grey

From Middle English grey, from Old English grǣġ, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz (compare Dutch grauw, German grau, Old Norse grár), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”) (compare 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”)).

• (UK, US) enPR: grā, IPA^(key): /ɡɹeɪ/

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• Rhymes: -eɪ

grey (comparative greyer or more grey, superlative greyest or most grey)

1. Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.
   • 1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC:

     These grey and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks.

   • 1954 August, H. M. Madgwick, “The Blaenau Festiniog Tunnel”, in Railway Magazine, page 569:

     This is itself a cheerless spot, particularly on a rainy day, when, overshadowed by the great massif of rock that towers in the background, and surrounded by the grey and cheerless quarries, it has a depressing character much in contrast with the green verdure encountered on the northern end of this interesting branch line.

2. (South Africa, slang) Synonym of coloured (pertaining to the mixed race of black and white).^[1]

grey (third-person singular simple present greys, present participle greying, simple past and past participle greyed)

1. Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.
   • 1941, Emily Carr, chapter 18, in Klee Wyck‎^[1]:

     Now only a few hand-hewn cedar planks and roof beams remained, moss-grown and sagging—a few totem poles, greyed and split.

grey (plural greys)

1. Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.
   • 1810, Walter Scott, “(please specify the canto number or page)”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):

     Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, / That costs thy life, my gallant grey.

   • 1833, Sporting Magazine, volume 6, page 400:

     Pioneer seemed now to have the game in his own hands; but the Captain, by taking two desperate leaps, cut off a corner, by which he regained the ground he had lost by the fall, and was up with the grey the remainder of the chase.

• greys

• -ergy, gyre

From Old Norse grey, from Proto-Germanic *grawją, cognate with Faroese groyggj.

• IPA^(key): /kreiː/
• Rhymes: -eiː

grey n (genitive singular greys, nominative plural grey)

1. (archaic) bitch (female dog)
2. wretch
3. pitiful person, poor thing

   Greyið mitt!

   You poor little thing!

   Greyið Jón

   Poor John

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), “grey”, in Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2026), “grey”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• Mörður Árnason (2019), Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
• “grey” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)

• grei, gray, grai, greye, gry, græi, gro, gra, greȝe, greiȝe

From Old English grǣġ, from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz.

• IPA^(key): /ɡræi̯/
• Rhymes: -æi̯

grey (plural and weak singular greye)

1. grey, dull, drab (in color)
2. glinting, glistening

• English: gray, grey
• Scots: gray
• Yola: gry

• “grei, adj. & n..”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 30 March 2018.

grey

1. grey (colour)
2. Fur of the grey squirrel
3. grey clothes
4. grey textiles
5. An elderly man
6. A badger

• English: gray, grey
• Scots: gray
• Yola: gry

• “grei, adj. & n..”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 30 March 2018.
• “grei, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 30 March 2018.
• “grei, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 30 March 2018.

grey m (plural greys)

1. alternative form of gray (race of extraterrestrials)

Inherited from Old Spanish grey, from Latin gregem, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ger- (“to assemble, gather together”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɾei/ [ˈɡɾei̯]
• Rhymes: -ei
• Syllabification: grey

grey f (plural greyes)

1. (obsolete, poetic) flock, herd

   Synonyms: rebaño, rehala

2. (religion) flock (people served by a pastor, priest, etc., also all believers in a church or religion)

   Synonyms: rebaño, feligresía, congregación, iglesia

   • 1877, Benito Pérez Galdós, Gloria:

     toda la grey díscola y ladina de aquellas verdes montañas

     the whole rebellious and cunning flock from those green mountains

• (animals): ganado, hato, parvada, manada, jauría, cardumen, enjambre

• “grey”, 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
• Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1984), “grey”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎^[2] (in Spanish), volume III (G–Ma), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 208