Does glutinous rice contain gluten? My sister-in-law is an American living in China, and while visiting the US, learned that reducing certain foods, including gluten, seems to have an improvement in her health.

She is trying to figure out what her diet in China should look like, and noted some confusion about glutinous rice. She said that rice is on her list of gluten-free foods, but since glutinous is in the name, she assumes that gluten is added to it.

Does glutinous rice actually have gluten in it, or is something lost in translation?
No, it doesn't. Rice is always gluten free. 

It just so happens that words like "gluten", "glutinous" and "glue" are words which have a common root, meaning "sticky". Glutinous rice is sticky due to a high proportion of bushy starches in the rice grain. It has nothing to do with gluten, which is a complex formed by wheat proteins, and not contained in any type of rice. 

See also our list of gluten-free grains, which also notes the gluten-glutinous distinction.