jay

See also: Jay

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: jā, IPA^(key): /d͡ʒeɪ/

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

Eurasian jay

American jay

Etymology 1

From Middle English jay, from Old French jai ("jay"; Modern French geai), from Old French gai (“gay, merry”), so named due to its plumage, from Old Frankish *gāhi (“quick, impetuous”), from Proto-Germanic *ganhuz, *ganhwaz (“sudden”), cognate with Dutch gaai (“jay”). More at gay.

Noun

jay (plural jays)

1. Any of the numerous species of birds belonging to several genera within the family Corvidae, including Garrulus, Cyanocitta, Aphelocoma, Perisoreus, Cyanocorax, Gymnorhinus, Cyanolyca, Ptilostomus, and Calocitta, allied to the crows, but smaller, more graceful in form, often handsomely coloured, usually having a crest, and often noisy.
2. Any of various other birds of similar appearance and behaviour.
   1. The Indian roller, Coracias benghalensis.
      • 1878, Philip Stewart Robinson, In My Indian Garden

        They are the commonality of birddom, who furnish forth the mobs which bewilder the drunken-flighted jay when he jerks, shrieking in a series of blue hyphen-flashes through the air […]

3. Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium.
4. (archaic) A dull or ignorant person. It survives today in the term jaywalking.
   • 1900, Harry B. Norris, Burlington Bertie (song)

     Burlington Bertie's the latest young jay
     He rents a swell flat somewhere Kensington way
     He spends the good oof that his pater has made
     Along with the Brandy and Soda Brigade.

5. (obsolete) Promiscuous woman; prostitute.
   • a. 1611, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, act 3, scene 4, lines 50–51:

     Some jay of Italy, / Whose mother was her painting, hath betray'd him:

Synonyms

• (bird): Jenny jay, jay pie, k, kae (UK); bluejay, whisky jack (US)
• (ignorant person): See Thesaurus:ignoramus
• (promiscuous woman): See Thesaurus:promiscuous woman or Thesaurus:prostitute

Hyponyms

• (bird): Old World jay, gray jay, American jay

Derived terms

terms derived from jay (bird)

• blue jay, bluejay
• Canada jay (Perisoreus canadensis)
• California jay ()
• Florida jay ()

• green jay ()
• jay thrush (Leiothrichidae spp.)
• jaywalker

Translations

bird

• Albanian: grifshë (sq) f, grizhlemzë (sq) f
• Arabic: زُرَيْق m (zurayq)
• Armenian: ճայ (hy) (čay)
• Basque: eskinoso
• Belarusian: сойка f (sójka)
• Breton: kegin (br) f
• Bulgarian: сойка f (sojka)
• Catalan: gaig m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 松鴉／松鸦 (zh), 松鸦 (zh) (sōngyā), 橿鳥／橿鸟 (jiāngniǎo), 橿鸟 (jiāngniǎo)

  Cantonese: 松鴉／松鸦, 松鸦 (cung⁴ aa¹), 橿鳥／橿鸟 (goeng¹ niu⁵), 橿鸟 (goeng¹ niu⁵)

• Czech: sojka (cs) f
• Danish: skovskade (da) (Eurasian jay)
• Dutch: gaai (nl) m, Vlaamse gaai (nl) m
• Esperanto: garolo
• Estonian: pasknäär (et)
• Faroese: gnelliskjóra
• Finnish: närhi (fi)
• French: geai (fr) m, geai des chênes (fr) m
• Friulian: gjaie f, badascule f
• Galician: gaio (gl), pega marxa, pega rebordá f
• Georgian: ჩხიკვი (čxiḳvi)
• German: Häher (de) m, Hähermännchen n (male), Häherweibchen n (female)
• Greek: κίσσα (el) f (kíssa)

  Ancient: κίσσα f (kíssa)

• Hebrew: עורבני m ('orbaní)
• Hungarian: szajkó (hu), mátyásmadár (hu)
• Icelandic: skrækskaði (is)
• Ido: jeo (io)
• Irish: scréachóg
• Italian: ghiandaia (it) f
• Japanese: 懸巣, 橿鳥, 鵥 (ja), カケス (かけす, kakesu)
• Ladin: gacia
• Latin: gaius, garrulus m
• Latvian: sīlis
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lithuanian: kėkštas (lt)
• Lower Sorbian: kabeja
• Macedonian: сојка f (sojka)
• Maltese: sultan iċ-ċawl
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari:

• Mongolian: ятга шаазгай (jatga šaazgaj), ятгашаазгай (jatgašaazgaj, literally “zither magpie”)
• Navajo: tʼádootłʼizhii, joogii
• Norman: geai m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nøtteskrike (no) m or f (Eurasian jay)

  Nynorsk: nøtteskrikje f, nøtteskrike (no) f (Eurasian jay)

• Occitan: gag (oc)
• Polish: sójka (pl) f
• Portuguese: gralha (pt) f, gaio (pt) m
• Romanian: gaiță (ro) f
• Romansch: sgragia f
• Russian: со́йка (ru) f (sójka)
• Sami:

  Northern Sami: látteguovssat

• Sardinian: piga, pica, marabiga, mariabiga, melapica
• Scottish Gaelic: sgreuchag f, sgreuchan-coille m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: креjа f, шојка f, сoјка f

  Roman: kreja (sh) f, šojka (sh) f, sojka (sh) f

• Slovak: sojka (sk) f
• Slovene: šoja (sl) f
• Spanish: arrendajo m, urraca (es) f, grajilla (es) f
• Swedish: nötskrika (sv) (Eurasian jay)
• Turkish: alakarga (tr)
• Ukrainian: сойка f (sojka)
• Upper Sorbian: škrěkawa
• Welsh: sgrech y coed
• West Frisian: houtekster

See also

• Jay on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Corvidae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Etymology 2

Respelling of the letter jy (which see), by analogy with the following letter kay.

Noun

jay (plural jays)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter J/j.
2. (slang) A marijuana cigarette; a joint.
   • 2009, Caitlin Moran, The Times, 23 Mar 2009:

     Although sympathetic, my main reaction was to think: “Some people can handle it, and some people can’t,” and then smugly light up a big fat jay.

Derived terms

• deejay
• Jaycee
• peejays

Translations

name of the letter J, j

• Arabic: جَاي m (jay), جَاي m (jāy)
• Burmese: ဂျေ (gye)
• Catalan: jota (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (English letter names are called as in English, no other standard Mandarin name exists)

• Dutch: jee (nl) f
• Esperanto: jo (eo)
• Finnish: jii (fi)
• French: ji (fr) m
• Galician: iota (gl) m
• German: Jot m
• Greek: τζέι n (tzéi)
• Hawaiian: iota
• Hindi: जे (hi) (je)
• Icelandic: joð (is)
• Ido: je (io)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: jé
• Italian: i lunga f
• Japanese: ジェー (jē), ジェイ (jei)
• Korean: 제이 (jei)
• Latin: ī (la)
• Malay: je
• Marathi: जे (je)
• Occitan: ji (oc) f
• Persian: جیْ (fa) (jey)
• Polish: jot (pl) n
• Portuguese: jota (pt) m
• Russian: джей n (džej) (English), йот (ru) m (jot), жи n (ži)
• Spanish: jota (es) f
• Thai: เจ (th) (jee)
• Turkish: je (tr)
• Welsh: je f

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee / zed

References

• “jay”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

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Kaqchikel

Noun

jay

1. home

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• jai, gaye, jey

Etymology

From Old French jai, from Frankish *gāhi or Late Latin gaius. Doublet of gay.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒɛi̯/

Noun

jay (plural jayes)

1. jay (bird)

Descendants

• English: jay
• Scots: jay

References

• “jai, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-18.