reed

CEFRB2

/ɹiːd/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A tall, thin plant that grows in wet ground.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Part of an aerophone musical instrument, comprising a thin piece of wood or metal, which vibrates to produce sound when air passes through it.

Examples

  • Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed.

  • Teach me how to play a reed pipe.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The hollow stem of these plants.

  2. Any of various types of tall stiff perennial grass-like plants growing together in groups near water.

  3. A comb-like part of a beater for beating the weft when weaving.

More examples

In context

  • Man is a thinking reed.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In the wet marshland, the tall, thin plant called a blank grew along the riverbank.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English red, from Old English hrēod, from Proto-West Germanic *hreud (“reed”), of uncertain origin. Cognates Cognate with North Frisian raid (“reed”), Saterland Frisian Räit (“reed”), West Frisian reid (“reed”), Dutch riet (“reed”), German Reet, Ried (“reed”). No cognates in North Germanic languages, but the existence of an otherwise unattested Gothic *𐌷𐍂𐌹𐌿𐌳 (*hriud) was supposed by the brothers Grimm. They also theorised that the word may have a relation to the retas mentioned in Noctes Atticae (Aulus Gellius). The measuring reed sense is the translation of Akkadian qanûm ("cane") used in the Bible and elsewhere.