# gray
## English
### Alternative forms

* grey (used in the UK)

### Etymology 1

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ, from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”).
See also Dutch grauw, German grau, Old Norse grár); also 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”).

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: grā, IPA: /ɡɹeɪ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (Canada):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪ
* Homophones: grey, greige

#### Adjective

gray (comparative grayer or more gray, superlative grayest or most gray)
* Of a colour between black and white.
    Synonyms: grayish, grizzly; see also Thesaurus:grayish
* Dreary, gloomy.
    Synonyms: bleak, sombre; see also Thesaurus:cheerless
** 1980, Daniel C. Gerould, Stanisław I. Witkiewicz, The Beelzebub Sonata: Plays, Essays, Documents:the era of gray, boring banality and stagnation
* Of an indistinct, disputed or uncertain quality.
    Synonyms: fuzzy, wooly; see also Thesaurus:vague
* Gray-haired.
    Synonyms: grizzly, silver-haired, white-haired
* Old.
    Synonyms: cobwebbed, hoary; see also Thesaurus:old
** 1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 206:Two hours, whose mighty circle did embrace More time than might make grey the infant world, Rolled thus, a weary and tumultuous space: […]
** 2004, Betty Berzon, Permanent Partners: Building Gay & Lesbian Relationships That Last, page 20:In a subculture that idealizes youth, being gay and gray does not exactly make one a hot ticket. Older gays and lesbians often relegate themselves to separate and unequal meeting places.
* Relating to older people.
    Synonyms: elder, geriatric; see also Thesaurus:elderly
    the gray dollar ― the purchasing power of the elderly
** February 8, 1800, Fisher Ames, Eulogy on Washington
    Gray experience listened to his counsels with respect, and, at a time when youth is almost privileged to be rash, Virginia committed the safety of her frontier, and ultimately the safety of America, not merely to his valor,—for that would be scarcely praise,—but to his prudence.

##### Usage notes

* In the early 20th century, an attempt was made to introduce an artificial distinction between gray and grey, with the former being used for a "mixture of white and blue", but the latter being used for a "mixture made by white and black"; this has not been generally adopted.

##### Derived terms

* all cats are gray at night
* all cats are gray in the dark
* ash-gray
* ash gray
* ash-gray leaf bug
* back gray
* battleship-gray
* battleship gray
* blackish-gray antshrike
* blue-gray
* cadet gray
* cool gray
* dove gray
* eastern gray kangaroo
* eastern gray squirrel
* get gray hair from
* give gray hair to
* give someone gray hair
* gray-A
* gray ace
* gray alien
* gray amber
* gray ammonia
* gray area
* gray asexual
* gray asexuality
* graybeard
* gray-blue
* grayboard
* graybody
* gray-box testing
* gray ceiling
* gray cells
* gray-collar
* gray collar
* gray commissure
* gray cuscus
* gray dogwood
* gray eminence
* grayen
* gray ephedra
* grayey
* gray fox
* gray friar
* gray ghost
* gray gold
* gray ground squirrel
* gray-haired
* gray hat
* grayhead
* gray-headed
* grayhound
* gray hydrogen
* gray iron
* grayish
* gray jay
* gray langur
* grayling
* gray literature
* grayly
* gray magic
* gray magick
* gray man
* graymap
* gray market
* gray marketeer
* gray matter
* gray mullet
* graymuzzle
* gray-necked bunting
* grayness
* gray night
* gray noise
* gray nomad
* grayordinate
* gray out
* gray pine
* gray platelet syndrome
* gray power
* gray rape
* gray rocking
* gray rock method
* grayromantic
* gray scale
* grayscale
* gray-scale
* grayschist
* gray seal
* graysexual
* gray-sexual
* graysexuality
* gray short-tailed opossum
* gray silver
* gray sole
* gray squirrel
* graystone
* gray tape
* gray teal
* gray town
* gray tree frog
* gray treefrog
* gray triggerfish
* grayware
* gray water
* graywater
* gray whale
* gray wolf
* gray zorro
* groutfit
* gunmetal-gray
* gunmetal gray
* insular gray fox
* iron gray
* island gray fox
* long gray line
* military gray
* nongray
* Patagonian gray fox
* Payne's gray
* periaqueductal gray
* slate gray
* South American gray fox
* ungray
* western gray kangaroo

##### Translations
#### Verb

gray (third-person singular simple present grays, present participle graying, simple past and past participle grayed)
* To become gray.
    My hair is beginning to gray.
* To cause to become gray.
* (demography, slang) To turn progressively older, alluding to graying of hair through aging (used in context of the population of a geographic region)
    the graying of America
** 2018 September 18, Amanda Kolson Hurley, “Fake Public Squares Are Coming to the Suburbs”, in The Atlantic‎:It’s not what advocates of retrofitting the suburbs may have had in mind, but it’s a logical outcome of the graying of America, and of suburbia in particular.
* (transitive, photography) To give a soft effect to (a photograph) by covering the negative while printing with a ground-glass plate.

##### Translations
#### Noun

gray (plural grays)
* An achromatic colour between black and white.
    grey:
* An animal or thing of grey colour, such as a horse, badger, or salmon.
* A gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus.
** 1971 Mar, National Geographic, page 411:Log-shaped barnacles become embedded in the hide of the gray.
* (chiefly US, ufology) Synonym of grey alien
* (US, two-up) A penny with a tail on both sides, used for cheating.

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

Colors/Colours in English (layout · text) :
| red | orange | yellow | green | blue (incl. indigo; cyan, teal, turquoise) | purple / violet |
| pink (including magenta) | brown | | white | gray/grey | black |

#### References

* ↑ Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎, volumes I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 3.61, page 96.
* ↑ Sidney J. Baker, The Australian Language, second edition, 1966, chapter XI section 3, page 243

### Etymology 2

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

#### Noun

gray (plural grays)
* 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
    Coordinate term: rad

##### Derived terms

* centigray
* kilogray
* microgray
* milligray

##### Further reading

* gray (unit) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* Gary, Yarg, ragy, gyra, yarg

## Czech
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈɡrɛj]

### Noun

gray m inan
* gray (unit of absorbed radiation)

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “gray”, in Akademický slovník cizích slov at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz [Academic dictionary of foreign words] (in Czech), 1995

## Finnish
### Etymology

From English gray.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɡrei̯/, [ˈɡre̞i̯]
* Rhymes: -ei

### Noun

gray
* gray (SI unit)

#### Declension

Possessive forms of gray (Kotus type 21/rosé, no gradation) :
first-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
grayni
grayni
accusative
nom.
grayni
grayni
gen.
grayni
genitive
grayni
grayideni grayitteni
partitive
graytäni
grayitäni
inessive
grayssäni
grayissäni
elative
graystäni
grayistäni
illative
grayhini grayhyni
grayihini
adessive
graylläni
grayilläni
ablative
grayltäni
grayiltäni
allative
graylleni
grayilleni
essive
graynäni
grayinäni
translative
graykseni
grayikseni
abessive
grayttäni
grayittäni
instructive
comitative
—grayineni
second-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
graysi
graysi
accusative
nom.
graysi
graysi
gen.
graysi
genitive
graysi
grayidesi grayittesi
partitive
graytäsi
grayitäsi
inessive
grayssäsi
grayissäsi
elative
graystäsi
grayistäsi
illative
grayhisi grayhysi
grayihisi
adessive
graylläsi
grayilläsi
ablative
grayltäsi
grayiltäsi
allative
grayllesi
grayillesi
essive
graynäsi
grayinäsi
translative
grayksesi
grayiksesi
abessive
grayttäsi
grayittäsi
instructive
comitative
—grayinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
graymme
graymme
accusative
nom.
graymme
graymme
gen.
graymme
genitive
graymme
grayidemme grayittemme
partitive
graytämme
grayitämme
inessive
grayssämme
grayissämme
elative
graystämme
grayistämme
illative
grayhimme grayhymme
grayihimme
adessive
grayllämme
grayillämme
ablative
grayltämme
grayiltämme
allative
grayllemme
grayillemme
essive
graynämme
grayinämme
translative
grayksemme
grayiksemme
abessive
grayttämme
grayittämme
instructive
comitative
—grayinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
graynne
graynne
accusative
nom.
graynne
graynne
gen.
graynne
genitive
graynne
grayidenne grayittenne
partitive
graytänne
grayitänne
inessive
grayssänne
grayissänne
elative
graystänne
grayistänne
illative
grayhinne grayhynne
grayihinne
adessive
grayllänne
grayillänne
ablative
grayltänne
grayiltänne
allative
grayllenne
grayillenne
essive
graynänne
grayinänne
translative
grayksenne
grayiksenne
abessive
grayttänne
grayittänne
instructive
comitative
—grayinenne
third-person possessor
singular
plural
nominative
graynsä
graynsä
accusative
nom.
graynsä
graynsä
gen.
graynsä
genitive
graynsä
grayidensä grayittensä
partitive
graytään graytänsä
grayitään grayitänsä
inessive
grayssään grayssänsä
grayissään grayissänsä
elative
graystään graystänsä
grayistään grayistänsä
illative
grayhinsä grayhynsä
grayihinsä
adessive
grayllään grayllänsä
grayillään grayillänsä
ablative
grayltään grayltänsä
grayiltään grayiltänsä
allative
graylleen grayllensä
grayilleen grayillensä
essive
graynään graynänsä
grayinään grayinänsä
translative
graykseen grayksensä
grayikseen grayiksensä
abessive
grayttään grayttänsä
grayittään grayittänsä
instructive
comitative
—grayineen grayinensä :

### Further reading

* “gray”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

## French
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡʁɛj/
* Audio (Paris):(file)

### Noun

gray m (plural grays)
* gray (SI unit)

## Portuguese
### Etymology 1
#### Noun

gray m (plural grays)
* (physics) gray (SI unit of absorbed radiation)

### Etymology 2
#### Alternative forms

* grey

#### Noun

gray m (plural grays)
* (ufology) gray (one of a race of evil, short extraterrestrial beings)

## Swedish
### Noun

gray c
* gray (SI unit)