Pronunciation
Eurasian jay
American jay
Etymology 1
From Middle English jay , from Old French jai ( "jay"; Modern French geai ) , either from Late Latin gaius ( “ jay ” ) ,[1] or from Old French gai ( “ gay, merry ” ) , so named due to its plumage, from Old Frankish * gāhi ( “ quick, impetuous ” ) , from Proto-Germanic * ganhuz , * ganhwaz ( “ sudden ” ) , cognate with Dutch gaai ( “ jay ” ) . More on the latter etymology at gay .
Noun
jay (plural jays )
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.
Any of various other birds of similar appearance and behaviour.
The Indian roller , Coracias benghalensis .
1878 , Philip Stewart Robinson, In My Indian Garden :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 [ …]
Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium .
( archaic ) A dull or ignorant person. It survives today in the term jaywalking .
1900 , Harry B. Norris (lyrics and music), “Burlington Bertie”: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.
( obsolete ) Promiscuous woman; prostitute .
Translations
bird
Albanian: grifshë (sq) f , grizhlemzë (sq) f
Arabic: زُرَيْق m ( zurayq )
Armenian: ճայ (hy) ( čay )
Basque: eskinoso
Belarusian: сойка f ( sójka )
Breton: kegin (br) f
Bulgarian: сойка f ( sojka )
Catalan: gaig m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 松鴉 / 松鸦 ( cung4 aa1 ) , 橿鳥 / 橿鸟 ( goeng1 niu5 )
Mandarin: 松鴉 / 松鸦 (zh) ( sōngyā ) , 橿鳥 / 橿鸟 ( jiāngniǎo )
Czech: sojka (cs) f
Danish: skovskade (da) ( Eurasian jay )
Dutch: gaai (nl) m , Vlaamse gaai (nl) m
Esperanto: garolo
Estonian: pasknäär (et)
Faroese: gnelliskjóra
Finnish: närhi (fi)
French: geai (fr) m , geai des chênes (fr) m
Friulian: gjaie f , badascule f
Galician: gaio (gl) , pega marxa , pega rebordá f
Georgian: ჩხიკვი ( čxiḳvi )
German: Häher (de) m , Hähermännchen n ( male ) , Häherweibchen n ( female )
Greek: κίσσα (el) f ( kíssa )
Ancient: κίσσα f ( kíssa )
Hebrew: עורבני m ( 'orbaní )
Hungarian: szajkó (hu) , mátyásmadár (hu)
Icelandic: skrækskaði (is)
Ido: jeo (io)
Irish: scréachóg
Italian: ghiandaia (it) f
Japanese: 懸巣 , 橿鳥 , 鵥 (ja) , カケス ( かけす, kakesu )
Ladin: gacia
Latin: gaius , garrulus m
Latvian: sīlis
Lithuanian: kėkštas (lt)
Lower Sorbian: kabeja
Macedonian: сојка f ( sojka )
Maltese: sultan iċ-ċawl
Mari:
Eastern Mari: купшӱльӧ ( kupšüĺö )
Mongolian: ятга шаазгай ( jatga šaazgaj ) , ятгашаазгай ( jatgašaazgaj , literally “ zither magpie ” )
Navajo: tʼádootłʼizhii , joogii
Norman: geai m
Norwegian:
Bokmål: nøtteskrike (no) m or f ( Eurasian jay )
Nynorsk: nøtteskrikje f , nøtteskrike (no) f ( Eurasian jay )
Occitan: gag (oc)
Polish: sójka (pl) f
Portuguese: gralha (pt) f , gaio (pt) m
Romanian: gaiță (ro) f
Romansch: sgragia f
Russian: со́йка (ru) f ( sójka )
Sami:
Northern Sami: látteguovssat
Sardinian: piga , pica , marabiga , mariabiga , melapica
Scottish Gaelic: sgreuchag f , sgreuchan-coille m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: креjа f , шојка f , сoјка f
Roman: kreja (sh) f , šojka (sh) f , sojka (sh) f
Slovak: sojka (sk) f
Slovene: šoja (sl) f
Spanish: arrendajo (es) m , urraca (es) f , grajilla (es) f
Swedish: nötskrika (sv) ( Eurasian jay )
Turkish: alakarga (tr)
Ukrainian: сойка f ( sojka )
Upper Sorbian: škrěkawa
Welsh: sgrech (cy) f
West Frisian: houtekster
Etymology 2
Respelling of the letter jy (which see), by analogy with the following letter kay .
Noun
jay (plural jays )
The name of the Latin-script letter J /j .
( slang ) A marijuana cigarette; a joint .
2009 March 23, Caitlin Moran , The Times :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 .
See also
( Latin-script letter names ) letter ; a , bee , cee , dee , e , ef , gee , aitch , i , jay , kay , el , em , en , o , pee , cue , ar , ess , tee , u , vee , double-u , ex , wye , zee / zed
References
Myers, Susan (2022 ) The Bird Name Book: A History of English Bird Names , Princeton University Press, →ISBN , page 181