jay

plural jays

1. Any of the numerous species of birds belonging to several genera within the family Corvidae, including Garrulus, Cyanocitta, Aphelocoma, Perisoreus, Cyanocorax, Gymnorhinus, Cyanolyca, Ptilostomus, and Calocitta, allied to the crows, but smaller, more graceful in form, often handsomely coloured, usually having a crest, and often noisy.
2. Any of various other birds of similar appearance and behaviour.
   1. The Indian roller, Coracias benghalensis.

      They are the commonality of birddom, who furnish forth the mobs which bewilder the drunken-flighted jay when he jerks, shrieking in a series of blue hyphen-flashes through the air […]

      1878, Philip Stewart Robinson, In My Indian Garden

3. Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium.
4. archaicA dull or ignorant person. It survives today in the term jaywalking.

   Burlington Bertie's the latest young jay He rents a swell flat somewhere Kensington way He spends the good oof that his pater has made Along with the Brandy and Soda Brigade.

   1900, Harry B. Norris, “Burlington Bertie”

   Synonyms: ignoramus

5. obsoletePromiscuous woman; prostitute.

   Some jay of Italy, / Whose mother was her painting, hath betray'd him:

   a. 1611, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, act 3, scene 4, lines 50–51

   Synonyms: promiscuous woman

plural jays

1. The name of the Latin script letter J/j.
2. slangA marijuana cigarette; a joint.

   Although sympathetic, my main reaction was to think: “Some people can handle it, and some people can’t,” and then smugly light up a big fat jay.

   2009 March 23, Caitlin Moran, The Times

plural Jays · alternative surname Jaye

1. countableAn English surname transferred from the nickname from Old French jai (“jay (bird)”), a nickname for a chatty or showy person.
2. countableuncountableA male given name transferred from the surname.
3. A placename.
   1. countableuncountableA hamlet in Leintwardine parish, Herefordshire, England; named in the c. 13th century for the Jay family, prominent in that area (OS grid ref SO3974).
   2. countableuncountableA town in Santa Rosa County, Florida; named for postmaster J. T. Nowling.
   3. countableuncountableA town in Franklin County, Maine; named for American statesman and Founding Father John Jay.
   4. countableuncountableA town in Essex County, New York; named for John Jay.
   5. countableuncountableA city, the county seat of Delaware County, Oklahoma; named for Jay Washburn, nephew of Cherokee leader Stand Watie.
   6. countableuncountableA town on the Canadian border in Orleans County, Vermont; named for John Jay.
   7. countableuncountableA township in Martin County, Minnesota.
   8. countableuncountableA township in Elk County, Pennsylvania.
   9. countableuncountableA former settlement in California.

plural Jays

1. A diminutive of the male given names James, Jacob, Jack, John, and Jason, or for any other name beginning with ⟨J⟩; also used as a formal given name.

   “I started to think about it. He’s coming in on a two-seater experimental plane to pitch me to go on a five-seater experimental sub that he has built down to the ocean floor to see the Titanic,” Jay said.

   2023 June 24, Chris Lau and Sara Smart, “‘That could’ve been us,’ say father and son who pulled out of doomed Titan trip out of safety concerns”, in CNN, archived from the original on 29 Jul 2023

   1 more example

   When Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft jumped into the state’s gubernatorial race last year, the Republican vowed to tackle a slew of culture war issues, promising to fight the “woke politics” of “left-wing” banks and touting how he used his position to enact a regulation targeting those financial firms.

   2024 March 17, Daniel Medina and Bob Ortega, “Emails show how a right-wing group steers GOP leaders on major policy issues”, in CNN, archived from the original on 18 Jul 2024

2. A female given name.

   In 1993, my daughter Jay returned home aged 21 after a disastrous marriage.

   2007, Gráinne Smith, Families, Carers and Professionals: Building Constructive Conversations

   2 more examples

   To Lt. and Mrs. John Ellingston (Beth Vollstedt), a daughter, Jay Karen, on September 17, 1945.

   1947, Alpha Delta Pi, The Adelphean, volume 40, number 2, page 102

   Within a few weeks, having endured a number of lengthy interviews, Jay found herself working in the Beijing office of the bureau of information.

   2010, Ray Thompson, Fires Within, page 206

plural Jays

1. IndiaA male given name from Hindi.

plural Jays

1. Alternative letter-case form of jay.