Gey

Part of speech: adverb, adjective

Definitions

1. A Scottish dialect word meaning very, quite, or fairly, used to strengthen the adjective or adverb that follows it
2. In Scots speech, an intensifier that means very or rather, as in describing something as quite good or fairly cold
3. A Scots adverb used to add emphasis, roughly equivalent to very or considerably in standard English

Etymology: "Gey" is the Scottish and northern English word meaning "very" or "in great degree," as in "gey cold" for "very cold." It began as a variant spelling of "gay," which in earlier English could mean bright, lively or merry, and the two forms shared that sense of cheerful brightness for centuries. Over time the Scots spelling settled on the intensifying sense, while "gay" in standard English moved on toward other meanings. The split is the surprising part: two spellings of one older word now carry senses that have almost nothing in common. Readers who meet "gey" in Scottish writing and "gay" in general English are often reading relatives that drifted apart in their own dialects.

Synonyms: very, quite, fairly