Clay

See also: clay and claþ

English

Etymology

From a (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English occupational name for a clay worker, or a habitational name, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English clǣġ (“clay”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kleɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ

Proper noun

Clay (plural Clays)

1. A surname originating as an occupation
2. A male given name transferred from the surname.
   • 1968 Patrick White, Clay, in The Burnt Ones, Penguin Books, page 114:

     When he was about five years old some kids asked Clay why his mother had called him that. And he did not know. But began to wonder.

3. A diminutive of the male given name Clayton.
4. A town, the county seat of Clay County, West Virginia, United States.
5. Ellipsis of Clay County.

Derived terms

• Clay County

Anagrams

• Lacy, acyl, lacy