gray

gray · adjective, verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ǵʰreh₁-“to green, to grow”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*grēwaz“grey”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*grāu
4. Old English · inherited fromgrǣġ
5. Middle English · inherited fromgray
6. English todaygray

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ (West Saxon). The spelling gray reflects the West Saxon vowel development, whereas the variant grey stems from the Anglian form grēġ (through Middle English grey). Further derived from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz (“grey”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”). Cognate with West Frisian grau (“grey”), Dutch grauw (“grey”), German Low German grau, graag (“grey”), German grau (“grey”), Swedish grå (“grey”), Icelandic grár (“grey”), Latin rāvus (“tawny, grey”), Old Church Slavonic зьрѭ (zĭrjǫ, “to see, to glance”), archaic Russian зреть (zretʹ, “to watch, to look at”), Lithuanian žeriù (“to shine”).

gray · noun²

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

Gray · proper noun³

1. Late Latin · derived fromGraecus“Greek”
2. English todayGray

* As an English, Irish, Scottish, and Norman surname, from the placename Graye-sur-Mer in Calvados, from Late Latin Graecus (“Greek”). * Also as an English surname, from the adjective gray. Compare the Irish calque McGreevy. * 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.

Words from the same roots