grey
adjectiveverbnouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ɡɹeɪ//
Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.
adjective
- 1
Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.
These grey and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks.
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
slangSynonym of coloured (pertaining to the mixed race of black and white).
Etymology
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”)).
verb
- 1
Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.
Now only a few hand-hewn cedar planks and roof beams remained, moss-grown and sagging—a few totem poles, greyed and split.
noun
- 1
Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.
Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, / That costs thy life, my gallant grey.
Pioneer seemed now to have the game in his own hands; but the Captain, by taking two desperate leaps, cut off a corner, by which he regained the ground he had lost by the fall, and was up with the grey the remainder of the chase.
Forms
- plural
- greys
- comparative
- greyer, more grey
- superlative
- greyest, most grey
- past tense
- greyed
- past participle
- greyed
- present participle
- greying
- third person singular
- greys
grey · Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.
Grey · A surname transferred from the nickname, alternative spelling…grid · A rectangular array of squares or rectangles of equal size,…grief · Suffering, hardship.