Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Rye

Rye (rī) , noun

[Old English rie, reie, Anglo-Saxon ryge; akin to Icelandic rugr, Swedish råg, Danish rug, Dutch rogge, Old High German rocco, roggo, German rocken, roggen, Lithuanian rugei, Russ. roje, and perh. to Greek 'o`ryza rice. Compare Rice.]

1.
(Botany) A grain yielded by a hardy cereal grass (Secale cereale), closely allied to wheat; also, the plant itself. Rye constitutes a large portion of the breadstuff used by man.
2.
A disease in a hawk. — Ainsworth
Collocations (2)
Rye grass or Italian rye grass (Botany) , See under Grass. See also Ray grass, and Darnel.
Wild rye (Botany) , any plant of the genus Elymus, tall grasses with much the appearance of rye.