by Anatoly Liberman The qutn about the orig of gay “homosexual” has been asked and answered many tim (and always rrectly), so that we needn’t expect sensatnal disveri this area. The adjective gay, first attted Middle English, is of French scent; the fourteenth century meant both “joyo” and “bright; showy.” The OED giv no atttatns of gay “immoral” before 1637.
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GAY (ADJ.)
GAY Meang: "full of joy, merry; light-hearted, reee;" also "wanton, lewd, lasciv" (late 12c. as a surname,… See orig and meang of gay. * roots of the word gay *
Gay (adj. As a surname, Philipp Gay), om Old French gai "joyful, happy; pleasant, agreeably charmg; forward, pert; light-lored" (12c. ; pare Old Spanish gayo, Portugue ga, Italian gajo, probably French loan-words).
)) word gay by the 1890s had an overall tge of promiscuy — a gay hoe was a brothel.
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.
Whan that he wol han my bele slang meang "homosexual" (adj. ) 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.