Race
Pronunciation
- enPR: rÄs, IPA: /ɹeɪs/
- Rhymes: -eɪs
Origin 1
From Middle English race, from Old Norse rás ("a running, race"), from Proto-Germanic *rēsŠ("a course"), from Proto-Indo-European *res-, *eres- ("to flow"). Akin to Old English rǣs ("a race, swift or violent running, rush, onset"), Middle Low German râs ("a strong current"). Compare Danish ræs, Norwegian and Swedish ras.
Noun
race
(countable and uncountable; plural races)- A contest between people, animals, vehicles, etc. where the goal is to be the first to reach some objective. Several horses run in a horse race, and the first one to reach the finishing post winsThe race around the park was won by Johnny, who ran faster than the others.We had a race to see who could finish the book the quickest.
- 2012 November 2, Ken Belson, "http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/sports/new-york-city-marathon-will-not-be-held-sunday.html?hp&_r=0," New York Times
- After days of intensifying pressure from runners, politicians and the general public to call off the New York City Marathon in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, city officials and the event’s organizers decided Friday afternoon to cancel the race.
- A progressive movement toward a goal.
- A fast-moving current of water, such as that which powers a mill wheel.
- Swift progress; rapid course; a running.
- Francis BaconThe flight of many birds is swifter than the race of any beasts.
- Competitive action of any kind, especially when prolonged; hence, career; course of life.
- MiltonMy race of glory run, and race of shame.
- Travels, runs, or journeys.
- The bushings of a rolling element bearing which contacts the rolling elements.
Derived terms
Full definition of race
Verb
- (intransitive) To take part in a race (in the sense of a contest).The drivers were racing around the track.
- (transitive) To compete against in such a race.I raced him to the car, but he was there first, so he got to ride shotgun.
- (intransitive) To move or drive at high speed.
- 2013-06-21, Chico Harlan, Japan pockets the subsidy …, Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion."
- As soon as it was time to go home, he raced for the door.Her heart was racing as she peered into the dimly lit room.
- (intransitive) Of a motor, to run rapidly when not engaged to a transmission.
- 1891 (December) Arthur Conan Doyle, The Man with the Twisted Lip:"My mind is like a racing engine, tearing itself to pieces because it is not connected up with the work for which it was built."
Origin 2
From Middle French race, from Italian razza, of uncertain origin.
Some authorities suggest derivation from Old Spanish raza, rasa, from earlier ras, res "head of cattle", from Arabic رأس (ra’s, "head"). This, however, is difficult to support, since Italian razza predates the Spanish word.
Diez, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Sprachen, "Razza."
Another possible source is Lombardic raiza "line", a literal rendering of Latin linea sanguinis "bloodline of descent". Raiza is of origin, akin to Old High German reiza "line", Old Norse rīta "to score, log, outline".
A third possibility is that the Italian razza derives from Latin ratio through an unattested intermediate form *razzo.
Noun
race
(countable and uncountable; plural races)- A group of sentient beings, particularly people, distinguished by common heritage or characteristics:
- A large group of people distinguished from others on the basis of a common heritage.
- 1913, Martin Van Buren Knox, The religious life of the Anglo-Saxon race
- A large group of people distinguished from others on the basis of common physical characteristics, such as skin color or hair type.Race was a significant issue during apartheid in South Africa.
- (controversial usage) One of the categories from the many subcategorizations of the human species. See Wikipedia's article on historical definitions of race.
- 2012, Jan Sapp, Race Finished, Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?
- The Native Americans colonized the New World in several waves from Asia, and thus they are considered part of the same Mongoloid race.
- A large group of sentient beings distinguished from others on the basis of a common heritage compare species, subspecies.A treaty was concluded between the race of elves and the race of men.
- 1898, Herman Isidore Stern, The gods of our fathers: a study of Saxon mythology, page 15)There are two distinct races of gods known to Norse mythology.
- (biology) A population geographically separated from others of its species that develops significantly different characteristics; an informal term for a subspecies.
- A breed or strain of domesticated animal.
- ShakespeareFor do but note a wild and wanton herd,
Or race of youthful and unhandled colts,
Fetching mad bounds. - (figuratively) A category or species of something that has emerged or evolved from an older one (with an implied parallel to animal breeding or evolutionary science).The advent of the Internet has brought about a new race of entrepreneur.Recent developments in artificial intelligence has brought about a new race of robots that can perform household chores without supervision.
- Peculiar flavour, taste, or strength, as of wine; that quality, or assemblage of qualities, which indicates origin or kind, as in wine; hence, characteristic flavour.
- Shakespearea race of heaven
- MassingerIs it wine of the right race?
- Characteristic quality or disposition.
- ShakespeareAnd now I give my sensual race the rein.
- Sir W. TempleSome ... great race of fancy or judgment.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Origin 3
From Middle French, from Latin radix