gay Italian · revision 38363

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1959, Alberto Arbasino|origins=fro gai}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɡɛj/, /ˈɡej/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gay''' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|en|gay]], in the sense “homosexual” that American English developed by 1935 out of the older meanings “merry” and “licentious”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The English adjective is [[fro|gai|t=merry]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) Gabrielli suggests that the Old French word comes from [[frk|*wāhi|t=impetuous]], while DELI, writing on the Italian doublet [[gaio]], borrowed from [[pro|gai]] in the 13th century, says the origin is still disputed and leans towards a Germanic source, probably [[got|*gāheis|t=impetuous]].^(Gabrielli 2020)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is from Alberto Arbasino in 1959, in the sense “homosexual”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The GDLI quotes him using it as an adjective, of the gay parties a character had been giving in Italy since the war.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==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.^(GDLI) Treccani notes that it is preferred to ''omosessuale'' in some contexts because it carries no negative overtones.^(Treccani 2011) The English phrase ''gay pride'' came with it.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ 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.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1935 – American English ''gay'' is recorded in the sense “homosexual”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1959 – Alberto Arbasino uses ''gay'' in Italian.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1972 – The magazine ''Men'' uses the word.^(GDLI)

+ * 1980 – The ''Corriere della Sera'' writes ''gay'' in quotation marks.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(invariable)'' [[m|en|homosexual]]: ''un attore gay''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of or typical of gay people: ''la comunità gay''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Frequented by gay people, or aimed at them: ''un bar gay''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Dealing with homosexuality as a theme: ''una rassegna di film gay''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(invariable)'' A homosexual person, especially a man.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gaio]]

+ * [[omosessuale]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Italian the word is invariable: ''i gay'', not the English plural ''gays''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) It is pronounced /ˈɡɛj/ or /ˈɡej/.^(Wiktionary)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}