Meanings
quay1
plural quays · alternative obsolete cay
- nauticalA stone or concrete structure on navigable water used for loading and unloading vessels; a wharf.
moor up against the quay
1 more example
[…] its harbour was filled with stately ships; and its quays, swarming with foreign traders and loaded with bales of costly merchandise[…]
1879, F. D. Morice, Pindar, chapter 10, pp. 166-167
present singular third person quays · participle present quaying · participle past quayed · past quayed · alternative obsolete cay
- To land or tie up at a quay or similar structure, especially used in the phrase "quay up".
quay2
comparative quayer · superlative quayest
- Multicultural London EnglishalternativeAlternative spelling of qway (“far”).
comparative quayer · superlative quayest
- Multicultural London EnglishalternativeAlternative spelling of qway (“far”).
Quay3
- A surname.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*kagʰyóm“enclosure”
- Proto-Celtic*kagyom“pen, enclosure”
- Gaulish*kagyum
- Old Frenchkay
- Middle Englishkay
- Englishquay
The current spelling replaced the spelling key in the 1690s to emulate the spelling but (at least originally) not the pronunciation of the equivalent modern French quai. From Middle English kay, key, kaye, keye, from Old French kay, cail, from Gaulish *kagyum, cagiíun (“enclosure”), from Proto-Celtic *kagyom (“pen, enclosure”) (compare Welsh cae (“field”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm (“enclosure”). Doublet of hedge and hey (“choreographic figure”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Gaulish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic رَصِيف الْمِينَاء
- رَصِيف الْمِينَاء (raṣīf al-mīnāʔ)structure for loading and unloading vessels
Basque kaia
- kaiastructure for loading and unloading vessels
Bulgarian кей, приста́нище
- кей (kej)structure for loading and unloading vessels
- приста́нище (pristánište)structure for loading and unloading vessels
Catalan embarcador, moll
- embarcadorstructure for loading and unloading vessels
- mollstructure for loading and unloading vessels
Chinese Mandarin 碼頭 /码头, 埠頭 /埠头
- 碼頭 /码头structure for loading and unloading vessels
- 埠頭 /埠头structure for loading and unloading vessels
- 船埠 (chuánbù)structure for loading and unloading vessels
Czech nábřeží, přístaviště
- nábřežístructure for loading and unloading vessels
- přístavištěstructure for loading and unloading vessels
- přístavní hrázstructure for loading and unloading vessels
Danish kaj
- kajstructure for loading and unloading vessels
Dutch kade, kaai
- kadestructure for loading and unloading vessels
- kaaistructure for loading and unloading vessels
Esperanto kajo
- kajostructure for loading and unloading vessels
Estonian kai
- kaistructure for loading and unloading vessels
Finnish laituri
- laituristructure for loading and unloading vessels
French quai
- quaistructure for loading and unloading vessels
German Kai, Anlegestelle
- Kaistructure for loading and unloading vessels
- Anlegestellestructure for loading and unloading vessels
- Pierstructure for loading and unloading vessels
Greek προκυμαία
- προκυμαία (prokymaía)structure for loading and unloading vessels
Hebrew מֶזַח
- מֶזַח (mézakh)structure for loading and unloading vessels
Hungarian rakpart, rakodópart
- rakpartstructure for loading and unloading vessels
- rakodópartstructure for loading and unloading vessels
Indonesian dermaga
- dermagastructure for loading and unloading vessels
Irish cé
- céstructure for loading and unloading vessels
Italian banchina
- banchinastructure for loading and unloading vessels
Japanese 波止場, 埠頭
- 波止場 (hatoba)structure for loading and unloading vessels
- 埠頭 (futō)structure for loading and unloading vessels
Korean 부두
- 부두 (budu)structure for loading and unloading vessels
Latvian piestātne
- piestātnestructure for loading and unloading vessels
Lithuanian prieplauka
- prieplaukastructure for loading and unloading vessels
Malay dermaga, jeti
- dermagastructure for loading and unloading vessels
- jetistructure for loading and unloading vessels
Norwegian Bokmål kai
- kaistructure for loading and unloading vessels
Polish molo, nabrzeże
- molostructure for loading and unloading vessels
- nabrzeżestructure for loading and unloading vessels
- kejastructure for loading and unloading vessels
- przystaństructure for loading and unloading vessels
Portuguese cais, embarcadouro
- caisstructure for loading and unloading vessels
- embarcadourostructure for loading and unloading vessels
- ancoradourostructure for loading and unloading vessels
Romanian chei
- cheistructure for loading and unloading vessels
Russian на́бережная, прича́л
- на́бережная (náberežnaja)structure for loading and unloading vessels
- прича́л (pričál)structure for loading and unloading vessels
- мол (mol)structure for loading and unloading vessels
- при́стань (prístanʹ)structure for loading and unloading vessels
Scottish Gaelic laimrig
- laimrigstructure for loading and unloading vessels
Slovak nábreží
- nábrežístructure for loading and unloading vessels
Spanish muelle, embarcadero
- muellestructure for loading and unloading vessels
- embarcaderostructure for loading and unloading vessels
Swedish kaj
- kajstructure for loading and unloading vessels
Tagalog pantalan
- pantalanstructure for loading and unloading vessels
Turkish rıhtım, iskele
- rıhtımstructure for loading and unloading vessels
- iskelestructure for loading and unloading vessels
Ukrainian на́бережна
- на́бережна (náberežna)structure for loading and unloading vessels
Vietnamese ke, bờ xây
- kestructure for loading and unloading vessels
- bờ xâystructure for loading and unloading vessels
Welsh cei
- ceistructure for loading and unloading vessels
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with quay
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
quay. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quay
“quay.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quay. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quay,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quay.
Source: quay on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.