Ready

Pronunciation

• enPR: rÄ•d'i, IPA: /ˈɹɛdi/Homophones: reddyRhymes:
• Hyphenation: read + y

Origin

From Middle English redy, redi, rædiȝ, iredi, ȝerǣdi, alteration ( + -y) of earlier irēd, irede, ȝerād ("ready, prepared"), from Old English rǣde, ġerǣde (also ġerȳde) ("prepared, prompt, ready, ready for riding (horse), mounted (on a horse), skilled, simple, easy"), from Proto-Germanic *garaidijaz ("ready"), from Proto-Indo-European *rēidh-, *rēi- ("to count, put in order, arrange, make comfortable") and also probably conflated with Proto-Indo-European *reidh- ("to ride") in the sense of "set to ride, able or fit to go, ready". Cognate with Scots readie, reddy ("ready, prepared"), West Frisian ree ("ready"), Dutch gereed ("ready"), German bereit ("ready"), Danish rede ("ready"), Swedish redo ("ready, fit, prepared"), Icelandic greiður ("easy, light"), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃 (garaiþs, "arranged, ordered").

Full definition of ready

Adjective

1. Prepared for immediate action or use.
   The troops are ready for battle.  The porridge is ready to serve.
• John Milton (1608-1674)If need be, I am ready to forego
  And quit.
• Henry Fielding (1707-1754)Dinner was ready.
2. Inclined; apt to happen.
3. Liable at any moment.
   The seed is ready to sprout.
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616)My heart is ready to crack.
4. Not slow or hesitating; quick in action or perception of any kind; dexterous; prompt; easy; expert.
   a ready apprehension;  ready wit;  a ready writer or workman
• Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)...whose temper was ready, through surly
• Thomas Macaulay (1800-1859)ready in devising expedients
• 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher Chapter 1, Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors.
• 2013-08-10, Lexington, Keeping the mighty honest, The Washington Post's proprietor through those turbulent Watergate days, Katharine Graham, held a double place in Washington’s hierarchy: at once regal Georgetown hostess and scrappy newshound, ready to hold the establishment to account.
5. Offering itself at once; at hand; opportune; convenient.
• John Milton (1608-1674)the readiest way
• John Dryden (1631-1700)A sapling pine he wrenched from out the ground,
  The readiest weapon that his fury found.

Synonyms

• good to go

Verb

1. To make prepared for action.

Derived terms

Related terms

• already

Noun

1. (slang) ready money; cash
• ArbuthnotLord Strut was not flush in ready, either to go to law, or to clear old debts.

Anagrams

• deary
• rayed
• yeard