Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

R

R

(är)
.
R, the eighteenth letter of the English alphabet, is a vocal consonant. It is sometimes called a semivowel, and a liquid. See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 178, 179, and 250-254.
“R is the dog’s letter and hurreth in the sound.”
B. Jonson.
In words derived from the Greek language the letter h is generally written after r to represent the aspirated sound of the Greek
ῥ
, but does not affect the pronunciation of the English word, as rhapsody, rhetoric.
The English letter derives its form from the Greek through the Latin, the Greek letter being derived from the Phœnician, which, it is believed, is ultimately of Egyptian origin. Etymologically, R is most closely related to l, s, and n; as in bandore, mandole; purple, L. purpura; E. chapter, F. chapitre, L. capitulum; E. was, were; hare, G. hase; E. order, F. ordre, L. ordo, ordinis; E. coffer, coffin.
The three Rs
,
a jocose expression for reading, (w)riting, and (a)rithmetic, – the fundamentals of an education.

Webster 1828 Edition

R

R

is the eighteenth letter of the English Alphabet, and an articulation sui generis, having little or no resemblance in pronunciation to any other letter. But from the position of the tongue in uttering it, it is commutable with l, into which letter it is changed in many words by the Spaniards and Portuguese, and some other nations; as l is also changed into r. It is numbered among the liquids and semi-vowels, and is sometimes called the canine letter. It is uttered with a guttural extrusion of the breath, and in some words, particularly at the end or after a labial and a dental letter, with a sort of quivering motion or slight jar of the tongue. Its English uses, which are uniform, may be understood by the customary pronunciation of rod, room, rose, bar, bare, barren, disturb, catarrh, free, brad, pride, drip, drag, drown.
In words which we have received from the Greek language, we follow the Latins, who wrote h after r, as the representative of the aspirated sound with which this letter was pronounced by the Greeks. It is the same in the Welsh language. But as the letter is not aspirated in English, h is entirely superfluous; rhapsody, rheum, rhetoric, being pronounced rapsody, reum, retoric.
As an abbreviation, R. in English, stands for rex, king, as George R.
As a numeral, R, in Roman authors, stands for 80, and with a dash over it, for 80,000. But in Greek, with a small mark over it, signifies 100, and with the same mark under it, it denoted 1000x100, or 100,000. In Hebrew, denoted 200, and with two horizontal points over it, 1000x200, or 200,000.
Among physicians, R. stands for recipe, take.

Definition 2024

R

R


R U+0052, R
LATIN CAPITAL LETTER R
← Q
[U+0051] 		Basic Latin S →
[U+0053]
See also: Appendix:Variations of "r"

Translingual

Letter

R upper case (lower case r)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

See also

Symbol

R

  1. (physics) roentgen (unit)
  2. (physics) resistance (in electricity)
  3. (genetics) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for any purine
  4. (biochemistry) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for arginine

See also

Other representations of R:

English

Pronunciation

Letter

R ‎(upper case, lower case r, plural Rs or R's)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the English alphabet, called ar and written in the Latin script.
See also

Number

R ‎(upper case, lower case r)

  1. The ordinal number eighteenth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called ar and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Abbreviation

R

  1. (entomology) radius
  2. (US, politics) Republican
  3. (law) the Crown, the government of a monarchy (abbreviating rex ‎(“king”) or regina ‎(“queen”))
    R v Smith
  4. (film certification) restricted
  5. reverse
  6. right (as opposed to left)
  7. (handbells) ring
  8. (chess) rook
  9. (baseball, cricket) runs, the statistic reporting the number of runs scored by a player
  10. Thursday
    • 1986, Cornell University Courses of Study, page 250:
      Lecs, T R 9:05; lab, M T W R or F 1:25—4:25, or M or W 7:30—10:30 p.m.
    • 2000 August, M.W. Carter, “A Comprehensive Course Timetabling and Student Scheduling System at the University of Waterloo”, in Edmund Burke and Wilhelm Erben (editors), Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling III, Springer (2001), ISBN 978-3-540-42421-5, page 66:
      8:30 MWF (3 x 1 hour) […] 8:30-10 TR (2 x 1.5 hours)
    • 2007, W. Ted Mahavier, “Syllabus for Analysis” (Lamar University course syllabus), appendix II.A of Charles A. Coppin et al., The Moore Method: A Pathway to Learner-Centered Instruction, Mathematical Association of America (2009), ISBN 978-0-88385-185-2, page 201:
      Office Hours: MTWRF: 9:00–11:00, 1:30–3:00 or stop by my office anytime.

American Sign Language

Letter

‎(Stokoe R)

  1. The letter R

Azeri

Letter

R upper case (lower case r)

  1. The twenty-fourth letter of the Azeri alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ɛr/

Letter

R ‎(capital, lowercase r)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the Dutch alphabet.

See also

  • Previous letter: Q
  • Next letter: S

Esperanto

Letter

R ‎(upper case, lower case r)

  1. The twenty-first letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called ro and written in the Latin script.

See also

Finnish

Letter

R ‎(upper case, lower case r)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called är or er and written in the Latin script.

See also

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʔɛɐ̯/

Letter

R ‎(upper case, lower case r)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the German alphabet.

Ido

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɾ/

Letter

R ‎(lower case r)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Italian

Pronunciation

  • (name of letter) IPA(key): /ˈɛrre/
  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /r/

Letter

R m, f ‎(invariable, lower case r)

  1. The sixteenth letter of the Italian alphabet, called erre and written in the Latin script.

See also

Latin

Abbreviation

R

  1. Romanus
  2. Rufus

References

Latvian

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɾ]

Letter

R

R ‎(upper case, lower case r)

  1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called er and written in the Latin script.

See also

Malay

Pronunciation

  • (Name of letter) IPA(key): [ar]
  • (Phoneme, Syllable initial) IPA(key): [r]
  • (Phoneme, Syllable final) IPA(key): [(r)]

Letter

R

  1. The eighteenth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Portuguese

Letter

R ‎(upper case, lower case r)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Romanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /re/, /er/

Letter

R (capital, lowercase r)

  1. The twentieth letter of the Romanian alphabet representing the phoneme /r/. Preceded by P and followed by S.

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /r/

Letter

R ‎(lower case r)

  1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Slovene

Letter

R ‎(capital, lowercase r)

  1. The 18th letter of the Slovene alphabet. Preceded by P and followed by S.

Somali

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /r/
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ræ/

Letter

R upper case (lower case r)

  1. The eighth letter of the Somali alphabet, called ra and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  1. The eighth letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by D and followed by S.

See also

Spanish

Letter

R ‎(upper case, lower case r)

  1. The 19th letter of the Spanish alphabet.

Turkish

Letter

R ‎(upper case, lower case r)

  1. The twenty-first letter of the Turkish alphabet, called re and written in the Latin script.

See also

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔɛ˧˧ zəːɰ˨˩/, /zəːɰ˨˩]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔɛ˧˧ ʐəːɰ˧˧/, /ʐəːɰ˧˧]
  • (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ʔɛ˧˥ ʐəːɰ˨˩/, /ʐəːɰ˨˩]
  • Phonetic: e rờ, rờ

Letter

R ‎(upper case, lower case r)

  1. The twenty-second letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called e-rờ or rờ and written in the Latin script.

See also

r

r


r U+0072, r
LATIN SMALL LETTER R
← q
[U+0071] 		Basic Latin s →
[U+0073]
See also: R, г, and Appendix:Variations of "r"

Translingual

Etymology 1

Modification of capital letter R by not closing the bottom of the loop but continuing into the leg to save a pen stroke, later shortening the right leg into a simple arc.

Letter

r lower case (upper case R)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.
See also

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Symbol

r

  1. (engineering, geometry) radius
  2. (IPA) alveolar trill
  3. (phonetics) used in several romanization systems of non-Latin scripts to represent an various other rhotic sounds (/r/).
    1. Romanization of the Hebrew ר ‎(“reish”, “resh”, “rēš”) in the Common Israeli, Hebrew Academy (1953 and 2006), and ISO 259 transliteration schemes
    2. Romanization of the Hebrew רּ ‎(“reish”, “resh”, “rēš ḥāzāq”) in the Common Israeli transliteration scheme

Synonyms

  • (Romanization of רּ, “reish”, “resh”, “rēš ḥāzāq”): rr (in the Hebrew Academy (1953 and 2006) and ISO 259 transliteration schemes)

See also

Other representations of R:

English

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): (non-rhotic) IPA(key): /ɑ(ɹ)/, (rhotic) IPA(key): /ɑɹ/, (Ireland) IPA(key): /ɔɹ/
  • (phoneme): (non-rhotic) IPA(key): /ɹ/ or a lengthening of the previous vowel, (rhotic) IPA(key): /ɹ/

Letter

r ‎(lower case, upper case R, plural r's)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the English alphabet, called ar and written in the Latin script.
See also

Number

r ‎(lower case, upper case R)

  1. The ordinal number eighteenth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called ar and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

From are, pronounced like the name of the letter r

Verb

r

  1. (abbreviation, slang, text messaging, Internet) are (in text messaging and internet conversations)
    How r u — “How are you?”
Translations
text messaging: are

Azeri

Letter

r lower case (upper case R)

  1. The twenty-fourth letter of the Azeri alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɛr
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ɛr/

Letter

r ‎(lower case, upper case R)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

  • Previous letter: q
  • Next letter: s

See also

Egyptian

Pronunciation

Noun

r
Z1

 m

  1. mouth
    • Stela of Hekaib, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, AP 78,
      nw
      k       		n&D s A1 i q
      r       		D&d m r
      Z1       		f
      jnk nḏs jkr ḏd m r=f
      I was an excellent individual; one who spoke with his own mouth.

Preposition

r

  1. regarding, with respect to, concerning, according to
  2. for, in order to
  3. against
  4. from, apart from (ablative)
  5. (with verbs of motion) to, towards
  6. (of time) at, in, on
  7. (after an adjective, forming the comparative) than

Usage notes

At the beginning of a sentence, and sometimes before pronouns

i r
jr

Inflection

Adverbial form jrj
i r
Z4
jr(j)
i r

References

Allen, Middle Egyptian
Faulkner, Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian

Esperanto

Pronunciation

Letter

r ‎(lower case, upper case R)

  1. The twenty-first letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called ro and written in the Latin script.

See also

Faroese

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɹ/

Letter

r ‎(upper case R)

  1. The twentieth letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Ido

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɾ/

Letter

r ‎(upper case R)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Italian

Noun

r m, f ‎(invariable)

  1. See under R

Latvian

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɾ]

Letter

R

r ‎(lower case, upper case R)

  1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called er and written in the Latin script.

See also

Livonian

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /r/

Letter

r ‎(upper case R)

  1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Livonian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Malay

Letter

r ‎(lower case, upper case R)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Mandarin

Romanization

r (Zhuyin ㄖ˙)

  1. Pinyin transcription of 兒, 儿

References

Norwegian

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ærː/, /æɾː/
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /r/, /ɾ/, /ʁ/

Letter

r

  1. The eighteenth letter of the Norwegian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  • /ʁ/ is the pronunciation of r usually found in southern and southeastern dialects of Norway. Bergen has the dialect best known for this sound. Said to come from Danish and/or German, originally from French.
  • Dialects with /ʁ/ do not have retroflex consonants.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Letter

r ‎(lower case, upper case R)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Romanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /re/, /er/

Letter

r ‎(lowercase, capital R)

  1. The twentieth letter of the Romanian alphabet, written in the Latin script. Representing the phoneme /r/. Preceded by p and followed by s.

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

  • (uppercase) R

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /r/

Letter

r ‎(Cyrillic spelling р)

  1. The 23rd letter of the Serbo-Croatian Latin alphabet (gajica), preceded by p and followed by s.

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /r/

Letter

r ‎(upper case R)

  1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /ɾ/, /r/
  • (letter name) IPA(key): /'ere/

Letter

r ‎(lower case, upper case R)

  1. The nineteenth letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Turkish

Letter

r ‎(lower case, upper case R)

  1. The twenty-first letter of the Turkish alphabet, called re and written in the Latin script.

See also

Turkmen

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /r/

Letter

r ‎(upper case R)

  1. The twenty-first letter of the Turkmen alphabet, called er and written in the Latin script.

See also

Etymology

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