Grey
/ɡreɪ/noun
A color between black and white; also used to describe something dull, neutral, or morally ambiguous.
Did you know?The word grey comes from Old English grǣg, and its deep Indo-European relatives include Latin gradus? No—this color word is ancient, but its real power is simpler: it’s one of English’s oldest basic color terms, surviving for over a thousand years.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵʰreh₁-
“to grow old, become gray”
Old English
OE
grǣg
“gray, of the color between black and white”
Middle English
ME
grey
“gray; often also used for a gray-haired person or animal”
Modern English
English
grey
“a color between black and white”