grey

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See also: Grey

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Various shades of grey.

Alternative forms[edit]

  • gray (often used in the US)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English grey, from Old English grǣġ, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz (compare Dutch grauw, German grau, Old Norse grár), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”) (compare Latin rāvus (“grey”), Old Church Slavonic зьрѭ (zĭrjǫ, “to see, to glance”), Russian зреть (zretʹ, “to watch, to look at”) (archaic), Lithuanian žeriù (“to shine”)).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • enPR: grā, IPA(key): /ɡɹeɪ/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Audio (UK)
    		(file)
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪ
  • Homophones: gray, greige

Adjective[edit]

grey (comparative greyer, superlative greyest) (often spelled "gray" in the US)

  1. Having a color somewhere between white and black, as the ash of an ember.
    • Isaac Newton
      These grey and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks.
  2. Dreary, gloomy.
  3. Having an indistinct, disputed or uncertain quality.
  4. Relating to older people.
    the grey dollar, i.e. the purchasing power of the elderly
    • Ames
      grey experience

Usage notes[edit]

A mnemonic for remembering which spelling is used where: grey is the English spelling, while gray is the American spelling. However, grey is also found in American English.

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from grey

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

grey (third-person singular simple present greys, present participle greying, simple past and past participle greyed) (often spelled "gray" in the US)

  1. To become grey.
    My hair is beginning to grey.
  2. To cause to become grey.
    • 1941, Emily Carr, Klee Wyck, Chapter 18, [1]
      Now only a few hand-hewn cedar planks and roof beams remained, moss-grown and sagging—a few totem poles, greyed and split.
  3. (demography, slang) To turn progressively older, in the context of the population of a geographic region.
    the greying of Europe

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

grey (plural greys) (often spelled "gray" in the US)

  1. An achromatic colour intermediate between black and white.
    grey colour:  
  2. An animal or thing of grey colour, such as a horse, badger, or salmon.
    • Sir Walter Scott
      Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, / That costs thy life, my gallant grey.
    • 1833, Sporting Magazine (volume 6, page 400)
      Pioneer seemed now to have the game in his own hands; but the Captain, by taking two desperate leaps, cut off a corner, by which he regained the ground he had lost by the fall, and was up with the grey the remainder of the chase.
  3. (ufology) an extraterrestrial humanoid with greyish skin, bulbous black eyes, and an enlarged head.

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also[edit]

Colors in English · colors, colours (layout · text)
     white      gray, grey      black
             red ; crimson              orange ; brown              yellow ; cream
             lime              green              mint
             cyan ; teal              azure, sky blue              blue
             violet ; indigo              magenta ; purple              pink

Anagrams[edit]

Icelandic[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse grey, from Proto-Germanic *grawją.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

grey n (genitive singular greys, nominative plural grey)

  1. (archaic) bitch (female dog)
  2. wretch, pitiful person
    Greyið mitt!
    You poor little thing!
    Greyið Jón
    Poor John
  3. indefinite accusative singular of grey
  4. indefinite nominative plural of grey
  5. indefinite accusative plural of grey

Declension[edit]

declension of grey
n-s singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative grey greyið grey greyin
accusative grey greyið grey greyin
dative greyi greyinu greyjum greyjunum
genitive greys greysins greyja greyjanna

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Old English grǣġ, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

grey (comparative redder, superlative reddest)

  1. grey, dull, drab (in color)
  2. glinting, glistening

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

Noun[edit]

grey

  1. grey (colour)
  2. Fur of the grey squirrel
  3. grey clothes
  4. grey textiles
  5. An elderly man
  6. A badger

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

See also[edit]

Colors in Middle English · coloures, hewes (layout · text)
     whit      grey, hor      blak
             red ; cremesyn, gernet              citrine, aumbre ; broun, tawne              yelow, dorry ; canevas
             grasgrene              grene             
             plunket ; ewage              asure, livid              blewe, blo, pers
             violet ; inde              rose, murrey ; purpel              claret

Portuguese[edit]

Noun[edit]

grey m (plural greys)

  1. Alternative form of gray (race of extraterrestrials)

Spanish[edit]

Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia es

Etymology[edit]

From Latin grege, singular ablative of grex.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

grey f (plural greyes)

  1. (obsolete, poetic) flock, herd
  2. (religion) flock (people served by a pastor, priest, etc., also all believers in a church or religion)

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

See also[edit]

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