/ˈɹeɪɒn/
OriginName chosen by the National Retail Dry Goods Association of America, probably from French rayon (“a beam of light, ray”) and so called because it is shiny; however, the Oxford English Dictionary states that it is apparently a blend of ray + cotton.
- countable, uncountableA manufactured regenerated cellulosic fiber.
- obsolete, rareA ray or beam of light.
“Nor brick, nor marble was the wall in view,
But ſhining Chriſtall, which from top to baſe
Out of her womb a thouſand rayons threw, […]”
“The rayons of the Sunne we see, Diminish in their strength.”
“Here stood A cave,…unreached by rayons of the Sun.”
- A circular area whose extent is measured by the length of the radius of the circle which bounds it.
“Within a rayon of a certain number of miles.”
“I found myself within his rayon at Newcastle, which is one of his bases of supply.”
Formsrayons(plural) · Rayons(plural)
Source: Wiktionary