Grey Meaning
/ɡɹeɪ/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjCommonwealth standard spelling of gray.
adjSynonym of coloured (pertaining to the mixed race of black and white).
Sentence Examples
All cats are grey in the dark.
We made Mr Grey chairman of the committee.
The dull grey of the sky
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sky turned ____ when the storm clouds covered the sun.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The sky was a dull and gloomy ____ as the heavy rain clouds gathered just before the big thunderstorm.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English grey, from Old English grēġ (Anglian). The spelling grey reflects the Anglian vowel development, whereas the variant gray stems from the West Saxon form grǣġ (through Middle English gray). Further derived 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”)).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"These grey and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks."
— 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:
"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."
— 1954 August, H. M. Madgwick, “The Blaenau Festiniog Tunnel”, in Railway Magazine, page 569:
"Now only a few hand-hewn cedar planks and roof beams remained, moss-grown and sagging—a few totem poles, greyed and split."
— 1941, Emily Carr, chapter 18, in Klee Wyck:
"Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, / That costs thy life, my gallant grey."
— 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):
"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."
— 1833, Sporting Magazine, volume 6, page 400:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sky turned ____ when the storm clouds covered the sun.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The sky was a dull and gloomy ____ as the heavy rain clouds gathered just before the big thunderstorm.