rai

American  

[rahy] / raɪ /

noun

1. a style of Algerian popular music played on electric guitar, synthesizer, and percussion instruments.

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rai British  

/ raɪ /

noun

1. a type of Algerian popular music based on traditional Algerian music influenced by modern Western pop

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Etymology

Origin of rai

First recorded in 1985–90; from Algerian French raï, of uncertain origin; perhaps from Algerian Arabic (ha er-)ray “(here is the) view, (that's the) thinking,” a phrase often used in the songs

Example Sentences

Shanti Rai, 45, runs a volunteer rescue group that helped save people stuck on rooftops and clinging to trees, and pulled bodies from the Teesta.

From The Wall Street Journal

“I used to wonder where tears come from endlessly when we are sad,” said Rai, sitting at the riverside restaurant she built on the highway to Rangpo.

From The Wall Street Journal

At around 11 p.m. on a rainy night, Sukraj Rai, 42, a schoolteacher in Rangpo Forest, began getting frantic calls warning him that the Teesta was rising and that the Chungthang dam had broken.

From The Wall Street Journal

As the floodwaters careened through the town, Rai ran into Prasad, shirtless and crying, and urged him to get to higher ground.

From The Wall Street Journal

Later, Rai took stock of the unfolding catastrophe from above.

From The Wall Street Journal