jay
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English jay, from Old French jai ("jay"; Modern French geai), either from Late Latin gaius (“jay”), or from Old French gai (“gay, merry”), so named due to its plumage, from Old Frankish *gāhi (“quick, impetuous”), from Proto-Germanic *ganhuz, *ganhwaz (“sudden”), cognate with Dutch gaai (“jay”). More at gay.
Inflected forms:
form: jays
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
gloss: Any of various other birds of similar appearance and behaviour.
pos: noun
gloss: Any of various other birds of similar appearance and behaviour.
pos: noun
examples: 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 […]
gloss: Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium.
pos: noun
gloss: A dull or ignorant person. It survives today in the term jaywalking.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
examples: 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.
gloss: Promiscuous woman; prostitute.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
examples: Some jay of Italy, / Whose mother was her painting, hath betray'd him:
Synonyms: Jenny jay
jay pie
k
kae
bluejay
whisky jack
prostitute
Related words: Corvidae
Translations:
lang: Albanian
word: grifshë
lang: Albanian
word: grizhlemzë
lang: Arabic
word: زُرَيْق
roman: zurayq
lang: Armenian
word: ճայ
roman: čay
lang: Basque
word: eskinoso
lang: Belarusian
word: сойка
roman: sójka
lang: Breton
word: kegin
lang: Bulgarian
word: сойка
roman: sojka
lang: Catalan
word: gaig
lang: Chinese Cantonese
word: 松鴉 /松鸦
roman: cung⁴ aa¹
lang: Chinese Cantonese
word: 橿鳥 /橿鸟
roman: goeng¹ niu⁵
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 松鴉 /松鸦
roman: sōngyā
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 橿鳥 /橿鸟
roman: jiāngniǎo
lang: Czech
word: sojka
lang: Danish
word: skovskade
lang: Dutch
word: gaai
lang: Dutch
word: Vlaamse gaai
lang: Esperanto
word: garolo
lang: Estonian
word: pasknäär
lang: Faroese
word: gnelliskjóra
lang: Finnish
word: närhi
lang: French
word: geai
lang: French
word: geai des chênes
lang: West-Frisian
word: houtekster
lang: Friulian
word: gjaie
lang: Friulian
word: badascule
lang: Galician
word: gaio
lang: Galician
word: pega marxa
lang: Galician
word: pega rebordá
lang: Georgian
word: ჩხიკვი
roman: čxiḳvi
lang: German
word: Häher
lang: German
word: Hähermännchen
lang: German
word: Häherweibchen
lang: Greek
word: κίσσα
roman: kíssa
lang: Ancient Greek
word: κίσσα
roman: kíssa
lang: Hebrew
word: עורבני
roman: 'orbaní
lang: Hungarian
word: szajkó
lang: Hungarian
word: mátyásmadár
lang: Icelandic
word: skrækskaði
lang: Ido
word: jeo
lang: Irish
word: scréachóg
lang: Italian
word: ghiandaia
lang: Japanese
word: 懸巣
lang: Japanese
word: 橿鳥
lang: Japanese
word: 鵥
lang: Japanese
word: カケス
roman: kakesu
lang: Kazakh
word: қарға
roman: qarğa
lang: Ladin
word: gacia
lang: Latin
word: gaius
lang: Latin
word: garrulus
lang: Latvian
word: sīlis
lang: Lithuanian
word: kėkštas
lang: Macedonian
word: сојка
roman: sojka
lang: Maltese
word: sultan iċ-ċawl
lang: Eastern Mari
word: купшӱльӧ
roman: kupšüĺö
lang: Mongolian
word: ятга шаазгай
roman: jatga šaazgaj
lang: Navajo
word: tʼádootłʼizhii
lang: Navajo
word: joogii
lang: Norman
word: geai
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: nøtteskrike
lang: Norwegian Nynorsk
word: nøtteskrikje
lang: Occitan
word: gag
lang: Polish
word: sójka
lang: Portuguese
word: gralha
lang: Portuguese
word: gaio
lang: Romanian
word: gaiță
lang: Romansh
word: sgragia
lang: Russian
word: со́йка
roman: sójka
lang: Northern Sami
word: látteguovssat
lang: Sardinian
word: piga
lang: Sardinian
word: pica
lang: Sardinian
word: marabiga
lang: Sardinian
word: mariabiga
lang: Sardinian
word: melapica
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: sgreuchag
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: sgreuchan-coille
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: креjа
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: шојка
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: сoјка
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: kreja
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: šojka
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: sojka
lang: Slovak
word: sojka
lang: Slovene
word: šoja
lang: Lower Sorbian
word: kabeja
lang: Upper Sorbian
word: škrěkawa
lang: Spanish
word: arrendajo
lang: Spanish
word: urraca
lang: Spanish
word: grajilla
lang: Swedish
word: skrika
lang: Swedish
word: nötskrika
lang: Turkish
word: alakarga
lang: Turkish
word: kestane kargası
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: آلا قارغه
roman: ala karga
lang: Ukrainian
word: сойка
roman: sojka
lang: Welsh
word: sgrech