see also: Ready
Etymology
From English ready, from the English-language sequence on your marks, ready, set, go, of which only "ready" is used translingually.
Interjection- (sports) The command to make ready, regardless of language of competitors, used in multiple sports to get contestants to their marks in preparation to start.
From Middle English redy, redi, rædiȝ, iredi, ȝerǣdi, alteration ( + -y) of earlier irēd, irede, ȝerād, from Old English rǣde, ġerǣde (also ġerȳde) "prepared, prompt, ready, ready for riding (horse), mounted (on a horse), skilled, simple, easy", from Proto-Germanic *garaidijaz, *raidijaz, from base *raidaz ("ready"), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁dʰ-, *h₂reh₁- ("to count, put in order, arrange, make comfortable") and also probably conflated with Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ- in the sense of "set to ride, able or fit to go, ready".
Pronunciation Adjectiveready (comparative readier, superlative readiest)
- Prepared for immediate action or use.
- The troops are ready for battle.
- The porridge is ready to serve.
- 1711, Jonathan Swift, journal to Stella:
- she was told dinner was ready
- Inclined; apt to happen.
- Liable at any moment.
- The seed is ready to sprout.
- c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene i]:
- My heart is ready to crack.
- Not slow or hesitating; quick in action or perception of any kind.
- Synonyms: dexterous, prompt, easy, expert
- a ready apprehension
- ready wit
- a ready writer or workman
- 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC ↗:
- whose temper was ready, though surly
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 13, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC ↗:
- ready in devising expedients
- 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The First Gun”, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC ↗, page 16 ↗:
- Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.
- 1895, Rudyard Kipling, “The King’s Ankus”, in The Second Jungle Book, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC ↗, page 188 ↗:
- "Apple of Death" is what the Jungle call thorn-apple or dhatura, the readiest poison in all India.
- Offering itself at once; at hand; opportune; convenient.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗, line 1097:
- Through the wilde Deſert, not the readieſt way,
- 1700, John Dryden, Theodore and Honoria:
- A sapling pine he wrenched from out the ground, / The readiest weapon that his fury found.
- French: prêt, prête
- German: bereit, fertig, gar (of food), parat
- Italian: pronto, preparato
- Portuguese: pronto, preparado
- Russian: гото́вый
- Spanish: preparado, listo, listoco (colloquial)
- Portuguese: pronto
- Spanish: inclinado, predispuesto
- Italian: pronto
- German: bereit
ready (readies, present participle readying; simple past and past participle readied)
- (transitive) To prepare; to make ready for action.
- French: rendre disponible
- German: bereit machen, fertig machen, klar machen, vorbereiten
- Italian: preparare
- Portuguese: preparar, aprontar
- Spanish: preparar, alistar
ready
- (slang) Ready money; cash.
- 2008, Agnes Owens, The Group:
- […] he was generous when he had the cash. Many a time he kept me going in drink through the week when I was stuck for the ready […]
Ready
Proper noun
- Surname.
- An unincorporated community in Grayson County, Kentucky.
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