grey
English[edit]
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)
- 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.
- Isaac Newton
- Dreary, gloomy.
- Daniel C. Gerould
- the era of gray, boring banality and stagnation
- Daniel C. Gerould
- Having an indistinct, disputed or uncertain quality.
- 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]
Translations[edit]
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Verb[edit]
grey (third-person singular simple present greys, present participle greying, simple past and past participle greyed) (often spelled "gray" in the US)
- To become grey.
- My hair is beginning to grey.
- 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.
- 1941, Emily Carr, Klee Wyck, Chapter 18, [1]
- (demography, slang) To turn progressively older, in the context of the population of a geographic region.
- the greying of Europe
Translations[edit]
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Noun[edit]
grey (plural greys) (often spelled "gray" in the US)
- An achromatic colour intermediate between black and white.
- grey colour:
- 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.
- Sir Walter Scott
- (ufology) an extraterrestrial humanoid with greyish skin, bulbous black eyes, and an enlarged head.
Translations[edit]
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- 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.
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)
- (archaic) bitch (female dog)
- wretch, pitiful person
- Greyið mitt!
- You poor little thing!
- Greyið Jón
- Poor John
- Greyið mitt!
- indefinite accusative singular of grey
- indefinite nominative plural of grey
- indefinite accusative plural of grey
Declension[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old English grǣġ, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
grey (inflected form greye)
- grey, dull, drab (in color)
- glinting, glistening
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- “grei (adj. & n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.
Noun[edit]
grey
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- “grei (adj. & n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.
- “grei (n.(2))” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.
- “grei (n.(1))” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.
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)
- Alternative form of gray (race of extraterrestrials)
Spanish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin grege, singular ablative of grex.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
grey f (plural greyes)
- (obsolete, poetic) flock, herd
- (religion) flock (people served by a pastor, priest, etc., also all believers in a church or religion)
Synonyms[edit]
- (animals): rebaño
- (religion): rebaño, feligresía, congregación, iglesia
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
See also[edit]
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English verbs
- en:Demography
- English slang
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Ufology
- en:Colors
- English basic words
- en:Greys
- Icelandic terms derived from Old Norse
- Icelandic terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Icelandic 1-syllable words
- Icelandic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Icelandic lemmas
- Icelandic nouns
- Icelandic neuter nouns
- Icelandic terms with archaic senses
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English adjectives
- Middle English nouns
- enm:Colors
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese irregular nouns
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish terms with obsolete senses
- Spanish poetic terms
- es:Religion