res

¹ American  

[reez, reys] / riz, reɪs /

noun

Chiefly Law.

plural

res

1. an object or thing; matter.

---

RES ² American  

abbreviation

Immunology.

1. reticuloendothelial system.

---

res. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. research.

2. reserve.

3. residence.

4. resident; residents.

5. resigned.

6. resolution.

---

res. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. residence

2. resides

3. resigned

4. resolution

---

res ² British  

/ reɪs /

noun

1. a thing, matter, or object

---

Etymology

Origin of res

First recorded in 1850–55, res is from the Latin word rēs

Example Sentences

We begin in medias res as the unnamed author frets about his choice to begin at chapter 13 rather than the more traditional chapter 1.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

The law deems them res nullius, which literally means a thing belonging to nobody - so responsibility falls to individual landowners.

From BBC • Dec. 25, 2025

Instead of plopping us into an eternity in media res, with its own rules and regulations already in place, Freyne introduces something novel to this process: a choice.

From Salon • Nov. 27, 2025

Birria de res — stewed beef — is on menus across town after it truly hit Southern California last decade.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2024

These French writers possess the art of plunging at once in medias res, and Balzac places you, in the twinkling of an eye, in one of the lowest boarding-houses of Paris.

From Life Without and Life Within or, Reviews, Narratives, Essays, and poems. by Fuller, Margaret