English
gray
see also: Gray
Etymology 1

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ, from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁-.

See also Dutch grauw, German grau, Old Norse grár); also Latin rāvus, Church Slavic зьрѭ, Russian зреть (archaic), Lithuanian žeriù.

Pronunciation Adjective

gray (comparative grayer, superlative grayest)

  1. Of a gray hue.
  2. Dreary, gloomy.
    • 1980, Daniel C. Gerould, Stanisław I. Witkiewicz, The Beelzebub Sonata: Plays, Essays, Documents:
      the era of gray, boring banality and stagnation
  3. Of an indistinct, disputed or uncertain quality.
  4. Gray-haired.
  5. Old.
    • 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 ↗:
      Two hours, whose mighty circle did embrace
      More time than might make grey the infant world,
      Rolled thus, a weary and tumultuous space: […]
    • 2004, Betty Berzon, Permanent Partners: Building Gay & Lesbian Relationships That Last, page 20:
      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.
  6. Relating to older people.
    the gray dollar ― the purchasing power of the elderly
    • 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.
Translations Translations Translations Verb

gray (grays, present participle graying; simple past and past participle grayed)

  1. To become gray.
    My hair is beginning to gray.
  2. To cause to become gray.
  3. (demography, 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
  4. (transitive, photography) To give a soft effect to (a photograph) by covering the negative while printing with a ground-glass plate.
Translations Translations Noun

gray (plural grays)

  1. An achromatic colour between black and white.
     
  2. An animal or thing of grey colour, such as a horse, badger, or salmon.
  3. A gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus.
  4. (chiefly, US, ufology) Synonym of grey alien
  5. (US, two-up) A penny with a tail on both sides, used for cheating.
Translations Translations Noun

gray (plural grays)

  1. 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. Symbol: Gy
    Coordinate term: rad
Translations
Gray
Etymology
  • As an English, Irish, Scottish, and nrf - surname, from the placename Graye-sur-Mer in Calvados, from Late Latin Graecus.
  • Also as an English surname, from the adjective gray.
  • As a French - surname, from Gray, Haute-Saône in France, from the personal name Gradus, a Gallo-Roman/Celtic - pronunciation of Gratus, from the name Gratius.
Pronunciation Proper noun
  1. Surname; originally a nickname for someone with a gray beard or hair.
  2. A male given name.
  3. A number of places in USA:
    1. A city/county seat in Jones County, Georgia.
    2. A minor city in Audubon County, Iowa.
    3. An unincorporated community in Knox County, Kentucky.
    4. CDP in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.
    5. A town/and/CDP therein, in Cumberland County.
    6. CDP in Washington County, Tennessee.
  4. A rural locality in north-east Tasmania.


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