gray

English Online Dictionary. What means gray‎? What does gray mean?

English

Alternative forms

• grey (used in the UK)

Etymology 1

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ, from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”).

See also Dutch grauw, German grau, Old Norse grár); also 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

• enPR: grā, IPA^(key): /ɡɹeɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Homophones: grey, greige

Adjective

gray (comparative grayer or more gray, superlative grayest or most gray)

1. Of a colour between black and white.

   Synonyms: grayish, grizzly; see also Thesaurus:grayish

2. Dreary, gloomy.

   Synonyms: bleak, sombre; see also Thesaurus:cheerless
3. Of an indistinct, disputed or uncertain quality.

   Synonyms: fuzzy, wooly; see also Thesaurus:vague

4. Gray-haired.

   Synonyms: grizzly, silver-haired, white-haired

5. Old.

   Synonyms: cobwebbed, hoary; see also Thesaurus:old
6. Relating to older people.

   Synonyms: elder, geriatric; see also Thesaurus:elderly

   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.

Usage notes

• In the early 20th century, an attempt was made to introduce an artificial distinction between gray and grey, with the former being used for a "mixture of white and blue", but the latter being used for a "mixture made by white and black"; this has not been generally adopted.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

gray (third-person singular simple present grays, present participle graying, simple past and past participle grayed)

1. To become 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)
4. (transitive, photography) To give a soft effect to (a photograph) by covering the negative while printing with a ground-glass plate.

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

See also

References

Etymology 2

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

Noun

gray (plural grays)

2. 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

Derived terms

• kilogray

Translations

Further reading

• gray (unit) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Gary, Yarg, ragy, gyra, yarg

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡrɛj]

Noun

gray m inan

1. gray (unit of absorbed radiation)

Declension

Further reading

• gray in Akademický slovník cizích slov, 1995, at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz

Finnish

Etymology

From English gray.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡrei̯/, [ˈɡre̞i̯]
• Rhymes: -ei

Noun

gray

1. gray (SI unit)

Declension

Further reading

• “gray”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡʁɛj/

Noun

gray m (plural grays)

1. gray (SI unit)

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Noun

gray m (plural grays)

1. (physics) gray (SI unit of absorbed radiation)

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• grey

Noun

gray m (plural grays)

1. (ufology) gray (one of a race of evil, short extraterrestrial beings)

Swedish

Noun

gray c

1. gray (SI unit)