raja

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ra·ja

or ra·jah  (rä′jə, -zhə)
n.
A prince, chief, or ruler in India or the East Indies.

[Hindi rājā, from Sanskrit, king; see reg- in Indo-European roots.]
Word History: Raja is familiar to us from the Sanskrit rājā, "king," and mahārājā, "great king." The Sanskrit root raj-, "to rule," comes from the Indo-European root *reg-, "to move in a straight line, direct, rule." The same root appears in Italic (Latin) and Celtic. Rēx means "king" in Latin, coming from *reg-s, whence our regal and, through French, royal. Two of the Gaulish kings familiar to us from Caesar, Dumnorix and Vercingetorix, incorporate the Celtic word rīx, "king," in their names. (Rīx also forms part of the name of that fictitious Gaul Asterix.) Germanic at some time borrowed the Celtic word rīx. It appears as reiks, "ruler," in Gothic, as well as in older Germanic names ending in -ric, such as Alaric and Theodoric, the latter of whom has a name that is equivalent to German Dietrich, "people's king." A derivative of Celtic rīx, *rīg-yo-, meaning "rule, domain," was also borrowed into Germanic, and is the source of German Reich, "rule, empire."
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.raja - a prince or king in Indiaraja - a prince or king in India    
aristocrat, blue blood, patrician - a member of the aristocracy
2.Raja - type genus of the family Rajidae
fish genus - any of various genus of fish
family Rajidae, Rajidae - bottom-dwelling tropical rays: skates
gray skate, grey skate, Raja batis - common European skate used as food
little skate, Raja erinacea - most plentiful skate in North American inshore waters in summer; to 21 inches
Raja radiata, thorny skate - cold-water bottom fish with spines on the back; to 40 inches
barndoor skate, Raja laevis - one of the largest skates (to 5 feet); an active skate easy to hook
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in periodicals archive ?
Rayas quest is about self-discovery and self-determination but is also an exploration of third-world issues juxtaposed against first-world entitlement.
High school senior Raya should be thrilled, like best friend Lexi, but is plagued by anxiety--not freshman jitters and paralyzing selfdoubt.
Es un hecho conocido que las poblaciones de condrictios, en particular las rayas, presentan baja resiliencia en comparacion con la mayoria de los peces teleosteos (Stevens et al., 2000); esto favorece el uso de las tasas de captura, estructura de tamanos y composicion de especies, como indicadores confiables en la deteccion de reducciones de abundancia (Dulvy et al., 2000; Rogers & Ellis, 2000; Jukic-Peladic et al., 2001; Garofalo et al., 2003).
Si bien, algunos estudios indican que las tres especies mas recurrentes capturadas por esta flota fueron raya volantin (Dipturus chilensis Guichenot), raya espinuda (Dipturus trachydernia Krefft & Stehmann) y raya blanca (Bathyraja magellanica Philippi) (Bahamonde et al., 1994,1996), los registros pesqueros indican que todas las especies rajiformes fueron agrupadas bajo el nombre comun de rayas, impidiendo posteriormente estimar niveles de explotacion especie-especifico.