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Gray vs Gey - What's the difference?

gray | gey |

As a proper noun gray

is ; originally a nickname for someone with a gray beard or hair.

As an adverb gey is

(scotland|ireland|northern england) very.

As an adjective gey is

(scotland|ireland|northern england) fairly good; considerable.

gray

English

Alternative forms

* grey (used in the UK and the Commonwealth and also in the US)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) ).

Adjective

(er) (spelled "grey" in the UK and the Commonwealth)
  • (label) Having a color somewhere between white and black, as the ash of an ember.
  • * Isaac Newton
  • (label) Dreary, gloomy.
  • *
  • (label) Having an indistinct, disputed or uncertain quality.
  • (label) Relating to older people.
  • * Ames
    • Usage notes
    A mnemonic for remembering which spelling is used where: gre'''y'' is the '''E'''nglish spelling, while ''gr'''a'''y'' is the '''A merican spelling. However, ''grey is also found in American English.
    Derived terms
    {{der3, battleship gray , gray area , graybeard , gray-haired , grayhound , grayness , gray ghost , gray matter}}

    Verb

    (en-verb) (spelled "grey" in the UK and the Commonwealth)
  • (label) To become gray.
  • (label) To cause to become gray.
  • To turn progressively older, in the context of the population of a geographic region.

    • Noun

  • (en noun) (spelled "grey" in the UK and the Commonwealth)
  • (label) An achromatic colour intermediate between black and white.
  • an extraterrestrial creature with grayish skin, bulbous black eyes, and an enlarged head.
  • A penny with a tail on both sides, used for cheating.Sidney J. Baker, The Australian Language , second edition, 1966, chapter XI section 3, page 243

    • See also

    *

    References

    Etymology 2

    Named after (Louis Harold Gray).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • 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
    • Derived terms
    * kilogray
    See also
    *

    Anagrams

    * * English eponyms ----

    gey

    English

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (Scotland, Ireland, northern England) Very.
  • * 1816 , Sir Walter Scott, The Antiquary , Oxford University Press, 2002, p.207:
    • I am nae believer in auld wives' stories about ghaists, though this is gey like a place for them - But mortal, or of the other world, here they come! - twa men and a light.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (Scotland, Ireland, northern England) Fairly good; considerable.
  • *1932 , (Lewis Grassic Gibbon), Sunset Song'', Polygon 2006 (''A Scots Quair ), p. 16:
  • *:They were married next New Year's Day, and Ellison had begun to think himself a gey man in Kinraddie, and maybe one of the gentry.
    • ----