gay English · revision 2836

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=fro gai}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡeɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|gay]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|gai|t=joyful, happy; pleasant, charming; pert; light-colored]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) which is also the source of Spanish gayo, Portuguese gaio and Italian gajo.^(Etymonline) The further origin is disputed:^(Etymonline) perhaps it is from Frankish *gahi, related to Old High German gāhi “rapid, impetuous”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) but not all etymologists accept this, and Hoad and the NODE call it of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) It was used as a surname from 1178.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Splendid, beautiful: about 1300,^(Barnhart 1988) the early 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The sense “full of joy, merry, light-hearted” is from before 1310 in the OED^(OED 1989) and about 1380 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century the word described showy, rich, bright things and people dressed in finery, as well as merry ones.^(Etymonline) A hint of immorality goes back at least to the 1630s, if not to Chaucer;^(Etymonline) from 1637 it meant “addicted to social pleasures and dissipations”, often a euphemism for loose living,^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) as in ''gay dog'', a man fond of revelry, from the mid-19th century.^(Cresswell 2021) In 19th-century slang a ''gay'' woman was a prostitute (1825).^(OED 1989) The sense “homosexual” was a self-description among homosexuals from shortly after the First World War,^(GDoS) found unambiguously in the 1920s;^(Cresswell 2021) Green dates the noun to about 1925,^(GDoS) the New Partridge the adjective to 1933 and the noun to 1953.^(Dalzell 2013) Barnhart and Green connect it with the tramp slang ''gay cat'', the young companion of an older tramp (about 1935).^(Barnhart 1988)^(GDoS) It appears in psychological writing in the late 1940s,^(Etymonline) and its wide use outside the gay community began about 1970, with the Gay Liberation Front.^(GDoS) It is now the main meaning,^(Cresswell 2021) and has made the older senses rare.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1178 – as a surname.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – splendid, beautiful.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1310 – merry, light-hearted.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1637 – given to pleasures and dissipation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1825 – of a woman, living by prostitution.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1920s – homosexual.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * c. 1925 – noun, a homosexual man.^(GDoS)

+ * c. 1970 – general use in the homosexual sense.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[homosexual|alt=Homosexual]]; of or relating to homosexual people and their community.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(dated)'' [[merry|alt=Merry]], light-hearted and cheerful.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(dated)'' Bright or lively, especially in color.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(dated)'' Given to social pleasures; [[dissolute]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A gay person, especially a man.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gayness]]

+ * [[gaiety]]

+ * [[gayety]]

+ * [[nosegay]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gaily]]

+ * [[queer]]

+ * [[lesbian]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Gay'' is now the standard term for homosexual people and is usually lowercased; many reserve it for men and say ''gay and lesbian'' for both.^(AHD) It emphasizes the social and cultural side of homosexuality,^(AHD) and many gay people prefer it to ''homosexual''.^(Collins 2023) As a noun for particular individuals (''two gays on the panel'') it may be found offensive, but the plural for the community is acceptable.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}