gay

Forms

gay (invariable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English gay, in the sense “homosexual” that American English developed by 1935 out of the older meanings “merry” and “licentious”.^[2][3][4][1] The English adjective is Old French gai (“merry”).^[3][5] Gabrielli suggests that the Old French word comes from Frankish *wāhi (“impetuous”), while DELI, writing on the Italian doublet gaio, borrowed from Old Occitan gai in the 13th century, says the origin is still disputed and leans towards a Germanic source, probably Gothic *gāheis (“impetuous”).^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is from Alberto Arbasino in 1959, in the sense “homosexual”.^[2][3] The GDLI quotes him using it as an adjective, of the gay parties a character had been giving in Italy since the war.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the 1970s and 1980s the word spread in the Italian press: the GDLI quotes the magazine Men in 1972 and the Corriere della Sera in 1980, still in quotation marks, on fewer restrictions for gay people entering the United States, and Pier Vittorio Tondelli in the 1980s.^[6] Treccani notes that it is preferred to omosessuale in some contexts because it carries no negative overtones.^[7] The English phrase gay pride came with it.^[8][5]

DELI remarks that the word became so international that in Japan, according to C. A. Tripp (1978), the compound gaybar was taken for a Japanese word.^[2]

Timeline

• 1935 – American English gay is recorded in the sense “homosexual”.^[2][4]
• 1959 – Alberto Arbasino uses gay in Italian.^[2][3]
• 1972 – The magazine Men uses the word.^[6]
• 1980 – The Corriere della Sera writes gay in quotation marks.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (invariable) homosexual: un attore gay.^[4][9][1]
2. Of or typical of gay people: la comunità gay.^[4][9]
3. Frequented by gay people, or aimed at them: un bar gay.^[4][9][10]
4. Dealing with homosexuality as a theme: una rassegna di film gay.^[4][9][10]

Noun

1. (invariable) A homosexual person, especially a man.^[8][7][5][1]

Related words

• gaio
• omosessuale

Usage notes

In Italian the word is invariable: i gay, not the English plural gays.^[8][10] It is pronounced /ˈɡɛj/ or /ˈɡej/.^[1][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
8. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse