Rayed

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Exhibiting features that resemble lines or beams extending outward
2. Characterized by a pattern that radiates from a central source in distinct lines
3. Displaying lines or beams that spread outward from a central point

Etymology: "Rayed" is a straightforward formation: the noun "ray" with the suffix "-ed", which turns a noun into an adjective meaning "having" or "furnished with" the thing named. A rayed object is one with rays, and the adjective is used mostly in botany and heraldry for things like rayed flowers or sun-like emblems. The word's most interesting connection is to "radiused," which is a doublet of it. Both come from the same Latin source, "radius," meaning a spoke of a wheel, a staff, or a beam. English took that root twice: once through the native-style "ray," which arrived through Old French "rai," and once more directly from Latin as "radius." The two forms split apart in meaning and in use, yet they still share a single ancestor.