Meaning of gay | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A homosexual, especially a male homosexual.
   in-plural
2. The letter —, which stands for the sound /ɡ/, in Pitman shorthand.
3. An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for a cheerful or lively person.
4. ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Gayo
5. Gayness: the quality of being gay.
   derogatory, informal, ironic, often
6. A unisex given name from English.
7. A female given name from English, from the word gay (“joyful”); rare today.
8. Homosexual: Possessing sexual and/or romantic attraction towards people one perceives to be the same sex or gender as oneself. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
9. John, 1685–1732, English poet and playwright.
10. Something which is bright or colorful, such as a picture or a flower.
    dialectal, obsolete
11. A male given name from English.
12. Possessing sexual and/or romantic attraction towards people one perceives to be the same sex or gender as oneself. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
13. homosexual. homoseksueel لواطي، أحادي الجنس хомосексуалист gay homosexuál der Schwule bøsse; lesbisk kvinde ομοφυλόφιλοςhomosexual homoseksuaal, gei مرد همجنس باز homoseksuaali homosexuel/-elle הוֹמוֹסֶקסוּאַל समलैंगिक homoseksualac homoszexuális homoseks samkynhneigður gay, omosessuale 同性愛者 동성애 homoseksualistas homoseksuālists, gejs homoseksual homo, homoseksueelhomo, homsepederasta, homoseksualista همجنس بازه سری гомосексуалист homosexuál homoseksualec homoseksualac bög, lesbian ชายรักชาย; ...
14. An ornament, a knick-knack.
    obsolete
15. A male given name transferred from the surname.
16. Describing a homosexual man
17. vrolik بِمَرَح، بِجَذَل ярко alegremente vesele unbekümmert muntert χαρούμεναalegremente; vistosamente lõbusalt مسرورانه؛ با رنگ های درخشان iloisesti gaiement בְעַלִיזוּת आनन्दपूर्वक veselo derűsen dengan gembira glaðlega gaiamente, allegramente 陽気に 명랑하게 linksmai priecīgi; jautri riang vrolijk, heldermuntert, lystig radośnie په خوشالى، په خوښى alegremente cu veselie весело; ярко veselo veselo srećno glatt, muntert อย่างสนุกสนาน; อย่างร่าเริง; อย่างเบิกบาน; อย่างรื่นเริง sevinçle, neşeyle 快樂地 ...
18. A diminutive of the male given names Gaylord or Gabriel, and similar names
19. Tending to partner or mate with other individuals of the same sex
20. homosexual;___ bowel syndrome → síndrome intestinal del ___.
21. Of, relating to, or having a sexual orientation to persons of the same sex.
22. Showing or characterized by cheerfulness and lighthearted excitement; merry.
23. Bright or lively, especially in color: a gay, sunny room.
24. Offensive Slang Socially inappropriate or foolish.
    Offensive Slang
25. Given to social pleasures, especially at the expense of serious pursuits: "You know she is gay, and wild, loves company and mirth, and that it was her impatience of restraint in these things, that made the breach between her and her father" (Daniel Defoe).
26. Dissolute or licentious: "He and his wife led a gay life. He made money fast, and she spent it faster. Eventually, both were broken physically" (Robert Coleman).

Equivalents

Examples

“"Mr Gay Brawls. What a name." "It didn't use to mean what it means now. Plenty were named Gay. Even in Nevada. Was old Gay Pitch had a gas station in Winnemucca. Nobody thought nothin about it and he raised a railroad car of kids.”

“- - - my father's father, Gaetano Talese (whose name I inherited after my birth in 1932, in the anglicized form "Gay"), was an atypically fearless traveler,”

“[headline] N.Y. Gays: Will the Spark Die?”

“"Same-sex dancing, as we call it, is quite legal," a gay named Lew Todd, who was one of the spokesmen, spoke up.”

“Yet that does not mean that the issues, concerns and attitudes of gays and lesbians in the workplace are not important.”

“Older gays and lesbians often relegate themselves to separate and unequal meeting places.”

“On June 28, 1970, young gays in the city held a “Gay-in” in Golden Gate Park, and Gay Sunshine ran a photo of some of the participants in their inaugural issue […]”

“Anti-gay persecution holds that you can pray the gay out of a person, or scare it out of them, or cajole it out of them.”

“At a stall soon Mary bote / A hume-book full ov gays.”

“I had no books to read, but plenty of gays to look at.”

“‘Can't you mow the aftermath in the churchyard before Sunday?’ ‘Not time enough, sir, but I'll cut off they gays.’”

“There's a good child; look at the gays, and keep quiet.”

“Look upon precepts in emblems, as they do to upon gays and pictures.”

“If however the stranger be suspected of “sailing under false colours," when they are all in familiar chat about nothing in particular, “Cousin Jacky” will take occasion to say to the new chum, “My dear; ded 'e ever see a duck clunk a gay?" […] no more deceived by him than a duck can be made to clunk (swallow) a gay (fragment of broken crockery).”

CEFR level