Meaning and Origin
What does the name Read mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
Origin and Meaning of Read
User Submitted Origins
English
75%
German
13%
Arabic
13%
International Interest
Also see international interest
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Read
Rennet. See 3d Reed.
verb Read
Senses
- To advise; to counsel.(Obs)See Rede."Therefore, I read thee, get thee to God's word, and thereby try all doctrine." [Tyndale.]
- To interpret; to explain; as, to read a riddle.
- To tell; to declare; to recite.(Obs)"But read how art thou named, and of what kin." [Spenser.]
- To go over, as characters or words, and utter aloud, or recite to one's self inaudibly; to take in the sense of, as of language, by interpreting the characters with which it is expressed; to peruse; as, to read a discourse; to read the letters of an alphabet; to read figures; to read the notes of music, or to read music; to read a book. " Redethread ye] the great poet of Itaille." [Chaucer.]"Well could he rede a lesson or a story." [Chaucer.]
- Hence, to know fully; to comprehend."Who is't can read a woman?" [Shak.]
- To discover or understand by characters, marks, features, etc.; to learn by observation."An armed corse did lie, In whose dead face he read great magnanimity." [Spenser.]"Those about her From her shall read the perfect ways of honor." [Shak.]
- To make a special study of, as by perusing textbooks; as, to read theology or law.
Etymology: OE. reden ræden, AS. rǣdan to read, advise, counsel, fr. rǣd advice, counsel, rǣdanimperf. reord) to advise, counsel, guess; akin to D. raden to advise, G. raten rathen, Icel. rāða, Goth. rēdanin comp.), and perh. also to Skr. rādh to succeed. √116. Cf. Riddle
verb Read
Senses
- To give advice or counsel.(Obs)
- To tell; to declare.(Obs)
- To perform the act of reading; to peruse, or to go over and utter aloud, the words of a book or other like document."So they read in the book of the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense." [Neh. viii. 8.]
- To study by reading; as, he read for the bar.
- To learn by reading."I have read of an Eastern king who put a judge to death for an iniquitous sentence." [Swift.]
- To appear in writing or print; to be expressed by, or consist of, certain words or characters; as, the passage reads thus in the early manuscripts.
- To produce a certain effect when read; as, that sentence reads queerly.
noun Read
Senses
- Saying; sentence; maxim; hence, word; advice; counsel. See Rede.(Obs)
- Reading.(Colloq)"One newswoman here lets magazines for a penny a read." [Furnivall.]
Etymology: Read (v.)
Etymology: AS. rǣd counsel, fr. rǣdan to counsel. See Read (v. t.)
Read
(imp. & p. p.) of Read (v. t. & i.)
adjective Read
Instructed or knowing by reading; versed in books; learned.
Other Dictionary Sources
- Something that is read ("the article was a very good read")
- Make sense of a language ("Can you read Greek?")
- Be a student of a certain subject ("She is reading for the bar exam")
- To hear and understand ("I read you loud and clear!")
- Interpret something in a certain way; convey a particular meaning or impression ("I read this address as a satire")
- Interpret something that is written or printed ("read the advertisement" and "Have you read Salman Rushdie?")
- Look at, interpret, and say out loud something that is written or printed ("The King will read the proclamation at noon")
- Interpret the significance of, as of palms, tea leaves, intestines, the sky; also of human behavior ("She read the sky and predicted rain", "I can't read his strange behavior", and "The fortune teller read his fate in the crystal ball")
- Obtain data from magnetic tapes or other digital sources ("This dictionary can be read by the computer")
- Indicate a certain reading; of gauges and instruments ("The gauge read `empty'")
- Audition for a stage role by reading parts of a role
- Have or contain a certain wording or form ("The passage reads as follows")
Wiktionary
- A surname, a less common spelling variant of Reid.
- A male given name transferred from the surname.