rayon

American  

[rey-on] / ˈreɪ ɒn /

noun

1. a regenerated, semisynthetic textile filament made from cellulose, cotton linters, or wood chips by treating these with caustic soda and carbon disulfide and passing the resultant solution, viscose, through spinnerets.

2. fabric made of this filament.

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adjective

1. made of rayon.

rayon British  

/ ˈreɪɒn /

noun

1. any of a number of textile fibres made from wood pulp or other forms of cellulose

2. any fabric made from such a fibre

3. (modifier) consisting of or involving rayon

   a rayon shirt

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Other Word Forms

• half-rayon adjective

Etymology

Origin of rayon

First recorded in 1920–25; apparently based on ray ¹

Example Sentences

It also had splashes of color: a gentle yellow, a rusty orange, a light brown and a mossy green, in the form of rayon fabrics made by Dupont covering the walls.

From New York Times • Jan. 25, 2024

All contained cotton, in some cases mixed with other textiles such as spandex and rayon.

From Reuters • Sep. 1, 2023

“You frequently saw men wearing boutonnieres with business suits and wide brim hats and their wide rayon ties,” says Cole, “and there’s this dapperness.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2023

These tampons are made of cotton, rayon, or a blend of both ingredients.

From Salon • Jun. 22, 2022

The young women, sitting in their own clusters on the lawn, wore short- heeled pumps and rayon hose, calf-length skirts, and loose-fitting blouses with ruffles and flounces on the sleeves and at the necklines.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown