iːd

    Verb

    A painting of a girl reading.

    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.
      1. (ergative, of text) To be understood or physically read in a specific way.
        Arabic reads right to left.
        That sentence reads strangely.
        • 1989 May, Jeff MacInnis, “Braving the Northwest Passage”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 586:
          Place-names throughout the 4,000-mile-long passage read like a roster of those who challenged its icy labyrinths of more than 18,000 islands—Baffin, Hudson, Davis, Foxe, Parry, Bylot, Sverdrup.
      2. (transitive, metonymic) To read a work or works written by the named author.
        At the moment I'm reading Milton.
      • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond‎[2]:
        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[3], 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?
    3. (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.
    4. To consist of certain text.
      Synonyms: say, run
      On the door hung a sign that read "No admittance".
    5. (ergative) To substitute a corrected piece of text in place of an erroneous one; used to introduce an emendation of a text.
      Synonym: sic pro
      • 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.
      • 2001, Astronomy & Astrophysics, volume 376, issue 3, p. 1039:
        The sign of coefficient a(3) in the general formula of Table 2 should be plus instead of minus. Thus, the formula should read […]
      1. (by extension, ironic or humorous, usually imperative) Used to introduce a blunter, actually intended meaning.
        Our school focuses primarily on the liberal arts (read "useless degrees").
        • 2009, Suzee Vlk et al., The GRE Test for Dummies, 6th edition, Wiley Publishing, →ISBN, page 191:
          Eliminate illogical (read: stupid) answer choices.
        • 2010 December 23, Tamara Weston, “From Tickle Me Elmo to Squinkies: Top 10 Toy Crazes”, in Time‎[4], New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 February 2026:
          Parents, meanwhile, deplored [Bratz dolls] as far too adult (read: slutty) for kids, accusing the doe-eyed, pouty-lipped toys of fostering unhealthy body images among young girls.
        • 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[5], archived from the original on 23 August 2026:
          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 ✅.
    6. (transitive, telecommunications) To be able to hear what another person is saying over a radio connection.
      Synonyms: copy, hear, receive
      Do you read me?
    7. (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.
    8. (transitive, Commonwealth, except Scotland) To study (a subject) at a high level, especially at university.
      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.
    9. (computing, transitive) To fetch data from (a storage medium, etc.).
      to read a hard disk
      to read a port
      to read the keyboard
    10. (transitive, LGBTQ) To recognise (someone) as being transgender.
      Synonym: clock
      Every time I go outside, I worry that someone will read me.
    11. (at first especially in the black LGBTQ community) To call attention to the flaws of (someone) in a playful, taunting, or 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.
    12. (go) To imagine sequences of potential moves and responses without actually placing stones.
    13. (obsolete) To think, believe; to consider (that).
    14. (obsolete) To advise; to counsel. See rede.
    15. (obsolete) To tell; to declare; to recite.
    16. (video games) To predict another player's actions before they perform them or before they are apparent.
    Usage notes
    • 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 participle are pronounced /ɹɛd/.
    Conjugation
    Conjugation of read
    infinitive (to) read
    present tense past tense
    1st-person singular read read, redd†
    2nd-person singular read, readest† read, redd†, readst†
    3rd-person singular reads, readeth† read, redd†
    plural read
    subjunctive read read, redd†
    imperative read —
    participles reading read, readen†

    † Archaic or obsolete.

    Derived terms
    Translations
    to consist of certain text
    to substitute (a corrected piece of text in place of an erroneous one); used to introduce an emendation of a text
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Noun

    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.
      I had a read of the evening papers.
      • 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?
      On the quarterback's first read of the situation, his target receiver was not open.
    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.
    Derived terms
    Translations

    Etymology 2

    Etymology tree
    Proto-Germanic *rēdaną
    Proto-West Germanic *rādan
    Proto-West Germanic *raidijan
    Old English rǣdan
    Old English rǣdde
    Middle English redde
    English read

      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.

      Pronunciation

      Verb

      read

      2. simple past and past participle of read

      References

      1. ^ Dobson, E[ric] J. (1957), English pronunciation 1500-1700‎[1], second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 116, page 632:
        (b) The variation is commonest in read. It has ẹ̄ in Hart, Laneham, Robinson, Jonson, Price, Cooper, the ‘homophone’ lists of Hodges (‘near alike’; contrast EP), Price, Coles, Strong, Young, Cooper, WSC-RS, Cocker, and Brown. It has ę̄ in the ABC for chyldren, Smith, Bullokar, Gil, Hodges EP (contrast his ‘near alike’ list in SH-PD), Wallis, Wilkins, the Treatise of Stops (possibly with a variant ẹ̄)), The Protestant Tutor, and Willis’s rhymelist (see Vol. I, p. 426).

      See also

      Anagrams

      Estonian

      Noun

      read

      1. nominative plural of rida

      Old English

      Etymology

      Etymology tree
      Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-
      Proto-Indo-European *-os
      Proto-Indo-European *-ós
      Proto-Indo-European *-ós
      Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós
      Proto-Germanic *raudaz
      Proto-West Germanic *raud
      Old English rēad

        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).

        Pronunciation

        • IPA(key): /ræ͜ɑːd/
        • Rhymes: -æ͜ɑːd

        Adjective

        rēad

        1. red
          • variously c. 893 – 12th century CE, entry for year 773, in Benjamin Thorpe, ed. and transl., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, According to the Several Original Authorities, London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, published 1861, page 90:
            An. DCCLXXIII Hēr ōþēowde rēad Crīstes mǣl on heofonum æfter sunnan setlgange. ⁊ þȳ ġēare ġefuhtan Myrċe ⁊ Cantware æt Ottanforda. ⁊ wundorlīċe nǣddran wǣron ġesāwene on Sūðseaxna lande.
            Year 773 In this year a red crucifix appeared in the heavens after the setting of the sun. And in that year, Mercia and Kent fought at Otford. And wonderful snakes were seen in the land of Sussex.
          • c. 989–992 CE, Ælfric of Eynsham, edited and translated by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A., The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church, volume II, London: Richard and John E. Taylor, published 1846, page 192:
            Moyses, ðurh Godes mihte, āwende eal heora wæter tō rēadum blōde, and hē āfylde eal heora land mid froggon, and siððan mid gnættum, eft mid hundes lūsum, ðā flugon into heora mūðe and heora næsðyrlum; and sē Ælmihtiġa ðone mōdiġan cyning mid þām eaðelicum ġesċeaftum swā gėswencte...
            Moses, through the power of God, turned all their water into red blood, and filled all of their land with frogs, and then with gnats, and afterwards with dogflies, which flew into their mouths and their nostrils; the Almighty punished their proud king in that way with every kind of creature...
          • Wonders of the East
            Þǣr beoð akende ǣmættan swā miċle swā hundas. Hī habbað fēt swylċe græshoppan, hī syndon rēades hīwes ⁊ blaces. Þā ǣmettan delfað gold up of eorðan fram foran nihte ōþ þa fīftan tīd dæġes.
            Ants are born there as big as dogs. They have feet like grasshoppers, and are red and black in color. The ants dig gold up from the earth from before the night until the fifth hour of the day.

        Declension

        Declension of rēad — Strong
        Singular Masculine Feminine Neuter
        Nominative rēad rēad rēad
        Accusative rēadne rēade rēad
        Genitive rēades rēadre rēades
        Dative rēadum rēadre rēadum
        Instrumental rēade rēadre rēade
        Plural Masculine Feminine Neuter
        Nominative rēade rēada, rēade rēad
        Accusative rēade rēada, rēade rēad
        Genitive rēadra rēadra rēadra
        Dative rēadum rēadum rēadum
        Instrumental rēadum rēadum rēadum
        Declension of rēad — Weak
        Singular Masculine Feminine Neuter
        Nominative rēada rēade rēade
        Accusative rēadan rēadan rēade
        Genitive rēadan rēadan rēadan
        Dative rēadan rēadan rēadan
        Instrumental rēadan rēadan rēadan
        Plural Masculine Feminine Neuter
        Nominative rēadan rēadan rēadan
        Accusative rēadan rēadan rēadan
        Genitive rēadra, rēadena rēadra, rēadena rēadra, rēadena
        Dative rēadum rēadum rēadum
        Instrumental rēadum rēadum rēadum

        Derived terms

        Descendants

        • Middle English: red, redde, reed, read, ræd
          • English: red, Red
            • Bislama: red
            • Pijin: red
            • Sranan Tongo: redi, ledi (archaic)
            • Tok Pisin: ret
          • Scots: rede, reid
          • Yola: reed

        See also

        Colors in Old English · dēage (layout · text)
             hwīt      grǣġ      blæc, sweart
                     rēad, rēod; basu              ġeolurēad; brūn              ġeolu
                                  grēne             
                                  blāw              blāw
                                  purpuren             

        Swedish

        Participle

        read

        1. past participle of rea

        Anagrams

        West Frisian

        Etymology

        From Old Frisian rād.

        Pronunciation

        • IPA(key): /rɪə̯d/

        Adjective

        read

        1. red

        Inflection

        Inflection of read
        uninflected read
        inflected reade
        comparative reader
        positive comparative superlative
        predicative/adverbial read reader it readst
        it readste
        indefinite c. sing. reade readere readste
        n. sing. read reader readste
        plural reade readere readste
        definite reade readere readste
        partitive reads readers —

        Derived terms

        See also

        Colors in West Frisian · kleuren (layout · text)
             wyt      griis, skier      swart
                     read              oranje; brún              giel
                                  grien             
                     blaugrien                           blau
                     fiolet              pears              rôze

        Further reading

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