gray meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

gray

adj

/ɡɹeɪ/

Etymology

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ (West Saxon). The spelling gray reflects the West Saxon vowel development, whereas the variant grey stems from the Anglian form grēġ (through Middle English grey). Further derived from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz (“grey”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”). Cognate with West Frisian grau (“grey”), Dutch grauw (“grey”), German Low German grau, graag (“grey”), German grau (“grey”), Swedish grå (“grey”), Icelandic grár (“grey”), Latin rāvus (“tawny, grey”), Old Church Slavonic зьрѭ (zĭrjǫ, “to see, to glance”), archaic Russian зреть (zretʹ, “to watch, to look at”), Lithuanian žeriù (“to shine”).

1

US Of a color between black and white, having neutral hue and intermediate brightness.

2

US, Figuratively, Sometimes Dreary, gloomy, cloudy.

the era of gray, boring banality and stagnation1980, Daniel C. Gerould, Stanisław I. Witkiewicz, The Beelzebub Sonata: Plays, Essays, Documents:
It's a pretty grey outlook for England if these are a sample of the mothers of the coming generation.1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:

3

US Of indistinct, disputed or uncertain quality or acceptability.

4

US Gray-haired.

I have already gone gray and lost my looks.

5

US Old.

Two hours, whose mighty circle did embrace More time than might make grey the infant world, Rolled thus, a weary and tumultuous space: […]1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 206:
In a subculture that idealizes youth, being gay and gray does not exactly make one a hot ticket. Older gays and lesbians often relegate themselves to separate and unequal meeting places.2004, Betty Berzon, Permanent Partners: Building Gay & Lesbian Relationships That Last, page 20:

6

US Relating to older people.

the gray dollar
February 8, 1800, Fisher Ames, Eulogy on Washington Gray experience listened to his counsels with respect, and, at a time when youth is almost privileged to be rash, Virginia committed the safety of her frontier, and ultimately the safety of America, not merely to his valor,—for that would be scarcely praise,—but to his prudence.

Derived terms: 139 terms
all cats are gray at night, all cats are gray in the dark, ash gray, ash-gray, ash-gray leaf bug, back gray, battleship gray, battleship-gray, blackish-gray antshrike, blue-gray, cadet gray, cool gray, dove gray, eastern gray kangaroo, eastern gray squirrel, get gray hair from, give gray hair to, give someone gray hair, gray-A, gray ace, gray alien, gray amber, gray ammonia, gray angelfish, gray area, gray asexual, gray asexuality, gray baby syndrome, graybeard, gray-blue, grayboard, graybody, gray-box testing, gray cardinal, gray catbird, gray ceiling, gray cells, gray collar, gray-collar, gray commissure, gray cuscus, gray divorce, gray dogwood, gray eminence, grayen, gray energy, gray ephedra, grayey, gray fox, gray friar, gray ghost, gray gold, gray ground squirrel, gray-haired, gray hat, grayhead, gray-headed, gray hen, grayhound, gray hydrogen, gray iron, grayish, gray jay, gray knight, gray langur, grayling, gray literature, grayly, gray magic, gray magick, gray man, graymap, gray market, gray marketeer, gray matter, gray mullet, graymuzzle, gray-necked bunting, grayness, gray night, gray noise, gray nomad, grayordinate, gray out, gray pine, gray platelet syndrome, gray plum, gray power, gray rape, gray reef shark, gray rocking, gray rock method, grayromantic, grayscale, gray-scale, gray scale, grayschist, gray seal, gray-sexual, graysexual, graysexuality, gray short-tailed opossum, gray silver, gray sole, gray squirrel, graystone, gray syndrome, gray tape, gray teal, gray town, gray treefrog, gray tree frog, gray triggerfish, grayware, gray water, graywater, gray whale, gray wolf, gray zorro, green-gray, groutfit, gunmetal gray, gunmetal-gray, insular gray fox, iron gray, island gray fox, long gray line, military gray, millennial gray, nongray, Patagonian gray fox, Payne's gray, pearl gray, periaqueductal gray, silver-gray, slate gray, South American gray fox, ungray, western gray kangaroo

gray

verb

Etymology

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ (West Saxon). The spelling gray reflects the West Saxon vowel development, whereas the variant grey stems from the Anglian form grēġ (through Middle English grey). Further derived from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz (“grey”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”). Cognate with West Frisian grau (“grey”), Dutch grauw (“grey”), German Low German grau, graag (“grey”), German grau (“grey”), Swedish grå (“grey”), Icelandic grár (“grey”), Latin rāvus (“tawny, grey”), Old Church Slavonic зьрѭ (zĭrjǫ, “to see, to glance”), archaic Russian зреть (zretʹ, “to watch, to look at”), Lithuanian žeriù (“to shine”).

1

US, Ergative To turn gray.

My hair is beginning to gray.

2

Demographics, Demography US, Slang To turn progressively older, alluding to graying of hair through aging (used in context of the population of a geographic region)

the graying of America
It’s not what advocates of retrofitting the suburbs may have had in mind, but it’s a logical outcome of the graying of America, and of suburbia in particular.2018 September 18, Amanda Kolson Hurley, “Fake Public Squares Are Coming to the Suburbs”, in The Atlantic:

3

Arts, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Photography US To give a soft effect to (a photograph) by covering the negative while printing with a ground-glass plate.

gray

noun

Etymology

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ (West Saxon). The spelling gray reflects the West Saxon vowel development, whereas the variant grey stems from the Anglian form grēġ (through Middle English grey). Further derived from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz (“grey”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”). Cognate with West Frisian grau (“grey”), Dutch grauw (“grey”), German Low German grau, graag (“grey”), German grau (“grey”), Swedish grå (“grey”), Icelandic grár (“grey”), Latin rāvus (“tawny, grey”), Old Church Slavonic зьрѭ (zĭrjǫ, “to see, to glance”), archaic Russian зреть (zretʹ, “to watch, to look at”), Lithuanian žeriù (“to shine”).

1

US An achromatic colour between black and white.

2

US An animal or thing of grey colour, such as a horse, badger, or salmon.

3

US A gray wolf

Caywood holds the rifle which time after time brought down a raging, snarling prairie gray.1939, Arthur Hawthorne Carhart, quoting Bill Caywood, “World Champion Wolfer”, in Outdoor Life, volume 84, number 3:

4

US A gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus.

Log-shaped barnacles become embedded in the hide of the gray.1971 Mar, National Geographic, page 411:

5

Human sciences, Mysticism, Mythology, Philosophy, Sciences, Ufology US Synonym of grey alien.

6

US A penny with a tail on both sides, used for cheating.

Derived terms: shades of gray

gray

noun

Etymology Named after English physicist Louis Harold Gray (1905–1965).

1

US In the International System of Units, the derived unit of absorbed dose of radiation (radiation absorbed by a patient); one joule of energy absorbed per kilogram of the patient's mass.

Derived terms: centigray, kilogray, microgray, milligray

gray

gray

gray

gray

gray

Learn more