*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of racy

From race (“having a characteristic taste (of wines, fruits, etc.)”) + -y.

1 source sectionBrief source recordWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
adj

Mildly risqué. · Having a strong flavor indicating origin; of distinct characteristic taste; tasting of the soil. · Exciting to the mind by a strong or distinctive character of thought or language; peculiar and piquant; fresh and lively. · Involving a data race or a race condition.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From race (“having a characteristic taste (of wines, fruits, etc.)”) + -y.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "suffix",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "race#Etymology_2",
        "3": "-y",
        "t1": "having a characteristic taste (of wines, fruits, etc.)"
      },
      "expansion": "race (“having a characteristic taste (of wines, fruits, etc.)”) + -y"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "race",
      "race#Etymology_2"
    ],
    [
      "-y",
      "-y#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Mildly risqué.",
        "Having a strong flavor indicating origin; of distinct characteristic taste; tasting of the soil.",
        "Exciting to the mind by a strong or distinctive character of thought or language; peculiar and piquant; fresh and lively.",
        "Involving a data race or a race condition."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "figuratively"
      ],
      "recordId": "3552f61dcf5716114096d9d9d6e0fdf2c1ef8aca846d53e2296672e5499de9a1",
      "rawRecordSha256": "a2bfb90158b4d6972f05b1614ccd927c5f38ec7d45d3e72c27ee406fba498ce1",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 238748
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for racy →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cmFjeQ