jay

CEFRC1

/ˈd͡ʒeɪ/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A noisy bird with blue or gray feathers.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Any of various other birds of similar appearance and behaviour.

Examples

  • Sami was smoking a jay in his room.

  • Jay picked up the old scissors.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. 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.

  2. The Indian roller, Coracias benghalensis.

  3. Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium.

More examples

In context

  • The Jay cries 'tac tac'.

  • 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.

  • 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 […]

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blue blank with a loud call perched on the tree branch.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.