gai

See also: Gai, gái, gài, gãi, gāi, gǎi, and ga'i

Basque

Etymology

Of unknown origin. Probably from the suffix -gai, and not the other way round.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡai̯/ [ɡai̯]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ai̯
• Hyphenation: gai

Noun

gai inan

1. material
2. matter, stuff
3. topic, subject

Declension

Declension of gai (inanimate, ending in vowel)

	indefinite	singular	plural
absolutive	gai	gaia	gaiak
ergative	gaik	gaiak	gaiek
dative	gairi	gaiari	gaiei
genitive	gairen	gaiaren	gaien
comitative	gairekin	gaiarekin	gaiekin
causative	gairengatik	gaiarengatik	gaiengatik
benefactive	gairentzat	gaiarentzat	gaientzat
instrumental	gaiez	gaiaz	gaiez
inessive	gaitan	gaian	gaietan
locative	gaitako	gaiko	gaietako
allative	gaitara	gaira	gaietara
terminative	gaitaraino	gairaino	gaietaraino
directive	gaitarantz	gairantz	gaietarantz
destinative	gaitarako	gairako	gaietarako
ablative	gaitatik	gaitik	gaietatik
partitive	gairik	—	—
prolative	gaitzat	—	—

Derived terms

• gai izan (“to be capable of”)

 

Further reading

• “gai”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], Euskaltzaindia
• “gai”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈɡaj]

Etymology 1

From Old Occitan gai. Compare Sicilian javiu.

Adjective

gai (feminine gaia, masculine plural gais, feminine plural gaies)

1. gay, merry

   Synonyms: alegre, festiu

Derived terms

• gaiament
• gaia ciència
• gai saber

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English gay.

Adjective

gai m or f (masculine and feminine plural gais)

1. gay, homosexual

Noun

gai m (plural gais)

1. gay man

Further reading

• “gai” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “gai”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “gai” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “gai” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Cebuano

Etymology

Shortening.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ga‧i

Verb

gai

1. Short for tagai.

French

Etymology

From Old French gai, from Old Occitan gai, from Gothic *𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌴𐌹𐍃 (*gaheis, “impetuous”); or from Frankish *gāhi (“fast, sudden, impetuous”), Frankish *wāhi (“pretty”), both from Proto-Germanic *ganhuz (“lively, fast, quick”); or (per Liberman, Chance, Meier) from Latin vagus (“wandering, inconstant, flighty”), with *[w] → [ɡ] as in French gaine. Doublet of vague in that case.

Cognate with English gay and Italian gaio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛ/, /ɡe/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: gaie, gaies, gais, gay, gays, guet, guets
• Rhymes: -ɛ

Adjective

gai (feminine gaie, masculine plural gais, feminine plural gaies)

1. cheerful; merry
2. gay; homosexual

Antonyms

• sombre
• triste

Derived terms

Derived terms

• antigai
• avoir la cuisse gaie
• égayer
• gai comme un pinson
• gaiement
• gaieté

Related terms

• gaillard

Descendants

• Louisiana Creole: gé

Further reading

• “gai”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• agi

Irish

Noun

gai m (genitive singular gai, nominative plural gaethe)

1. Obsolete spelling of gae (“spear, dart; ray”).

Mutation

Mutated forms of gai

radical	lenition	eclipsis
gai	ghai	ngai

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Italian

Adjective

gai

1. masculine plural of gaio

Anagrams

• AGI, agi, agì, già

Japanese

Romanization

gai

1. Rōmaji transcription of がい

Mandarin

Romanization

gai

1. Nonstandard spelling of gāi.
2. Nonstandard spelling of gǎi.
3. Nonstandard spelling of gài.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

North Moluccan Malay

Etymology

Perhaps from Ternate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.i/
• Hyphenation: ga‧i

Noun

gai

1. maggots

Usage notes

Often used as a plurale tantum.

Derived terms

• bagái (“maggoted”)

 

Old French

Etymology

From Old Occitan gai.

Adjective

gai m (oblique and nominative feminine singular gaie)

1. happy; cheerful; gay

Descendants

• Middle French: gay
  • French: gai
• → Middle English: gay
  • English: gay
  • Yola: gaaye, gaay, gay, gai
• → Middle Dutch: gay
  • Dutch: gei, gaai

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Probably from Latin gaudium (“joy”), as borrowed from Old Occitan gai; alternatively of Germanic origin. Cognate with English gay and Italian gaio.

Adjective

gai

1. happy; joyous
   • late 13rd century - early 14th century, Fernando Esquio, A un frade dizem escarallado:

     Cuid'eu que gai é, de piss'arreitado

     I believe he gets happy when his dick's erect

Descendants

• Galician: gaio
• Portuguese: gaio

Old Occitan

Etymology

Perhaps of Germanic origin and from Frankish *gahi, from Proto-Germanic *ganhuz (“quick, lively, fast”).

Adjective

gai m or f (plural gais)

1. happy; joyous
   • c. 1145, Bernard de Ventadour, Lo gens tems de pascor:

     Per que tuih amador
     Son gai e chantador

     For all the lovers
     are joyous and full of song

Descendants

• Occitan: gai
• → Old French: gai
  • Middle French: gay
    • French: gai
  • → Middle English: gay
    • English: gay
    • Yola: gaaye, gaay, gay, gai
  • → Middle Dutch: gay
    • Dutch: gei, gaai
• → Old Galician-Portuguese: gai
  • Galician: gaio
  • Portuguese: gaio

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Portuguese galo and Spanish gallo.

Noun

gai

1. rooster

Rohingya

Noun

gai

1. cow

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ɣaːj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ɣaːj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ɣaːj˧˧]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Vietic *t-keː. Cognate with Arem takeː ("horn"), Proto-Bahnaric *ʔəkɛː (whence Bahnar ake/hơke) and Proto-Katuic *kii, *ʔakii (whence Pacoh ki (“horn on nose, single tusk of rhino”)).

Alternative forms

• (North Central Vietnam) cây

Noun

(classifier cái) gai • (荄, 核, 𣘃)

1. hemp-nettle
2. thorn
3. prickle

(classifier cây, quả, trái) gai

1. (Central Vietnam) pineapple

Derived terms

• chông gai
• gai góc
• gai mắt
• ngò gai

 

Etymology 2

From Proto-Vietic *-keː (“ramie”).

Alternative forms

• (North Central Vietnam) cây

Noun

(classifier cây) gai • (荄, 𦃮)

1. ramie

Derived terms

• gai dầu

Anagrams

• gia

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.i/

Verb

gai

1. (stative) to be dead

Conjugation

Conjugation of gai (stative verb)
		singular	plural
			inclusive	exclusive
1st person		tigai	migai	agai
2nd person		nigai	figai
3rd person	inanimate	igai	digai
	animate	magai
imperative		—, gai	—, gai

Alternative forms

• gei

Derived terms

• fagei (“to kill (of non-humans)”)
• magei (“dead, to die”)

References

• Dick Teljeur (1982) Short Wordlists from South Halmahera, Kayoa, Makian, Ternate, Tidore, and Bacan‎^[1], Pacific linguistics
• James Collins (1982) Further Notes Towards a West Makian Vocabulary‎^[2], Pacific linguistics

Yola

Adjective

gai

1. Alternative form of gaaye
   • 1867, “DR. RUSSELL ON THE INHABITANTS AND DIALECT OF THE BARONY OF FORTH”, in APPENDIX:

     Gai Gaffort,

     Gay Gifford.

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 126

Zhuang

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /kaːi˨˦/
• Tone numbers: gai¹
• Hyphenation: gai

Etymology 1

From Chinese 街 (MC kea|keaj, “street”). Cognate with Bouyei gaail and Tày cai. Compare Cantonese 街 (gaai1).

Noun

gai (Sawndip form 街, 1957–1982 spelling gai)

1. street

See also

• daihloh
• dauhloh
• dingqroen
• loh
• maxloh
• roen
• roennou

Etymology 2

From Proto-Tai *p.qaːjᴬ (“to sell”). Cognate with Thai ขาย (kǎai), Northern Thai ᨡᩣ᩠ᨿ, Lao ຂາຍ (khāi), Lü ᦃᦻ (ẋaay), Tai Dam ꪄꪱꪥ, Shan ၶၢႆ (khǎai), Ahom 𑜁𑜩 (khay), Bouyei gaail. Compare Proto-Kam-Sui *kwe¹ (“to sell”) (whence Sui beel).

Verb

gai (Sawndip forms 𰷔 or ⿰改賣 or ⿰賣亥 or 皆 or 該 or 开 or 𬻦 or ⿱夫⿰丿丨 or ⿰出卖 or ⿰卖该 or ⿲丶开丶, 1957–1982 spelling gai)

1. to sell

   Synonym: siu

   Antonym: cawx

Derived terms

• baugai
• baenzgai
• bouxgai
• cekgai
• gaicawx
• gaicek
• gaigat
• gaigvai
• gaihux
• gaihuq
• gailengq
• gailing
• gaimued
• gainet
• gaisi
• gaiswx
• liebgai
• ndeigai
• okgai