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grey

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Grey

English

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

Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁-der.?
Proto-Germanic *grēwaz
Proto-West Germanic *grāg
Old English grēġ
Middle English grey
English grey

    From Middle English grey, from Old English grēġ (Anglian). The spelling grey reflects the Anglian vowel development, whereas the variant gray stems from the West Saxon form grǣġ (through Middle English gray). Further derived 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

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    Adjective

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    grey (comparative greyer or more grey, superlative greyest or most grey)

    1. Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.
      • 1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC:
        These grey and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks.
      • 1954 August, H. M. Madgwick, “The Blaenau Festiniog Tunnel”, in Railway Magazine, page 569:
        This is itself a cheerless spot, particularly on a rainy day, when, overshadowed by the great massif of rock that towers in the background, and surrounded by the grey and cheerless quarries, it has a depressing character much in contrast with the green verdure encountered on the northern end of this interesting branch line.
    2. (South Africa, slang) Synonym of coloured (pertaining to the mixed race of black and white).[1]

    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    • → Ulithian: greey

    Translations

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    Verb

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    grey (third-person singular simple present greys, present participle greying, simple past and past participle greyed)

    1. Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.
      • 1941, Emily Carr, chapter 18, in Klee Wyck‎[1]:
        Now only a few hand-hewn cedar planks and roof beams remained, moss-grown and sagging—a few totem poles, greyed and split.

    Noun

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    grey (plural greys)

    1. Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.

    Translations

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    See also

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    Colo(u)rs in English (layout · text)
         white              gray/grey      black
                 red              orange, brown              yellow
                 green              cyan, teal, turquoise              blue
                 indigo              purple, violet              pink, magenta

    References

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    1. ^ 2001, Charlotte Spinks, A New Apartheid? Urban Spatiality, (Fear of) Crime, and Segregation; in Cape Town, South Africa, Destin Development Studies Institute, ISSN 1470-2320

    Anagrams

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    Icelandic

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    Alternative forms

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    Etymology

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    From Old Norse grey, grøy, from Proto-Germanic *grawją, cognate with Faroese groyggj, Old English *grīeġ (found in grīġhund (“greyhound”)).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    grey n (genitive singular greys, nominative plural grey)

    1. (archaic) bitch (female dog)
    2. wretch
    3. pitiful person, poor thing
      Greyið mitt!
      You poor little thing!
      Greyið Jón
      Poor John

    Declension

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    Declension of grey (neuter)
    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

    References

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    • Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), “grey”, in Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
    • Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2026), “grey”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
    • Mörður Árnason (2019), Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
    • “grey” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)

    Middle English

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    Alternative forms

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    Etymology

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      From Old English grēġ (Anglian), from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz. The West Saxon equivalent grǣġ yielded the Middle English variant gray.

      Pronunciation

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      Adjective

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      grey (plural and weak singular greye)

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

      Descendants

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      References

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      Noun

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      grey

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

      Descendants

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      References

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      See also

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

      Old Norse

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      Alternative forms

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      Etymology

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      From Proto-Germanic *grawją, speculated to stem from Proto-Indo-European *ghreu-/*ghrēu- (“to rub, crush, meal”). The semantic hypothesis say that the sense shifted to trash and became a derogatory term for female dog, which were less valued in society.

      Cognate with Old English *grīeġ (found in grīġhund (“greyhound”)); also English greyhound.

      Noun

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      grey

      1. (uncertain, derogatory) bitch (female dog)
        1. wretched dog (compare Faroese mjóhundur (“greyhound”, literally “thinn hound”)); poor thing?
        2. (poetic, in the compound Vidri's/Odin's greys) either Odin's wretched dogs – wolves? or Odin's bitches – Valkyries looking for fallen in wolf shape
          • 13th–14th c., Helgakviða Hundingsbana I:
            Fara hildingar hjǫrstefnu til þeirar er lǫgðu að Logafjöllum; sleit Fróða frið fjánda á milli, fara Viðris grey valgjörn um ey.
            The chieftains travel to the meeting held at the Lowfell; the peace burst among enemies, and Vidri's (Odin's) greys (wolves) traveled hungry for the fallen around the island.

      Descendants

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      Portuguese

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      Noun

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      grey m (plural greys)

      1. alternative form of gray (race of extraterrestrials)

      Spanish

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      Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia es

      Etymology

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      Etymology tree
      Latin gregem
      Old Spanish grey
      Spanish grey

        Inherited from Old Spanish grey, from Latin gregem.

        Pronunciation

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        • IPA(key): /ˈɡɾei/ [ˈɡɾei̯]
        • Rhymes: -ei
        • Syllabification: grey

        Noun

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        grey f (plural greyes)

        1. (obsolete, poetic) flock, herd
          Synonyms: rebaño, rehala
        2. (religion) flock (people served by a pastor, priest, etc., also all believers in a church or religion)
          Synonyms: rebaño, feligresía, congregación, iglesia
          • 1877, Benito Pérez Galdós, Gloria:
            toda la grey díscola y ladina de aquellas verdes montañas
            the whole rebellious and cunning flock from those green mountains

        Derived terms

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        See also

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        Further reading

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