Meanings
tray1
plural trays
- A small, typically rectangular or round, flat, and rigid object upon which things are carried.
Make sure that tray of eggs is properly loaded.
2 more examples
I carefully arranged the dishes on the tray and brought it upstairs.
Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety. She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 2, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC - broadlyThe items on a full tray.
Before long they had consumed a whole tray of shrimp cocktails and sent for another.
Synonyms: trayful
- A component of a device into which an item is placed for use in the device's operations.
baking tray
2 more examples
The CD tray will not open.
The loader is responsible for placing the work on the trays for the plating machines.
- informalcomputingA notification area used for icons and alerts.
[…]some developers try to use it that way for some reason (some applications inexplicably minimize to the tray rather than to the taskbar as they should).
2007, Brian Livingston, Paul Thurrott, Windows Vista Secrets
present singular third person trays · participle present traying · participle past trayed · past trayed
- transitiveto place (items) on a tray
Be sure to tray eggs with the large end up.
tray2
tray3
present singular third person trays · participle present traying · participle past trayed · past trayed
tray4
present singular third person trays · participle present traying · participle past trayed · past trayed
tray5
plural trays
- alternativeAlternative form of trey (“third branch of deer's antler”).
tray6
plural trays
- LGBTQ slangA gay trans person, particularly a man (a man who is both transgender and gay)
Tray7
- A diminutive of the female given name Tracy.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe items on a full tray.
nounThe platform of a truck that supports the load to be hauled.
Origin
tray · noun, verb
- Proto-Indo-European*drewo-
- Proto-Germanic*trawją“wooden vessel”
- Proto-West Germanic*trauwi
- Old Englishtrēġ
- Middle Englishtrey
- Englishtray
From Middle English trey, from Old English trēġ, trīġ (“wooden board, tray”), from Proto-West Germanic *trauwi, from Proto-Germanic *trawją (“wooden vessel”), from Proto-Indo-European *drewo-, *dóru (“tree; wood”). Cognate with Old Norse treyja (“carrier”), Old Swedish trø (“wooden grain measure”), Low German Treechel (“dough trough”), Ancient Greek δροίτη (droítē, “tub, vat”), Sanskrit द्रोण (droṇa, “trough”). Related to trough and tree.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →tray · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*dreǵʰ-“unwilling, sullen, slack”
- Proto-Germanic*tregô“mourning”
- Old Englishtrega“misfortune, misery, trouble, grief, pain”
- Middle Englishtraye
- Englishtray
From Middle English traye, treie, from Old English trega (“misfortune, misery, trouble, grief, pain”), from Proto-Germanic *tregô (“mourning”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreǵʰ- (“unwilling, sullen, slack”). Cognate with Icelandic tregi (“sorrow, grief”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐍉 (trigō, “grief”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →tray · verb
- Proto-Indo-European*dreǵʰ-“unwilling, sullen, slack”
- Proto-Germanic*tregōną“to become tedious, become lazy, sadden”
- Proto-West Germanic*tregōn
- Old Englishtregian“to trouble, harass, vex”
- Middle Englishtrayen
- Englishtray
From Middle English trayen, treien, from Old English tregian (“to trouble, harass, vex”), from Proto-West Germanic *tregōn, from Proto-Germanic *tregōną (“to become tedious, become lazy, sadden”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreǵʰ- (“unwilling, sullen, slack”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →tray · verb
- Latintradō“hand over, betray”
- Old Frenchtrair“to betray”
- Middle Englishtrayen
- Englishtray
From Middle English trayen, from Old French trair (“to betray”), from Latin tradō (“hand over, betray”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans skinkbord
- skinkbordobject on which things are carried
Arabic صِينِيَّة
- صِينِيَّة (ṣīniyya)object on which things are carried
Bengali পরাত
- পরাত (porat)object on which things are carried
Bulgarian по́днос, подно́с
- по́днос (pódnos)object on which things are carried
- подно́с (podnós)object on which things are carried
- табла (tabla)object on which things are carried
- поднос (podnos)items on a full tray
Catalan safata
- safataobject on which things are carried
Chinese Mandarin 托盤 /托盘, 盤 /盘
- 托盤 /托盘 (tuōpán)object on which things are carried
- 盤 /盘 (pán)object on which things are carried
Czech tác, tácek
- tácobject on which things are carried
- tácekobject on which things are carried
- podnosobject on which things are carried
Danish bakke
- bakkeobject on which things are carried
Dutch dienblad
- dienbladobject on which things are carried
Esperanto pleto
- pletoobject on which things are carried
Estonian kandik
- kandikobject on which things are carried
Finnish tarjotin, taso
- tarjotinobject on which things are carried
- tasoobject on which things are carried
- kehikkoobject on which things are carried
- tarjottimellinenitems on a full tray
- kelkkacomponent of a device
- ilmaisinaluenotification area in a computer's graphical user interface
French plateau, cabaret
- plateauobject on which things are carried
- cabaretobject on which things are carried
German Tablett, Tablettladung
- Tablettobject on which things are carried
- Tablettladungitems on a full tray
- Schubladecomponent of a device
- Fachcomponent of a device
- Leistenotification area in a computer's graphical user interface
Greek δίσκος, δίσκος
- δίσκος (dískos)object on which things are carried
- δίσκος (dískos)items on a full tray
Hebrew מַגָּשׁ
- מַגָּשׁ (magásh)object on which things are carried
Hindi ट्रे, तश्तरी
- ट्रे (ṭre)object on which things are carried
- तश्तरी (taśtarī)object on which things are carried
- थाल (thāl)object on which things are carried
Hungarian tálca, tepsi
- tálcaobject on which things are carried
- tepsiobject on which things are carried
- tálcanotification area in a computer's graphical user interface
Icelandic bakki
- bakkiobject on which things are carried
Indonesian nampan, baki
- nampanobject on which things are carried
- bakinotification area in a computer's graphical user interface
Irish tráidire
- tráidireobject on which things are carried
Italian vassoio, barra
- vassoioobject on which things are carried
- barranotification area in a computer's graphical user interface
Japanese 盆, トレイ
- 盆 (bon)object on which things are carried
- トレイ (torei)object on which things are carried
- トレイ (torei)notification area in a computer's graphical user interface
Korean 쟁반, 트레이
- 쟁반 (jaengban)object on which things are carried
- 트레이 (teurei)object on which things are carried
- 트레이 (teurei)notification area in a computer's graphical user interface
Latin ferculum, discus
- ferculumobject on which things are carried
- discusobject on which things are carried
Latvian paplāte
- paplāteobject on which things are carried
Lithuanian padėklas, dėklas
- padėklasobject on which things are carried
- dėklasobject on which things are carried
Malay dulang, baki
- dulangobject on which things are carried
- bakiobject on which things are carried
Māori paepae
- paepaeobject on which things are carried
Norwegian Bokmål brett
- brettobject on which things are carried
Polish tacka, taca
- tackaobject on which things are carried
- tacaobject on which things are carried
- tackanotification area in a computer's graphical user interface
- zasobniknotification area in a computer's graphical user interface
Portuguese bandeja, tabuleiro
- bandejaobject on which things are carried
- tabuleiroobject on which things are carried
- bandejanotification area in a computer's graphical user interface
- barranotification area in a computer's graphical user interface
Romanian tavă
- tavăobject on which things are carried
Russian подно́с, лото́к
- подно́с (podnós)object on which things are carried
- лото́к (lotók)object on which things are carried
- поддо́н (poddón)object on which things are carried
- трей (trɛj)notification area in a computer's graphical user interface
Slovak podnos, tácka
- podnosobject on which things are carried
- táckaobject on which things are carried
- tácňaobject on which things are carried
Spanish bandeja, charola
- bandejaobject on which things are carried
- charolaobject on which things are carried
- treyobject on which things are carried
- palanganaobject on which things are carried
Swahili uteo, trei
- uteoobject on which things are carried
- treiobject on which things are carried
Swedish bricka
- brickaobject on which things are carried
Thai ถาด, กระบะ
- ถาด (tàat)object on which things are carried
- กระบะ (grà-bà)object on which things are carried
Turkish tepsi, sini
- tepsiobject on which things are carried
- siniobject on which things are carried
- tepsiitems on a full tray
Ukrainian підно́с, та́ця
- підно́с (pidnós)object on which things are carried
- та́ця (tácja)object on which things are carried
Urdu ٹِرے, ٹْرے
- ٹِرے (ṭire)object on which things are carried
- ٹْرے (ṭre)object on which things are carried
- سینی (senī)object on which things are carried
- صینی (senī)object on which things are carried
- طَبَق (tabaq)object on which things are carried
- طَشْت (taśt)object on which things are carried
- تَشْت (taśt)object on which things are carried
Vietnamese mâm, khay
- mâmobject on which things are carried
- khayobject on which things are carried
Welsh hambwrdd
- hambwrddobject on which things are carried
Yiddish טאַץ
- טאַץ (tats)object on which things are carried
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with tray
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tray. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tray
“tray.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tray. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tray,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tray.
Source: tray on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.