tray
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tray¹
- /tɹeɪ/
Sounds like trey, trait (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -eɪ
Where it comes from
From Middle English trey, from Old English trēġ, trīġ (“wooden board, tray”), from Proto-West Germanic *trauwi, from Proto-Germanic *trawją (“wooden vessel”), from Proto-Indo-European *drewo-, *dóru (“tree; wood”). Cognate with Old Norse treyja (“carrier”), Old Swedish trø (“wooden grain measure”), Low German Treechel (“dough trough”), Ancient Greek δροίτη (droítē, “tub, vat”), Sanskrit द्रोण (droṇa, “trough”). Related to trough and tree.
noun trays
- A small, typically rectangular or round, flat, and rigid object upon which things are carried. I carefully arranged the dishes on the tray and brought it upstairs.
-
The items on a full tray.
Before long they had consumed a whole tray of shrimp cocktails and sent for another.
Similar: trayful
- A component of a device into which an item is placed for use in the device's operations. The CD tray will not open.
- A notification area used for icons and alerts. […]some developers try to use it that way for some reason (some applications inexplicably minimize to the tray rather than to the taskbar as they should).
- A type of retail or wholesale packaging for CPUs where the processors are sold in bulk and/or with minimal packaging.
-
The platform of a truck that supports the load to be hauled.
Similar: bed
verb trays · traying · trayed
- to place (items) on a tray Be sure to tray eggs with the large end up.
- to slide down a snow-covered hill on a tray from a cafeteria. Traying has provided collegiate fun and the occasional fatality for decades.
tray²
- /tɹeɪ/
Sounds like trey, trait (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -eɪ
Where it comes from
From Middle English traye, treie, from Old English trega (“misfortune, misery, trouble, grief, pain”), from Proto-Germanic *tregô (“mourning”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreǵʰ- (“unwilling, sullen, slack”). Cognate with Icelandic tregi (“sorrow, grief”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐍉 (trigō, “grief”).
noun trays
- trouble; annoyance; anger
tray³
- /tɹeɪ/
Sounds like trey, trait (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -eɪ
Where it comes from
From Middle English trayen, treien, from Old English tregian (“to trouble, harass, vex”), from Proto-West Germanic *tregōn, from Proto-Germanic *tregōną (“to become tedious, become lazy, sadden”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreǵʰ- (“unwilling, sullen, slack”).
verb trays · traying · trayed
- to grieve; to annoy
tray⁴
- /tɹeɪ/
Sounds like trey, trait (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -eɪ
Where it comes from
From Middle English trayen, from Old French trair (“to betray”), from Latin tradō (“hand over, betray”).
verb trays · traying · trayed
- to betray
tray⁵
- /tɹeɪ/
Sounds like trey, trait (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -eɪ
noun trays
- Alternative form of trey (“third branch of deer's antler”).
tray⁶
- /tɹeɪ/
Sounds like trey, trait (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -eɪ
Where it comes from
Blend of trans + gay.
noun trays
- A gay trans person, particularly a man (a man who is both transgender and gay)
Tray⁷
proper noun
- A diminutive of the female given name Tracy.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: toilet, platter, hopper, plate, mower, drawer, dish, shelf, bin, deck, cistern, trap, apron, rack, plateau, mesa
Translations
Every language
noun object on which things are carried
| Español | bandeja, charola, trey, palangana |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 쟁반 jaengban, 트레이 teurei |
| 日本語 | 盆 bon, トレイ torei |
| 中文 | 托盤 /托盘 tuōpán, 盤 /盘 pán |
| हिन्दी | ट्रे ṭre, तश्तरी taśtarī, थाल thāl |
| Kiswahili | uteo, trei |
| Português | bandeja, tabuleiro |
| Français | plateau, cabaret |
| Deutsch | Tablett |
| Italiano | vassoio |
| Ελληνικά | δίσκος dískos |
| Română | tavă |
| Русский | подно́с podnós, лото́к lotók, поддо́н poddón |
| Tiếng Việt | mâm, khay |
| العربية | صِينِيَّة ṣīniyya |
| עברית | מַגָּשׁ magásh |
noun items on a full tray
| Deutsch | Tablettladung |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | δίσκος dískos |
Talk about this word "tray." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tray. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. tray. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tray "tray." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tray.Cite this
@misc{tray_2026,
title = {tray},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tray},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
