grizzly

Etymology

It is formed from English grizzle + -y, from the adjective meaning grey;^[2][3][4][5] Merriam-Webster takes the suffix as -ly.^[6] The base is from Middle English grisel, a grey-haired man,^[7][8] from Old French grisel (“grey”), which also meant a grey-haired old man and a grey horse,^[4] a diminutive of gris (“grey”).^[8][4][2] The French adjective is from Old High German grīs (“grey”), the same word as Old Saxon grīs, Dutch grijs and German greis, of unknown further origin;^[2] Etymonline allows a Frankish or another Germanic source.^[4] The noun, the bear, is short for grizzly bear, named from its grey-flecked fur.^[2][3][9] The mining grating called a grizzly is probably a later sense of the same noun,^[2] although the Shorter Oxford calls it of unknown origin.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Grey, greyish or grey-haired: 1594, in R. Carew's translation of Tasso's Godfrey of Bulloigne.^[2][6] Etymonline dates the adjective to the 1590s.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined the adjective as "somewhat gray" and quoted Bacon on old squirrels turning grizzly.^[10] The name of the large bear of western North America, Ursus horribilis, is recorded as grizzly bear from 1807, in P. Gass's journals,^[2] or by 1806 in Etymonline,^[4] and grizzly alone for the bear from 1808, in Z. M. Pike's account of his expeditions.^[2] Etymonline notes that the name is sometimes said to belong rather to grisly, terrible, but finds that either adjective suits the animal;^[4] the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins holds that it has nothing to do with grisly and means only "streaked with grey".^[9] In American slang a grizzly was a brute, from 1863.^[11] From 1877 miners in the United States called a grating of parallel iron bars that screens off large stones a grizzly,^[2] a term also used in South Africa.^[3] From 1894 grizzly king and grizzly queen were artificial flies for angling.^[2] At Nenthead in east Cumberland, grizzly was the name of the largest cylinders then in use.^[12]

Timeline

• 1594 – grey, greyish, grey-haired.^[2][6]
• 1807 – grizzly bear, the large bear of western North America.^[2] Etymonline records it by 1806.^[4]
• 1808 – grizzly alone, the grizzly bear.^[2]
• 1863 – American slang, a brute.^[11]
• 1877 – mining, a grating of parallel bars for screening off large stones.^[2]
• 1894 – grizzly king, grizzly queen, artificial angling flies.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A grizzly bear, the large brown bear of western North America with grey-tipped fur.^{[13][6][2][3]}
2. (mining) A coarse screen or grating of heavy parallel bars that lets fine material through and holds back large stones, as in sorting ore or gravel.^[6][2][3]
3. A similar coarse grating, as at a water inlet, for catching large stones and trash.^[6]

Adjective

1. Grey or flecked with grey; grizzled: a grizzly old beard.^[13][6][2]

Word family

• grizzly bear

Related words

• grizzled
• grisaille
• grisly

Usage notes

A separate adjective grizzly, fretful or whining, formed from the verb grizzle, to whimper or complain, is recorded from 1900 in British colloquial use.^[2][3] The grey grizzly is often confused with grisly, horrible, which has a different, native origin.^[9][4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
13. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin