The Origs of the Word ‘Gay’ – uTalk Blog

Contents:

• THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”
• GAY
• GAY (ADJ.)
• SYNONYMS OF GAY
• THE ORIGS OF THE WORD ‘GAY’
• GAY DICTNARY
• DEFN OF 'GAY'
• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• QUEER VS. GAY: HOW THE WORDS ARE DIFFERENT, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
• HOW ‘GAY’ GOT S RABOW: WHAT ONCE MEANT MERRY IS NOW A BADGE OF INTY FOR HOMOSEXUALS HDTAN TIM | BYPOULOMI BANERJEE SEP 21, 2018 04:18 PM IST SHARE VIA COPY LK THE DICTNARY TRAC THE ORIG OF GAY TO THE FRENCH WORD GAI. BUT HOW DID SOMETHG THAT MEANT CHEERFUL BEE SYNONYMO WH HOMOSEXUALS, WHO HAVE HAD TO FIGHT LONG AND HARD FOR THEIR INTY? IF (ISDEVICEENABLED('SMALL') || ISDEVICEENABLED('MEDIUM') && !ADFREE) { (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1524814893923-0'); }); } ON THURSDAY, AS THE SUPREME COURT CRIMALISED HOMOSEXUALY, READG DOWN THE NTROVERSIAL BRISH-ERA SECTN 377 OF THE PENAL , MUMBAI-BASED ARNAB NANDY TOOK TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO EXPRS HIS JOY, AS MANY ACROSS THE UNTRY AND THE WORLD WERE DOG. “I AM SO GAY TODAY…” HE WROTE A G-OUT POST THAT HAS SCE GONE VIRAL. BUT WHILE NANDY’S CHOICE OF WORD WAS BANG ON THAT DAY, HOW DID A WORD THAT HAD ORIGALLY MEANT LIGHT-HEARTED, REEE OR CHEERFUL, BEE ASSOCIATED WH A MUNY WHOSE LIFE HAS BEEN OFTEN BEEN ANYTHG BUT? CARY GRANT AND KATHARE HEPBURN THE 1938 FILM BRGG UP BABY, WHERE GRANT ED THE WORD ‘GAY’ ON SCREEN. OPN IS DIVID THOUGH, ON WHETHER HE ED TO MEAN HOMOSEXUAL OR HAPPY AND CHEERFUL.(ALAMY STOCK PHOTO) THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTNARY TRAC THE HISTORY OF THE WORD ‘GAY’ TO THE FRENCH WORD GAI. MERRIAM WEBSTER TAK FURTHER BACK TO A GERMANIC ORIG “AK TO THE OLD HIGH GERMAN GAHI” THAT MEANT “QUICK OR SUDN”. ACRDG TO BOTH DICTNARI, ENGLISH THE E OF ‘GAY’ TO MEAN HAPPY, EXCED, MERRY, REEE OR BRIGHT STARTED THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERD THAT STRETCH BETWEEN THE 12TH AND THE 16TH CENTURY. ALL FOR AN INTY WHILE SOME BOOKS AND WEBS ON THE HISTORY OF THE GLOBAL HOMOSEXUAL MOVEMENT CLAIM THE WORD GAY WAS ED AS A SECRET BY HOMOSEXUALS TO INTIFY THEMSELV EVEN AS FAR BACK AS THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY, PROFSOR ASHLEY TELLIS SAYS “ WAS THE 1960S THAT THE WORD ME TO BE POPULARLY ASSOCIATED WH THE MUNY”. R RAJ RAO, WRER AND PROFSOR OF ENGLISH AT PUNE UNIVERSY, ADDS: “THE STONEWALL RTS (A SERI OF VLENT NONTATNS BETWEEN MEMBERS OF THE LGBT MUNY AND THE POLICE NEW YORK 1969) ARE THE BEGNG OF MOST GAY-RIGHTS MOVEMENTS THE WORLD. IT WAS AROUND THIS TIME THAT THE MUNY STARTED G THE WORD GAY TO INTIFY SELF. IN THE BEGNG, GAY WAS ALSO AN ACRONYM FOR ‘GOOD AS YOU’.” IN INDIA, WHILE TELLIS SAYS THE E OF THE WORD GAY TO MEAN HOMOSEXUALS STARTED THE 1970S AND ’80S WH INDIAN MEN WHO TRAVELLED TO THE WT AND ME BACK, RAO AND WRER HOSHANG MERCHANT SAY THE WORD STARTED GETTG ED HERE THE 1990S AFTER THE SETTG UP OF BOMBAY DOST, THE UNTRY’S FIRST LGBT MAGAZE, BY ACTIVIST ASHOK ROW KAVI. GLOBALLY, THE MUNY PREFERRED GAY TO HOMOSEXUAL, SAYS TELLIS, BEE THE LATTER HAD A NEGATIVE FEEL TO – WAS A MORE CLIL TERM, SUGGTIVE OF A MEDIL NDN. AS AN ARTICLE ON THE WEBSE OF THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICE MENTNS, WAS ONLY 1980 THAT HOMOSEXUALY WAS LETED OM THE DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTIL MANUAL OF THE AMERIN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATN, TH CHANGG THE VIEW THAT WAS A BEHAVURAL DISORR. ““WHEREAS HOMOSEXUALY IS JT A WORD NOTG A SEXUAL PREFERENCE OR TENNCY AND ED ROGATORILY, GAY IS AN INTY. EVER SCE STONEWALL, SEXUAL POLICS HAD E TO PLAY AND INTIFYG AS GAY WAS A WAY FOR THE MUNY TO BE A PART OF THAT POLICS,” SAYS RAO. “IT WAS A SUBVERSN OF THE TABLISHED VOBULARY BY THE MUNY. THE SAME WAY THAT ‘QUEER’ WOULD BE ED, LATER ON,” HE ADDS. “WHILE THE NVENTNAL MEANG OF QUEER IS WEIRD, AND IS A DISCRIMATORY TERM SELF, THE MUNY HAS BEEN G AS AN INTY,” HE POTS OUT. THE LGBTQ HAVE THEIR OWN VOBULARY, ONE THAT OFTEN VARI OM CY TO CY, AND HAS TAKEN ON REGULAR WORDS THAT MEAN SOMETHG QUE DIFFERENT WHEN APPLIED TO THEMSELV OR ED WH THE MUNY, SAYS ASHOK ROW KAVI. “IN BOMBAY FOR EXAMPLE, THE LGBTQ MUNY THE WORD ‘GHODI’ TO MEAN A PLACLOTH POLICEMAN,” HE EXPLAS. A NEW USE

THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”

For centuri, gay was ed monly speech and lerature to mean happy, reee, bright and showy, and did not take on any sexual meang until the 1600s.

In the 1890s, the term “gey t” (a Sttish variant of gay) was ed to scribe a vagrant who offered sexual servic to women or a young traveler who was new to the road and the pany of an olr man. This latter e suggts that the younger man was a sexually submissive role and may be among the first tim that gay was ed implyg a homosexual relatnship. In 1951, gay appeared the Oxford English Dictnary for the first time as slang for homosexual, but was most likely ed this way “unrground” at least 30 years earlier.

GAY

” This le (ad-libbed by Grant) n be terpreted to mean that he was behavg a happy-go-lucky or lighthearted way but is accepted by many as the first e of gay to mean homosexual a mastream movie.

When gay is ed today to mean stupid or unsirable ( has only been ed this way sce the 1990s), rri wh a history of negative judgment and rigid ias about who or what is acceptable. Robson was an openly gay sger-songwrer who performed unr the name Jonty Dream, his iend Tenille Clarke wrote for Brish Vogue.

In terviews at the time, Ileana ced both Rodrigo and his sister — along wh shiftg views her district — as fluenc on her evolutn on gay rights. In May, the Temecula Valley Unified School District’s board voted 3 to 2 to reject a new curriculum that clud discsns on the gay rights movement and mentned Harvey Milk, the first out gay man elected to public office California.

GAY (ADJ.)

That same year, Pieters beme a natnal spokperson for AIDS awarens and gay polil activism after his historic terview wh televangelist Tammy Faye on her broadst, which fied the work's homophobic tennci.

Pri, formerly known as Gay Pri, is a regnn of LGBTQ inty, affirmatn of equal rights, and celebratn of visibily, digny, and diversy the LGBTQ muny. While the word homosexual is still ocsnally ed some ntexts, you might have noticed that don’t make an appearance any versn of the LGBTQ acronym. As our age note on the term stat, “up until 1973, homosexualy was listed The Diagnostic and Statistil Manual of Mental Disorrs (DSM), psychiatry’s standard reference on the classifitn of mental illns.

And many feel that this word plac undue emphasis on sexual activy, or that sounds overly clil.” In fact, the term homosexual was liberately rejected by early gay rights activists bee, acrdg to The New York Tim, “they did not want to be intified as exclively sexual begs.”.

SYNONYMS OF GAY

Gay, on the other hand, n be ed to scribe a person of any genr who experienc same-sex attractn, although is most often ed to scribe a man who is attracted to men. On June 28, 1969, the New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn, a bar equented by gay and genr-nonnformg people (at a time when terms like LGBTQ didn’t yet exist). Partially rponse to Stonewall, 1970, queer activists New York Cy anized a march to Central Park wh the theme “Gay Pri.” A more prehensive history of the Stonewall Rt or the Stonewall Uprisg n be found our Pri Month explaer.

Queer lerally means “strange or odd om a nventnal viewpot,” and by at least by the late 1800s, queer was ployed as a rogatory term for an effemate or gay man. As a surname, Philipp Gay), om Old French gai "joyful, happy; pleasant, agreeably charmg; forward, pert; light-lored" (12c.

THE ORIGS OF THE WORD ‘GAY’

The suggtn of immoraly the word n be traced back at least to the 1630s, if not to Chcer:But oure bed he was so sh and gay. ) begs to appear psychologil wrg the late 1940s, evintly picked up om gay slang and not always easily distguished om the olr sense:After discharge A. He was not happy at the farm and went to a Wtern cy where he associated wh a homosexual crowd, beg "gay, " and wearg female cloth and makp.

240]The associatn wh (male) homosexualy likely got a boost om the term gay t, ed as far back as 1893 Amerin English for "young hobo, " one who is new on the road, also one who sometim do jobs. "A Gay Cat, " said he, "is a loafg laborer, who works maybe a week, gets his wag and vagabonds about huntg for another 'pick and shovel' job.

Gay ts were severely and celly abed by "real" tramps and bums, who nsired them "an ferr orr of begs who begs of and otherwise preys upon the bum — as were a jackal followg up the kg of beasts" [Prof. McCook, "Tramps, " "The Public Treatment of Pperism, " 1893], but some acunts report certa olr tramps would domate a gay t and employ him as a sort of slave.

GAY DICTNARY

In "Soclogy and Social Rearch" (1932-33) a paragraph on the "gay t" phenomenon not, "Homosexual practic are more mon than rare this group, " and gey t "homosexual boy" is attted Noel Erske's 1933 dictnary of "Unrworld & Prison Slang" (gey is a Sttish variant of gay) "Dictnary of Amerin Slang" reports that gay (adj. Rawson ["Wicked Words"] not a male prostute g gay reference to male homosexuals (but also to female prostut) London's notor Cleveland Street Sndal of 1889. Ayto ["20th Century Words"] lls attentn to the ambiguo e of the word the 1868 song "The Gay Young Clerk the Dry Goods Store, " by U.

DEFN OF 'GAY'

[John Boswell, "Christiany, Social Tolerance, and Homosexualy, " 1980]As a teen slang word meang "bad, ferr, unsirable, " whout reference to sexualy, om (n.

In Middle English meant "excellent person, noble lady, gallant knight, " also "somethg gay or bright; an ornament or badge" (c. It’s Pri Month and one of the most lourful words the English language – wh more makeovers than Madonna and more dramatic life stori than Liza Mnelli – is the word ‘gay’! Like every hero, ‘gay’ has an orig story, but even today, scholars are disagreement over the precise journey took to reach the level of fame (or famy) mands nowadays.

HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO

Sometime between the 11th and late 15th centuri, ‘gai’ crossed the English Channel and end up as ‘gay’, but kept s French meangs – ‘cheerful’, ‘happy’, ‘merry’, and ‘lively’.

By the 1950s, ‘gay’ had bee a well-tablished word for scribg people who enjoyed hedonistic liftyl, be they hetero- or homosexual. By the 1970s, the term ‘gay man’ had bee firmly entrenched s current meang, referrg only to ‘homosexual men’, which was a far cry om jt a hundred years earlier, when meant ‘womaniser’ or ‘sexually unhibed man’.

QUEER VS. GAY: HOW THE WORDS ARE DIFFERENT, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

’ This age is found most often among younger mal North Ameri/the UK and rearch shows that young men wh iends the LGBTQ+ muny e the word ‘gay’ a much ls pejorative way than those whout. Time will tell whether this age persists or, like so many language trends, ‘gay’ might velop new forms and meangs tim to e! From a wanrg Germanic word meang ‘quick’, evolved first to ‘cheerful’, then ‘sexually unhibed’, before fally g to mean ‘homosexual’.

EnciclopædiaHow to say gayOne of the most important parts of the Moss Color project is the creatn of a dictnary wh the majory of the words and exprsns ed to attack sexual diversy, formed by a Gay Dictnary, a Lbian Dictnary and an LGBT Gay Dictnary is posed by 68 dictnari rrpondg to each of the piled languag, wh more than 1500 terms and exprsns that speak of sex and love between men, and that sometim also speak of bisexual men and transgenr and Maricón are words that we expla the Gay makg ofOur dictnari are not a mere llectn of words piled whout rhyme or reason the work and prted texts. In others, though, the task is almost objective of the Gay DictnaryHowever, this task is always excg, pecially when, behd a word, we fd a door to an unknown world that tells the tth about the way thgs happened a certa time. Bee our aim wh the gay and lbian dictnary is not to make a llectn of words, but to show that what we unrstand and thk about the maniftatns of sexual diversy is nothg more than a social nstctn, relative to a space-time perd, which speaks of a human characteristic that is sexual diversy, the only thg that do not change.

HOW ‘GAY’ GOT S RABOW: WHAT ONCE MEANT MERRY IS NOW A BADGE OF INTY FOR HOMOSEXUALS HDTAN TIM | BYPOULOMI BANERJEE SEP 21, 2018 04:18 PM IST SHARE VIA COPY LK THE DICTNARY TRAC THE ORIG OF GAY TO THE FRENCH WORD GAI. BUT HOW DID SOMETHG THAT MEANT CHEERFUL BEE SYNONYMO WH HOMOSEXUALS, WHO HAVE HAD TO FIGHT LONG AND HARD FOR THEIR INTY? IF (ISDEVICEENABLED('SMALL') || ISDEVICEENABLED('MEDIUM') && !ADFREE) { (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1524814893923-0'); }); } ON THURSDAY, AS THE SUPREME COURT CRIMALISED HOMOSEXUALY, READG DOWN THE NTROVERSIAL BRISH-ERA SECTN 377 OF THE PENAL , MUMBAI-BASED ARNAB NANDY TOOK TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO EXPRS HIS JOY, AS MANY ACROSS THE UNTRY AND THE WORLD WERE DOG. “I AM SO GAY TODAY…” HE WROTE A G-OUT POST THAT HAS SCE GONE VIRAL. BUT WHILE NANDY’S CHOICE OF WORD WAS BANG ON THAT DAY, HOW DID A WORD THAT HAD ORIGALLY MEANT LIGHT-HEARTED, REEE OR CHEERFUL, BEE ASSOCIATED WH A MUNY WHOSE LIFE HAS BEEN OFTEN BEEN ANYTHG BUT? CARY GRANT AND KATHARE HEPBURN THE 1938 FILM BRGG UP BABY, WHERE GRANT ED THE WORD ‘GAY’ ON SCREEN. OPN IS DIVID THOUGH, ON WHETHER HE ED TO MEAN HOMOSEXUAL OR HAPPY AND CHEERFUL.(ALAMY STOCK PHOTO) THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTNARY TRAC THE HISTORY OF THE WORD ‘GAY’ TO THE FRENCH WORD GAI. MERRIAM WEBSTER TAK FURTHER BACK TO A GERMANIC ORIG “AK TO THE OLD HIGH GERMAN GAHI” THAT MEANT “QUICK OR SUDN”. ACRDG TO BOTH DICTNARI, ENGLISH THE E OF ‘GAY’ TO MEAN HAPPY, EXCED, MERRY, REEE OR BRIGHT STARTED THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERD THAT STRETCH BETWEEN THE 12TH AND THE 16TH CENTURY. ALL FOR AN INTY WHILE SOME BOOKS AND WEBS ON THE HISTORY OF THE GLOBAL HOMOSEXUAL MOVEMENT CLAIM THE WORD GAY WAS ED AS A SECRET BY HOMOSEXUALS TO INTIFY THEMSELV EVEN AS FAR BACK AS THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY, PROFSOR ASHLEY TELLIS SAYS “ WAS THE 1960S THAT THE WORD ME TO BE POPULARLY ASSOCIATED WH THE MUNY”. R RAJ RAO, WRER AND PROFSOR OF ENGLISH AT PUNE UNIVERSY, ADDS: “THE STONEWALL RTS (A SERI OF VLENT NONTATNS BETWEEN MEMBERS OF THE LGBT MUNY AND THE POLICE NEW YORK 1969) ARE THE BEGNG OF MOST GAY-RIGHTS MOVEMENTS THE WORLD. IT WAS AROUND THIS TIME THAT THE MUNY STARTED G THE WORD GAY TO INTIFY SELF. IN THE BEGNG, GAY WAS ALSO AN ACRONYM FOR ‘GOOD AS YOU’.” IN INDIA, WHILE TELLIS SAYS THE E OF THE WORD GAY TO MEAN HOMOSEXUALS STARTED THE 1970S AND ’80S WH INDIAN MEN WHO TRAVELLED TO THE WT AND ME BACK, RAO AND WRER HOSHANG MERCHANT SAY THE WORD STARTED GETTG ED HERE THE 1990S AFTER THE SETTG UP OF BOMBAY DOST, THE UNTRY’S FIRST LGBT MAGAZE, BY ACTIVIST ASHOK ROW KAVI. GLOBALLY, THE MUNY PREFERRED GAY TO HOMOSEXUAL, SAYS TELLIS, BEE THE LATTER HAD A NEGATIVE FEEL TO – WAS A MORE CLIL TERM, SUGGTIVE OF A MEDIL NDN. AS AN ARTICLE ON THE WEBSE OF THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICE MENTNS, WAS ONLY 1980 THAT HOMOSEXUALY WAS LETED OM THE DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTIL MANUAL OF THE AMERIN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATN, TH CHANGG THE VIEW THAT WAS A BEHAVURAL DISORR. ““WHEREAS HOMOSEXUALY IS JT A WORD NOTG A SEXUAL PREFERENCE OR TENNCY AND ED ROGATORILY, GAY IS AN INTY. EVER SCE STONEWALL, SEXUAL POLICS HAD E TO PLAY AND INTIFYG AS GAY WAS A WAY FOR THE MUNY TO BE A PART OF THAT POLICS,” SAYS RAO. “IT WAS A SUBVERSN OF THE TABLISHED VOBULARY BY THE MUNY. THE SAME WAY THAT ‘QUEER’ WOULD BE ED, LATER ON,” HE ADDS. “WHILE THE NVENTNAL MEANG OF QUEER IS WEIRD, AND IS A DISCRIMATORY TERM SELF, THE MUNY HAS BEEN G AS AN INTY,” HE POTS OUT. THE LGBTQ HAVE THEIR OWN VOBULARY, ONE THAT OFTEN VARI OM CY TO CY, AND HAS TAKEN ON REGULAR WORDS THAT MEAN SOMETHG QUE DIFFERENT WHEN APPLIED TO THEMSELV OR ED WH THE MUNY, SAYS ASHOK ROW KAVI. “IN BOMBAY FOR EXAMPLE, THE LGBTQ MUNY THE WORD ‘GHODI’ TO MEAN A PLACLOTH POLICEMAN,” HE EXPLAS. A NEW USE

There is also variety the type of words, some are sultg exprsns, others belong to the gay muny self and others to more specific jargon such as those of prisons or tck Use of the Gay DictnaryIn our dictnari we have piled words belongg to many untri, some offensive, some cur. The words and sults fe those who e them, and the peopl and perds which they word gayWe start our gay dictnary, as is only natural, wh the word gay. Select any language the si menu to learn more is the most universal and ternatnal way of namg homosexual men, that is, men who show an clatn towards the erotic-affective relatnship wh dividuals of the same sex.

At first, began to be ed to name female prostut, but subsequently, as happens on many ocsns, was ed to name effemate men or men that may have been homosexual. Over time and rponse to the term "homosexual" turned to pathology, the word gay was chosen as self-fn, stripped of s negative nnotatns.

VariatnsAlthough the word "gay" is an ternatnal term, adaptatns have been ma to several languag, as are the exampl of: "gej" (Albanian, Slovak, Polish and Serbian), "ge" (Bengali), "gai" (Spanish, Valencian and Catalan), "gēi-lóu" (Che), "ge-i" (Korean), "gei" (Estonian), "hoyw" (Welsh), "gėj" (Lhuanian), "гей" (Rsian) and "ke" (Thai). ClassifitnSce the very appearance of homophobia to the choice of the word gay as a posive term the 20th century, all the words ed were pejorative exprsns that n be grouped to the followg tegori:1) Sexual and stologil subject: words like "bæsjdytter" (fec pher Norwegian), "fai i" (ass fucker Tongan) and "monmon" (he who sucks cks while is beg perated Visayan language).

Merry is often terchangeable wh gay: a merry disposn; a merry party; suggts, even more than the latter, nvivial animated enjoyment. World War II, as social attus toward sexualy began to change, gay was applied openly by homosexuals to themselv, first as an adjective and later.

Gay is also an inty term ed to scribe a male-intified person who is attracted to other male-intified people a romantic, sexual, and/or emotnal sense. Homophobia — Homophobia means to have an irratnal fear or tolerance of people who are homosexual or havg feelgs of homosexualy. LGBTQ+ — LBGT is an abbreviatn for lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (often ed to enpass sexual preference and genr inti that do not rrpond to heterosexual norms).

LGBTIQAPD – Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, Queer and/or Qutng, Intersex, Asexual and/or Ally, Pansexual, and Demi-sexual.

gay [ɡeɪ] adjective1 (homosexual) [+man, muny, movement] gay adjective:variable; (a) homosexual; [+woman] homosexual; lbiano; [+bar] gay adjective:variable; (a) gays a centre for lbians and gay men un centro para lbianas y gays; gay men and women hombr y mujer homosexual; gays y lbianas; gay sex relacn (f) homosexual; the gay scene el ambiente gay or homosexual2 gayer (parative)gayt (superlative) (cheerful) [+person, lour, stume] alegre; [+atmosphere, mic, lghter] alegre; ftivo Nancy liked their gay stum she was feelg wty and gay3 (reee) wh gay abandon spreocupadamente; alegremente He has splashed dollars around wh gay abandon she's livg the gay life Paris se da la gran vida en París; se pega la vida padre en París (rmal) I don't have the money to live the gay life gay [Paree] [Paris]noun (man) gay (m); homosexual (m); (woman) lbiana (f); homosexual (f);modifierthe gay liberatn movement gay lib (n) el movimiento liberación homosexualgay rights (n) rechos (m) los homosexual. Adjective, gay·er, gay·, relatg to, or beg a person who is sexually or romantilly attracted to people of their own sex or genr: A gay uple strolled by on the, relatg to, or beg a person who is sexually or romantilly attracted only to people of their own sex or genr: Gay and bisexual men are both discsed this, ditg, or supportg terts or issu pertag to gay people or the gay muny: He giv charable ntributns to a gay anizatn.

Sexually unrtraed; havg loose morals: In the 1930s movie, the baron is referred to as “a gay old rogue wh an eye for the ladi. Appropriately forward or bold; overly faiar; reckls: Gee got gay at the Christmas party and sudnly swept his boss's wife onto the dance floor. A person, pecially a man, who is sexually or romantilly attracted exclively to people of the same sex or of gay1First rerd 1275–1325; Middle English gai, om Old French “happy, cheerful, ” om Germanic; pare Old High German gāhi “fast, sudn”age alert For gayThe sexual orientatn meang of the word gay has bee so predomant that people hate to e the term s origal sens of “merry, lively” and “bright or showy.