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jay

/ˈd͡ʒeɪ/noun

jay is spelled J-A-Y: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 24 times per million words in written English, the 3,752nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, jay means “Any of the numerous species of birds belonging to several genera within the family Corvidae, including Garrulus, Cyanocitta, Aphelocoma, Perisoreus…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of jay is jays.

How many letters and syllables are in jay?

Letters3: J-A-Y
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing24 times per million words; the 3,752nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is jay?

Jay appears 24 times per million words in written English, the 3,752nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce jay?

  • /ˈd͡ʒeɪ/

Jay has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-jay.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Jay.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of jay

  • jays plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does jay mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Any of the numerous species of birds belonging to several genera within the family Corvidae, including Garrulus, Cyanocitta, Aphelocoma, Perisoreus, Cyanocorax, Gymnorhinus, Cyanolyca, Ptilostomus, and Calocitta, allied to the crows, but smaller, more graceful in form, often handsomely coloured, usually having a crest, and often noisy.

  2. 2

    Any of various other birds of similar appearance and behaviour.

  3. 3

    The Indian roller, Coracias benghalensis.

  4. 4

    Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium.

  5. 5

    archaicA dull or ignorant person. It survives today in the term jaywalking.

  6. 6

    obsoletePromiscuous woman; prostitute.

  7. 7

    The name of the Latin script letter J/j.

  8. 8

    slangA marijuana cigarette; a joint.

noun

as Jay
  1. 1

    Alternative letter-case form of jay.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Jay in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchgeai, geai des chênes (bird), ji (name of the letter J, j)
GermanHäher, Hähermännchen, Häherweibchen (bird), Jot (name of the letter J, j)
Portuguesegralha, gaio (bird), jota (name of the letter J, j)
Spanisharrendajo, urraca, grajilla (bird), jota (name of the letter J, j)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does jay come from?

From Middle English jay, from Old French jai ("jay"; Modern French geai), either from Late Latin gaius (“jay”), or from Old French gai (“gay, merry”), so named due to its plumage, from Old Frankish *gāhi (“quick, impetuous”), from Proto-Germanic *ganhuz, *ganhwaz (“sudden”), cognate with Dutch gaai (“jay”). More at gay.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after jay