mid-13c., from Old French ris, from Italian riso, from Latin oriza, from Greek oryza "rice," via an Indo-Iranian language (compare Pashto vriže, Old Persian brizi), ultimately from Sanskrit vrihi-s "rice." The Greek word is the ultimate source of all European words (Welsh reis, German reis, Lithuanian rysai, Serbo-Croatian riza, Polish ryż, etc.). Introduced 1647 in the Carolinas. Rice paper (1822), originally used in China, Japan, etc., is made from straw of rice.