| Definitions | noun See jay
proper noun
- (given name, male), nickname for James, Jason, or for any male name beginning with a "J" .
- (given name, female), nickname of names beginning with a "J"; or from the jay bird.
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- Any one of the numerous species of birds belonging to Garrulus, Cyanocitta, and allied genus, genera, allied to the crows, but smaller, more graceful in form, often handsomely colored, and usually having a crest.
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- Note: The European jay (Garrulus glandarius) is a large and handsomely colored species, having the body pale reddish brown, lighter beneath; tail and wing quills blackish; the primary coverts barred with bright blue and black; throat, tail coverts, and a large spot on the wings, white. Called also jay pie, Jenny jay, and kí¦. The common blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata.), and the related species, are brilliantly colored, and have a large erectile crest. The California jay (Aphelocoma californica), the Florida jay (Aphelcoma floridana), and the green jay (Xanthoura luxuosa), of Texas and Mexico, are large, handsome, crested species. The Canada jay (Perisoreus canadensis), and several allied species, are much plainer and have no crest. See blue jay, and whisky jack.
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- An old-fashioned term for a dull or ignorant person. It survives today in the term jaywalking.
Translations: - Dutch: Vlaamse gaai
- French: geai , geai des chíªnes
- German: Eichelhí¤her
- Italian: ghiandaia
- Spanish: arrendajo , urraca
Etymology: French geai, Old French gai, jaj, perhaps from Old High German gÄhi; compare gay.Its currency in the early 1900s can be gauged by this portion of the popular title song of a George M. Cohan musical play of 1905, Forty-five Minutes from Broadway:Oh, what a fine bunch of reubensOh, what a jay atmosphere;They have whiskers like hay,And imagine BroadwayOnly? forty-five minutes from here!
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