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Jay

Noun CEFR C2
ˈd͡ʒeɪ

Definitions

  1. The name of the Latin script letter J/j.
  2. Any of the numerous species of birds belonging to several genera within the family Corvidae, including Garrulus, Cyanocitta, Aphelocoma, Perisoreus, Cyanocorax, Gymnorhinus, Cyanolyca, Ptilostomus, and Calocitta, allied to the crows, but smaller, more graceful in form, often handsomely coloured, usually having a crest, and often noisy.
  3. An English surname transferred from the nickname from Old French jai (“jay (bird)”), a nickname for a chatty or showy person.
  4. A diminutive of the male given names James, Jacob, Jack, John, or Jason, or for any other name beginning with ⟨J⟩; also used as a formal given name.
  5. A male given name from Hindi.
  6. Alternative letter-case form of jay.
    alt-of
  7. A marijuana cigarette; a joint.
  8. Any of various other birds of similar appearance and behaviour.
  9. A male given name transferred from the surname
  10. A female given name.
  11. The Indian roller, Coracias benghalensis.
  12. A placename
  13. A hamlet in Leintwardine parish, Herefordshire, England; named in the c. 13th century for the Jay family, prominent in that area (OS grid ref SO3974).
  14. Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium.
  15. A locale in the United States.
  16. A town in Santa Rosa County, Florida; named for postmaster J. T. Nowling.
  17. A dull or ignorant person. It survives today in the term jaywalking.
  18. A town in Franklin County, Maine; named for American statesman and Founding Father John Jay.
  19. A town in Essex County, New York; named for John Jay.
  20. Promiscuous woman; prostitute.
  21. A city, the county seat of Delaware County, Oklahoma; named for Jay Washburn, nephew of Cherokee leader Stand Watie.
  22. A town on the Canadian border in Orleans County, Vermont; named for John Jay.
  23. A township in Martin County, Minnesota.
  24. A township in Elk County, Pennsylvania.
  25. A former settlement in California.

Equivalents

Españoljota
FrançaisJayji
DeutschHäherJot
33 more languages
العربيةجايزرياب
Bosanskiiješojkaшојка
Catalàjota
Cymraegje
Esperantojo
فارسیجی
Gaeilge
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻiiota
עבריתעורבני
Hrvatskiiješojkaшојка
Bahasa Indonesiaje
Íslenskajoð
Italianoi lunga
한국어제이
Kurdîîji
Latinai
Bahasa Melayuje
မြန်မာဂျေ
Nederlandsjee
Polskijot
Portuguêsjota
РусскийДжейжийот
Српскиiješojkaшојка
ไทยเจ
Tagalogdyey
Türkçeje
Українськасойка

Examples

They are the commonality of birddom, who furnish forth the mobs which bewilder the drunken-flighted jay when he jerks, shrieking in a series of blue hyphen-flashes through the air […]”
Burlington Bertie's the latest young jay He rents a swell flat somewhere Kensington way He spends the good oof that his pater has made Along with the Brandy and Soda Brigade.”
Some jay of Italy, / Whose mother was her painting, hath betray'd him:”
Although sympathetic, my main reaction was to think: “Some people can handle it, and some people can’t,” and then smugly light up a big fat jay.”
““I started to think about it. He’s coming in on a two-seater experimental plane to pitch me to go on a five-seater experimental sub that he has built down to the ocean floor to see the Titanic,” Jay said.”
When Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft jumped into the state’s gubernatorial race last year, the Republican vowed to tackle a slew of culture war issues, promising to fight thewoke politics” of “left-wingbanks and touting how he used his position to enact a regulation targeting those financial firms.”
“To Lt. and Mrs. John Ellingston (Beth Vollstedt), a daughter, Jay Karen, on September 17, 1945.”
“In 1993, my daughter Jay returned home aged 21 after a disastrous marriage.”
Within a few weeks, having endured a number of lengthy interviews, Jay found herself working in the Beijing office of the bureau of information.”

CEFR level

C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
See all C2 English words →

See also

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