Gray vs. Grey: What is the Difference? | Merriam-Webster

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Gray and grey are both common spellings of the color between black and white. Gray is more frequent in American English, whereas grey is more common in ... Login SignUp Hello, Games&Quizzes Thesaurus WordoftheDay Features BuyingGuide M-WBooks MyWordsMyWords ViewRecents Account LogOut UsageNotes 'Gray'vs.'Grey':WhatistheDifference? Whenitcomestospelling,it’snotallblackandwhite. WhattoKnow Grayandgreyarebothcommonspellingsofthecolorbetweenblackandwhite.GrayismorefrequentinAmericanEnglish,whereasgreyismorecommoninBritishEnglish.Thevaryingusageofbothgreyandgrayextendstospecializedtermssuchasanimalspecies(gray/greywhale)andscientificterms(gray/greymatter).Greyhoundisanexception,whichhasadifferentderivationthanthecolor. It'sallabit...cloudy. Thecolorknowntofallintherangebetweenblackandwhitecanbespelledgrayorgrey.ThisisoneofthemostfrequentlyqueriedwordsinEnglishwhenitcomestospelling,becausebothspellingsarecommonenoughtoseemfamiliar.Ofthetwo,grayoccursmorefrequentlyinAmericanEnglish,whilegreyhashistoricallybeenthespellingpreferredbyBritishEnglishpublications.ItderivesfromtheOldEnglishgrǣg. “Fifteen-year-oldJo…hadadecidedmouth,acomicalnose,andsharp,grayeyes,whichappearedtoseeeverything,andwerebyturnsfierce,funny,orthoughtful.” —LouisaMayAlcott,LittleWomen,1868-9 Hewasatall,leanmanoffifty,withadroopingmoustacheandgreyhair. —W.SomersetMaugham,TheMoonandSixpence,1919 'Grey'vs.'Gray'BeyondColor Thevarianceinspellingcarriesovertoanimalnamesandotherspecializedtermsthatusetheword,suchasgray/greywhale,gray/greysquirrel,ortheslangtermgray/greymatterforthebrain. DespitetheAmericanpreferenceforgray,thespellinggreyretainsahealthypresenceinalotofculturalreferencesknowntoAmericans,suchasGreyPouponmustardandGreyGoosevodka,bothofwhichoriginatedinFrance.ThetitlesGrey’sAnatomy(aTVdrama)andFiftyShadesofGrey(aneroticnovelseriesbyaBritishwriter,E.L.James)havethosespellingsbecausetheyplayonthenamesofcharactersnamedGreyinthoseworks. Theslenderbreedofdogknownforitsracingabilitiesiscalledagreyhound,anditisconsistentlyspelledthatway.Butthename'setymologydoesnotpinthatgreyonitscolor;itderivesfromanOldEnglishword,grīghund,thefirstpartofwhichisdistinctfromgrǣgandhasbeenlinkedtoaNorsewordforafemaledog. Share MoreWordsAtPlay Merriam-Webster'sWordsoftheWeek-Oct.29 Fromtheweekending10/29/2021 Merriam-Webster'sWordsoftheWeek-Jan.14 Fromtheweekending1/14/2022 'Everyday'vs.'EveryDay' Asimpletricktokeepthemseparate TimeTraveler Checkoutwordsfromtheyearyouwerebornandmore! TRENDINGNOW sedition,seditious Arrestsmadefor1/6attack Sardoodledom ScrippsBeeclipgoesviral meta Facebookannouncesnewname SEEALL SubscribetoAmerica'slargestdictionaryandgetthousandsmoredefinitionsandadvancedsearch—adfree! Merriam-Websterunabridged AsktheEditors 'Everyday'vs.'EveryDay' Asimpletricktokeepthemseparate WhatIs'SemanticBleaching'? How'literally'canmean"figuratively" Literally Howtouseawordthat(literally)drivessomepe... IsSingular'They'aBetterChoice? Theawkwardcaseof'hisorher' WordGames DoYouKnowTheseFormidableWords? NewYear,ReconditeVocabulary Takethequiz AdvancedVocabularyQuiz Toughwordsandtoughercompetition. Takethequiz SpellIt Canyouspellthese10commonlymisspelledwords? Takethequiz



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