"of a color between white and black; having little or no color or luminosity," Old English gr?g "gray" (Mercian grei), from Proto-Germanic *grewa- "gray" (cognates: Old Norse grar, Old Frisian gre, Middle Dutch gra, Dutch graw, Old High German grao, German grau), with no certain connections outside Germanic. French gris, Spanish gris, Italian grigio, Medieval Latin griseus are Germanic loan-words. The spelling distinction between British grey and U.S. gray developed 20c. Expression the gray mare is the better horse in reference to households ruled by wives is recorded from 1540s.
gray (n.)
c. 1200, from gray (adj.). Gray as figurative for "Southern troops in the U.S. Civil War" is first recorded 1863, in reference to their uniform color.
gray (v.)
"become gray, wither," 1610s (with an isolated instance from late 14c.), from gray (adj.). Related: Grayed; graying.
雙語例句
1. His hair was disheveled, and his face was unshaven and gray.
他頭發(fā)凌亂，沒刮胡子，臉色蒼白。
來自柯林斯例句
2. Lovett was a tall, commanding man with a waxed gray mustache.
洛維特是個威嚴的高個男人，蓄著灰白的八字胡。
來自柯林斯例句
3. I saw this nice-looking man in a gray suit.
我見到過這個身著灰色套裝的英俊男士。
來自柯林斯例句
4. She tried to blow a gray strand of hair from her eyes.
她竭力想把眼前的一縷白發(fā)吹開。
來自柯林斯例句
5. In the mornings the sky appeared a heavy shade of mottled gray.