*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of gray

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ (West Saxon). The spelling gray reflects the West Saxon vowel development, whereas the variant grey stems from the Anglian form grēġ (through Middle English grey). Further

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

An achromatic colour between black and white. · A gray dye or pigment. · A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of gray pigment. · An animal or thing of grey colour, such as a horse, badger, or salmon.

adj

Of a color between black and white, having neutral hue and intermediate brightness. · Dreary, gloomy, cloudy. · Indistinct, disputed or ambiguous, especially in respect of moral acceptability, legality, etc. · Gray-haired.

verb

To turn gray. · To turn progressively older, alluding to graying of hair through aging (used in context of the population of a geographic region) · To give a soft effect to (a photograph) by covering the negative while printing with a ground-glass plate. · Less common form of gray out.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ (West Saxon). The spelling gray reflects the West Saxon vowel development, whereas the variant grey stems from the Anglian form grēġ (through Middle English grey). Further derived from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz (“grey”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”). Cognate with West Frisian grau (“grey”), Dutch grauw (“grey”), German Low German grau, graag (“grey”), German grau (“grey”), Swedish grå (“grey”), Icelandic grár (“grey”), Latin rāvus (“tawny, grey”), Old Church Slavonic зьрѭ (zĭrjǫ, “to see, to glance”), archaic Russian зреть (zretʹ, “to watch, to look at”), Lithuanian žeriù (“to shine”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*gʰreh₁-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentiongrayenm
  • Inherited-form mentiongrǣġang
  • Inherited-form mention*grāugmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*grēwazgem-pro · grey
  • Derivation mention*ǵʰreh₁-ine-pro · to green, to grow
  • Cognate mentiongraufy · grey
  • Cognate mentiongrauwnl · grey
  • Cognate mentiongraude · grey
  • Cognate mentiongråsv · grey
  • Cognate mentiongráris · grey
  • Cognate mentionrāvusla · tawny, grey
  • Cognate mentionзьрѭcu · to see, to glance
  • Cognate mentionзретьru · to watch, to look at
  • Cognate mentionžeriùlt · to shine

This page abbreviates 6 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "args": {
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        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*gʰreh₁-"
      },
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    },
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      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "gray"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English gray"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "grǣġ"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English grǣġ"
    },
    {
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      "args": {
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        "2": "gmw-pro",
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      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *grāu"
    },
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      "name": "inh",
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      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *grēwaz (“grey”)"
    },
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    },
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    },
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      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "grauw",
        "t": "grey"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch grauw (“grey”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds-de",
        "2": "grau"
      },
      "expansion": "German Low German grau"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "grau",
        "t": "grey"
      },
      "expansion": "German grau (“grey”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
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        "t": "grey"
      },
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    },
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        "t": "grey"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic grár (“grey”)"
    },
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      "args": {
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        "2": "rāvus",
        "t": "tawny, grey"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin rāvus (“tawny, grey”)"
    },
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      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
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        "2": "зьрѭ",
        "t": "to see, to glance"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Church Slavonic зьрѭ (zĭrjǫ, “to see, to glance”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ru",
        "2": "зреть",
        "t": "to watch, to look at"
      },
      "expansion": "Russian зреть (zretʹ, “to watch, to look at”)"
    },
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      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
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        "2": "žeriù",
        "t": "to shine"
      },
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    }
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      "gray",
      "gray#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "gray",
      "gray#English"
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      "grey#English"
    ],
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      "greg#Old_English"
    ],
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      "grey",
      "grey#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "*grāu",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/grāu"
    ],
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      "*grēwaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/grēwaz"
    ],
    [
      "*ǵʰreh₁-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ǵʰreh₁-"
    ],
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      "grau#West_Frisian"
    ],
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      "grauw",
      "grauw#Dutch"
    ],
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    ],
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      "graag#Low_German"
    ],
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      "grau",
      "grau#German"
    ],
    [
      "grå",
      "grå#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "grár",
      "grár#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "rāvus",
      "ravus#Latin"
    ],
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      "зьрѭ",
      "зьрѭ#Old_Church_Slavonic"
    ],
    [
      "зреть",
      "зреть#Russian"
    ],
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    ]
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

In the International System of Units, the derived unit of absorbed dose of radiation (radiation absorbed by a patient); one joule of energy absorbed per kilogram of the patient's mass.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Named after English physicist Louis Harold Gray (1905–1965).

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "expansion": ""
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for gray →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Z3JheQ