Jay
/dʒeɪ/noun
A brightly colored, noisy bird of the crow family, or a person who behaves in a naive or inexperienced way.
Did you know?The bird name and the slang insult are historically linked: English used *jay* for a chatterbox or simpleton before the bird sense became dominant, likely because jays are conspicuous, noisy, and hard to ignore.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*gāy-
“to cry out or call”
Latin
Latin
gaius
“a jay; also a common bird name in Latin”
Old French
Old French
jai
“jay, the bird”
Middle English
English
jay
“the bird; also a vain or garrulous person”
Modern English
English
jay
“a bird of the crow family; a foolish or inexperienced person”