gay

== Translingual == === Etymology === Clipping of English Gayo. === Symbol === gay (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Gayo. === See also === Wiktionary’s coverage of Gayo terms == English == === Pronunciation === enPR: gā, IPA(key): /ɡeɪ/ Rhymes: -eɪ === Etymology 1 === From Middle English gay, from Old French gai (“joyful, laughing, merry”), usually thought to be a borrowing of Old Occitan gai (“impetuous, lively”), from Gothic *𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌴𐌹𐍃 (*gaheis, “impetuous”), merging with earlier Old French jai ("merry"; see jay), from Frankish *gāhi; both from Proto-Germanic *ganhuz, *ganhwaz (“sudden”). This is possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ- (“to stride, step”), from *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave”), but Kroonen rejects this derivation and treats the Germanic word as having no known etymology. ==== Adjective ==== gay (comparative gayer, superlative gayest) Homosexual: (of a person) Possessing sexual and/or romantic attraction towards people one perceives to be the same sex or gender as oneself. [from 1950] 1947, Rorschach Research Exchange and Journal of Projective Techniques[5], page 240: 2007, Kevin P. Murphy, Jason Ruiz, David Serlin, Queer Futures, Radical History Review (Duke University Press), page 58: The two failed attempts to receive the necessary access to medicalized transition procedures by the renowned FTM activist Lou Sullivan—a gay man who refused to comply with the imperative that transsexual men must desire women— […] (strictly) Describing a homosexual man. (of an animal, by extension) Tending to partner or mate with other individuals of the same sex. (of a romantic or sexual act or relationship) Between two or more persons perceived to be of the same sex or gender as each other. (colloquial) Not heterosexual, not allosexual, or not cisgender: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc. Synonym: queer Coordinate term: LGBTQ (of an institution or group) Intended for gay people, especially gay men. (slang, with for) Homosexually in love with someone. (slang, humorous, with for) Infatuated with something, aligning with homosexual stereotypes. In accordance with stereotypes of homosexual people: (loosely, of appearance or behavior) Being in accordance with stereotypes of gay people, especially gay men. (loosely, of a person, especially a man) Exhibiting appearance or behavior that accords with stereotypes of gay people, especially gay men. A pejorative: (slang, derogatory) Flamboyant or effeminate in behavior. (slang, derogatory) Used to express dislike: lame, uncool, stupid, burdensome, contemptible, generally bad. Synonym: ghey 1996, Lisa's Date With Density, The Simpsons (cartoon television series). Upon discovering Nelson kissing Lisa: Dolph: "Oh, man! You kissed a girl!" Jimbo: "That is so gay!" (dated) Happy, joyful, and lively. c. 1692, William Walch, preface to Letters and Poems, Amorous and Gallant, in John Dryden, The Fourth Part of Miſcellany Poems, Jacob Tonson (publisher, 1716), page 338: 1934, George Marion Jr. et al., (title): (dated) Quick, fast. (dated) Festive, bright, or colourful. 1881, J. P. McCaskey (editor), “Deck the Hall[sic]”, Franklin Square Song Collection, number 1, Harper & Brothers (New York), page 120: 1944, Ralph Blane, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, Meet Me in St. Louis, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (obsolete) Sexually promiscuous (of any gender), (sometimes particularly) engaged in prostitution. 1806 (edition of 1815), John Davis, The Post-Captain, page 150: As our heroes passed along the Strand, they were accosted by a hundred gay ladies, who asked them if they were good-natured. "Devil take me!" exclaimed Echo, "if I know which way my ship heads; but there is not a girl in the Strand that I would touch with my gloves on." (of a dog's tail) Upright or curved over the back. (Scotland, Northern England, possibly obsolete) Considerable, great, large in number, size, or degree. In this sense, also in the variant gey. 1876 (edition; original 1871), Richardson, Talk 1: A gay deal different to what I is noo. 1881, Dixon, Craven Dales: There were a gay bit of lace on it. ===== Usage notes ===== The predominant use of gay in recent decades has been in the sense homosexual, or in the pejorative sense. The earlier uses of festive, colorful and bright are still found, especially in literary contexts; however, this usage has fallen out of fashion and is now likely to be misunderstood by those who are unaware of it. Gay is preferred to homosexual by many gay (homosexual) people as their own term for themselves. Some claim that homosexual is dated and evokes a time when homosexuality was considered a mental illness by the mental health community, while others feel that the word homosexual(ity) does not express the emotional aspects of sexual orientation. In the broad political sense, gay usually refers to anything pertaining to same-sex relationships, whether male or female: gay rights and gay marriage. When used in coordination with other terms for sexual orientations, it usually specifically refers to men who are attracted only to men, and excludes lesbians, bisexuals and other orientations, as in phrases like lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB). Context is sometimes necessary to determine whether or not gay implies male in a given phrase. Since at least the 1950s, gay has sometimes been used as a broad umbrella term for all queer and gender-nonconforming (transgender and genderqueer/non-binary) people, similar to LGBTQ. ===== Synonyms ===== (homosexual): See Thesaurus:homosexual ===== Derived terms ===== sexual sense other senses ===== Related terms ===== jay ===== Descendants ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== gay (plural gays) (now chiefly in the plural) A homosexual, especially a male homosexual. Coordinate term: lesbian (informal, often derogatory or ironic) Gayness: the quality of being gay. (dialectal, obsolete) Something which is bright or colorful, such as a picture or a flower. a. 1900, W. R. Eaton of Norfolk, quoted in 1900, Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary: There's a good child; look at the gays, and keep quiet. (obsolete) An ornament, a knick-knack. 1906, Cornish Notes & Queries: (first Series) (Cornish Telegraph, Peter Penn), page 132: If however the stranger be suspected of “sailing under false colours," when they are all in familiar chat about nothing in particular, “Cousin Jacky” will take occasion to say to the new chum, “My dear; ded 'e ever see a duck clunk a gay?" […] no more deceived by him than a duck can be made to clunk (swallow) a gay (fragment of broken crockery). ===== Usage notes ===== Used as a noun denoting a person (etymology 1, noun sense 1), gay may be regarded as offensive when referring to particular individuals. Gay is sometimes used broadly to refer to any man who is attracted to and/or sexually active with other men, or any woman attracted to or active with other women, even if not exclusively, e.g. if their orientation is in fact bisexual. The word queer has likewise had various meanings. ===== Synonyms ===== see Thesaurus:homosexual person and Thesaurus:male homosexual ===== Derived terms ===== (gay person): A-gay, baby gay, ex-gay, gay bashing, gold star gay, homogay, stage gay (gayness): pray away the gay, pray the gay away, trans the gay away (colorful object or flower; ornament): nosegay ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== gay (third-person singular simple present gays, present participle gaying, simple past and past participle gayed) (transitive, dated, uncommon) To make happy or cheerful. [since at least the 1920s] (transitive, uncommon) To cause (something, e.g. AIDS) to be associated with homosexual people. [popularized in the 1990s] ===== Related terms ===== de-gay re-gay ==== Adverb ==== gay (Scotland, Northern England) Considerably, very. 1892-3, Mrs. Humphry Ward, The History of David Grieve, volume I, page 19: She'll mak naw moor mischeef neets—she's gay quiet now! ===== References ===== Eric Partridge (2005), “gay”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 1 (A–I), London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 845. Joseph Wright, editor (1900), “GAY”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volume II (D–G), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC. === Etymology 2 === From Pitman kay, which it is derived from graphically, and the sound it represents. The traditional name gee was considered inappropriate, as the Pitman letter never has the sound of that name. ==== Noun ==== gay (plural gays) The letter —, which stands for the sound /ɡ/, in Pitman shorthand. ===== Related terms ===== gee (in Latin script) === Anagrams === YAG == Chinese == === Etymology === Borrowed from English gay. Doublet of 基 (jī). === Pronunciation === === Noun === gay (Mandarin) gay; gay man (Classifier: 個／个 m) ==== Derived terms ==== == Czech == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English gay. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ˈɡɛj] Hyphenation: gay === Noun === gay m anim gay male Synonyms: (vulgar) bukvice, buzík, buzerant, buzna, homokláda; (colloquial, derogatory) homouš, teplouš; (mostly neutral) homosexuál ==== Declension ==== === Further reading === “gay”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026 == Finnish == === Etymology === From English gay. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɡei̯/, [ˈɡe̞i̯] Rhymes: -ei === Noun === gay (colloquial) gay ==== Usage notes ==== Seldom inflected, as this term does not readily fit into Finnish inflection patterns. Instead, corresponding forms of synonymous expressions or compounds such as gay-mies (“gay man”) or gay-poika (“gay boy”) are used. ==== Declension ==== ==== Synonyms ==== homo === Further reading === “gay”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎[12] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023 == French == === Etymology === Borrowed from English gay, itself a borrowing from French gai. Doublet of gai. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɡɛ/ (Canada) IPA(key): /ɡe/ Homophones: gai, gaie, gaies, gais, gays, guet, guets Rhymes: -ɛ === Noun === gay m (plural gays) gay (homosexual person) == Galician == === Etymology === (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) === Noun === gay m (plural gays) gay (homosexual person) Alternative form: gai === Further reading === “gay”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026 == Gamilaraay == === Etymology === Snake tracks were carefully avoided as treading on one was thought to cause skin sores. The cart tracks of the early European explorer Mitchell were thought to be giant snake tracks. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɡaj/ === Noun === gay snake track ==== References ==== Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay Yuwaalayaay Dictionary 2003 == German == === Etymology === Borrowed from English gay. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ɡɛɪ̯] === Adjective === gay (strong nominative masculine singular gayer, not comparable) gay Synonym: schwul === Further reading === “gay” in Duden online “gay” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache == Indonesian == === Etymology === From English gay. === Pronunciation === (Standard Indonesian) IPA(key): /ˈɡɛj/ [ˈɡɛj] Rhymes: -ɛj Syllabification: gay === Noun === gay (plural gay-gay) gay, homosexual Synonym: homo === Further reading === “gay”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016 == Interlingua == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɡeɪ/ === Adjective === gay (comparative plus gay, superlative le plus gay) (LGBTQ, sexuality) gay === Noun === gay (plural gays) gay ==== Synonyms ==== homine gay persona gay === See also === gai (merry) == Italian == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English gay. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɡɛj/, /ˈɡej/ Rhymes: -ɛj, -ej === Adjective === gay (invariable) gay === Noun === gay m or f by sense gay === References === === Further reading === gay in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana == Lombard == === Etymology === Borrowed from English gay. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɡei/, [ɡɛj], [ɡeːi] === Adjective === gay m gay, male homosexual. === Noun === gay m gay, male homosexual === Related terms === omosessual oregjon == Maguindanao == === Etymology === Akin to Maranao gawi'i. === Noun === gay day == Manx == === Noun === gay f eclipsed form of kay === Mutation === == Matal == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ɡáj] === Noun === gay mouth language beginning === References === == Middle Dutch == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɣaːi/ === Etymology 1 === Borrowed from Old French gai. ==== Adjective ==== gay cheerful, happy ===== Inflection ===== This adjective needs an inflection-table template. ===== Alternative forms ===== gaey ===== Descendants ===== Dutch: gei, gaai === Etymology 2 === Borrowed from Old Northern French gai, from Late Latin gaius, from the Roman name Latin Gaius. Also see Spanish gaya and urraca. ==== Noun ==== gay m jay parrot ===== Inflection ===== This noun needs an inflection-table template. ===== Alternative forms ===== gai ===== Descendants ===== Dutch: gaai === Further reading === Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “gay (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “gay (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II == Middle English == === Etymology === Borrowed from Old French gai. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɡæi̯/ === Adjective === gay joyous, merry 1405 Geoffrey Chaucer, The Wife of Bath's Tale, The Canterbury Tales (source): ==== Descendants ==== English: gay Yola: gaaye, gaay, gai, gay ==== References ==== “gai, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. == Middle French == === Etymology === Variant of Old French gai, borrowed from Old Occitan gai, possibly of Germanic origin, or from Latin vagus. === Adjective === gay m (feminine singular gaye, masculine plural gays, feminine plural gayes) cheerful; happy; gay ==== Descendants ==== French: gai == Portuguese == === Alternative forms === guei (adapted spelling) === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English gay. Doublet of gaio. === Pronunciation === Homophone: guei === Adjective === gay m or f (plural gays) gay homosexual (involving or relating to same-sex relationships, especially between males) Synonyms: homossexual, (slang, derogatory) viado, (Brazil, slang, derogatory) boiola (figurative, slang) flamboyant or effeminate (figurative, slang) overly sentimental ==== Quotations ==== For quotations using this term, see Citations:gay. ==== Coordinate terms ==== ==== Derived terms ==== kit gay === Noun === gay m or f by sense (plural gays) gay; homosexual (person attracted to others of the same sex), especially a male homosexual Synonyms: homossexual, (slang, derogatory) bicha, (Brazil, slang, derogatory) veado (slang, derogatory) a person who lame, stupid or shows any other unpleasant characteristics ==== Quotations ==== For quotations using this term, see Citations:gay. === Further reading === “gay”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026 “gay”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026 == Romanian == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English gay. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ɡej] === Adjective === gay m or f or n (indeclinable) gay ==== Declension ==== == Scots == === Adverb === gay fairly, considerably == Sori-Harengan == === Noun === gay water === References === Blust's Austronesian Comparative Dictionary == Spanish == === Alternative forms === guei, guey === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English gay. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɡei/ [ˈɡei̯] Rhymes: -ei IPA(key): /ˈɡai/ [ˈɡai̯] Rhymes: -ai Syllabification: gay === Adjective === gay m or f (masculine and feminine plural gays or gais) gay, homosexual ==== Derived terms ==== === Noun === gay m or f by sense (plural gays or gais) a homosexual person, gay person ==== Usage notes ==== The Royal Spanish Academy recommends the plural form gais for both the adjective and the noun, but gays is much more common. === References === === Further reading === “gay”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025 == Swedish == === Adjective === gay (comparative mer gay, superlative mest gay) (only used predicatively) gay, homosexual Synonyms: homosexuell, (male, possibly offensive) bög, lesbisk, (female, possibly offensive) lebb, (female, possibly offensive) flata ==== Derived terms ==== gaysex ==== References ==== “gay”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish) “gay”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish) Fula Ordboken == Vietnamese == === Pronunciation === (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ɣaj˧˧] (Huế) IPA(key): [ɣaj˧˧] (Saigon) IPA(key): [ɣa(ː)j˧˧] === Etymology 1 === (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) ==== Adjective ==== gay • (咳, 垓, 荄) difficult; hard ===== Derived terms ===== === Etymology 2 === Unadapted borrowing from English gay ==== Adjective ==== gay homosexual (of male) ===== Derived terms ===== == Yola == === Adjective === gay alternative form of gaaye (“fair, calm”) === References ===