read
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
read¹
- /ɹiːd/ Australia, New Zealand, UK
- /ɹid/ Canada, US
- /rɛːd/ Early Modern
- /riːd/ Early Modern
Sounds like reed, rede · Rhymes with -iːd
Where it comes from
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.
verb reads · reading · read · readen
-
To look at and interpret letters or other information that is written.
Have you read this book?
Similar: interpret, make out, make sense of, understand, scan
-
To be understood or physically read in a specific way.
Arabic reads right to left.
Similar: interpret, make out, make sense of, understand, scan
-
To read a work or works written by the named author.
At the moment I'm reading Milton.
Similar: interpret, make out, make sense of, understand, scan
-
To speak aloud words or other information that is written. (often construed with a to phrase or an indirect object)
He read us a passage from his new book.
Similar: read aloud, read out, read out loud, speak
- 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.
- To consist of certain text. On the door hung a sign that read "No admittance".
-
To substitute a corrected piece of text in place of an erroneous one; used to introduce an emendation of a text.
In Livy, it is nearly certain that for Pylleon we should read Pteleon, as this place is mentioned in connection with Antron.
Similar: sic pro
-
Used to introduce a blunter, actually intended meaning.
Our school focuses primarily on the liberal arts (read "useless degrees").
Similar: sic pro
- To be able to hear what another person is saying over a radio connection. Do you read me?
- 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.
- To study (a subject) at a high level, especially at university. I am reading theology at university.
- To fetch data from (a storage medium, etc.). to read a hard disk
-
To recognise (someone) as being transgender.
Every time I go outside, I worry that someone will read me.
Similar: clock
- To call attention to the flaws of (someone) in a playful, taunting, or insulting way. I've seen drags "read" an unattractive transsexual until she was almost in tears.
- To imagine sequences of potential moves and responses without actually placing stones.
- To think, believe; to consider (that). But now, faire Ladie, comfort to you make, / And read[…] / That short reuenge the man may ouertake […]
- To advise; to counsel. See rede. [T]herfore / I red the [thee] / gete the [thee] to Gods vvorde ãd [and] therby trye all doctrine and agenſt that receave nothinge.
- To tell; to declare; to recite. But read how art thou named, and of what kin.
- To predict another player's actions before they perform them or before they are apparent.
Similar: read
noun reads
- 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.
- Something to be read; a written work. His thrillers are always a gripping read.
- A person's interpretation or impression of something. What's your read of the current political situation?
- An instance of reading (“calling attention to someone's flaws; a taunt or insult”). [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]."
- The identification of a specific sequence of genes in a genome or bases in a nucleic acid string.
read²
- /ɹɛd/ Canada, US, UK
- /ɹed/ Australia, New Zealand
Sounds like red, redd · Rhymes with -ɛd
Where it comes from
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.
Read³
Where it comes from
English and Scottish surname, variant of Reed.
proper noun
- A surname from Old English, a less common spelling variant of Reid.
- A male given name transferred from the surname.
- A village and civil parish in Ribble Valley district, Lancashire, England (OS grid ref SD7634).
- A township in Clayton County, Iowa, United States.
- A township in Butler County, Nebraska, United States.
- An unincorporated community in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: study, interpret, learn, say, translate, scan, show, understand, register, record, take, perusal, tell, peruse, recite, refer
verb
Similar: read
verb
Similar: read
Translations
Every language
verb to look at and interpret letters or other information
| Español | leer |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 읽다 ikda |
| 日本語 | 読む yomu |
| 中文 | 讀 /读 dú, 看 kàn |
| हिन्दी | पढ़ना paṛhnā |
| Kiswahili | kusoma |
| Português | ler |
| Français | lire |
| Deutsch | lesen |
| Italiano | leggere |
| Ελληνικά | διαβάζω diavázo |
| Română | a citi, a lectura |
| Русский | чита́ть čitátʹ, прочита́ть pročitátʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | đọc |
| العربية | قَرَأَ qaraʔa |
| עברית | קָרָא kará |
verb of text, etc., to be interpreted or read in a particular way
| Español | leerse, interpretarse, entenderse |
|---|---|
| Português | ler-se |
| Français | se lire |
| Deutsch | gelesen werden |
| Italiano | leggersi |
| Română | a fi citit, a fi lecturat |
| Русский | толкова́ть tolkovátʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | viết, ghi |
verb to speak aloud words or other information that is written
| Español | leer |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 읽다 ikda |
| 日本語 | 読む yomu, 読み上げる yomiageru |
| 中文 | 讀 /读 dú, 念 niàn |
| हिन्दी | पढ़ना paṛhnā |
| Kiswahili | soma, kusomea |
| Português | ler |
| Français | lire |
| Deutsch | vorlesen |
| Italiano | leggere, leggere ad alta voce |
| Ελληνικά | διαβάζω diavázo |
| Română | citi |
| Русский | чита́ть čitátʹ, прочита́ть pročitátʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | đọc |
| العربية | قَرَأَ qaraʔa |
| עברית | קרא kará, הקריא hikrí |
verb to interpret or infer a meaning, significance, thought, intention, etc. from — see also suss out
| Português | ler |
|---|---|
| Français | lire |
| Deutsch | lesen können |
| Italiano | leggere |
| Română | putea citi, citi, lectura |
| Русский | чита́ть čitátʹ, прочита́ть pročitátʹ |
verb to consist of certain text
| Español | decir, poner |
|---|---|
| Português | dizer |
| Ελληνικά | γράφω gráfo |
| Русский | гласи́ть glasítʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | chỉ, đề |
verb to be able to hear (in a radio connection)
| Português | copiar |
|---|---|
| Français | recevoir |
| Deutsch | verstehen |
| Italiano | ricevere |
verb to make a study of
| Español | estudiar |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 讀 /读 dú |
| हिन्दी | पढ़ना paṛhnā |
| Português | estudar |
| Français | étudier |
| Deutsch | studieren, hören |
| Русский | изуча́ть izučátʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | học, nghiên cứu |
verb to fetch data from (a storage medium, etc.)
| Português | ler |
|---|
verb to imagine sequences of moves
| 日本語 | 読む yomu |
|---|
Talk about this word "read." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/read. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. read. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/read "read." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/read.Cite this
@misc{read_2026,
title = {read},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/read},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
