Indian rice
- noun
- /ˈɪndiən raɪs/
- US
:
arroz salvaje
- Native Americans have harvested Indian rice from lakes and rivers for centuries.
Examples
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The chef prepared a delicious dish using Indian rice instead of regular white rice.
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We served roasted vegetables with a side of seasoned Indian rice at the dinner party.
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I love cooking with Indian rice.
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Have you ever tried Indian rice?
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Native Americans have harvested Indian rice from lakes and rivers for centuries.
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The chef prepared a delicious dish using Indian rice instead of regular white rice.
-
We served roasted vegetables with a side of seasoned Indian rice at the dinner party.
Synonyms
4
3.3
A long dark grain from water plants that people cook and eat
A water grass in North America that grows edible grains called wild rice
A water grass that makes edible seeds called wild rice
A group of tall water grasses whose seeds people eat as wild rice
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally 'Indian' + 'rice', so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a type of rice associated with (Native) Indians; however the specific referent—wild rice, an aquatic grain native to North America—is a culturally specific lexicalization that is not fully predictable from the constituents. There is also potential ambiguity with 'Indian' meaning from India, so the exact sense requires extra cultural or encyclopedic knowledge.
Etymology
The noun Indian rice comes from early visitors watching Native Americans scoop a wild grain from lakes and rivers while in canoes. They called the grain Indian rice because it was gathered by Native people, so today Indian rice means the wild, edible grain often called wild rice.