You may have noticed people sometimes interchange grey and gray , leading to disarray about which spelling is the right one . But when it comes to using the wordgrey vs. gray , which one you pick out comes down to your locating and the specific person , place or affair you ’re reference .
Let ’s set the record direct about how English speaker have used both spellings over the 100 and up through the present mean solar day .
How Do You Spell the Color Gray?
The right spelling of the neutral color that exist between pitch-black and white can be “ grizzly ” or “ grey , ” with “ grey ” being more vulgar in British English and “ grey-headed ” being the preferred spelling in American English .
In color swatch and routine language , you may encounter both grey and grey in book of facts to the same color . For model , a North American might depict someone as have " gray hair , " while a Brit might alternatively draw the mortal as get " grey hair’s-breadth . "
English dictionaries , which supply to people in all English - speaking countries , typically reflect both as coarse spellings but will note this regional eminence .
The History of Grey and Gray
you’re able to retrace the origins of grey and grey back through the history of the English lyric and its interactions with other lyric .
Both words havetheir rootsin the Old English word " grǽg , " which mass used to touch to the coloring Thomas Gray well before even the 12th C . Geoffrey Chaucer , the fourteenth - century poet , use the spelling " greye " to describe the color of a woman ’s eyes inat least oneMiddle English poem .
By the eighteenth century , the illustrious British lexicographer Samuel Johnson had created a dictionary that included the word grizzly as well as grey , although he made it decipherable he preferred " gray " by give it themore comprehensive definition . Despite this , purpose of both spelling persisted throughout the 19th 100 , with grey finally overtaking greyish .
By the 20th century , gray was the preferred spelling in the United States , while other English - speak countries preferred grey — orientation that remain in plaza today .
Other Uses of Grey and Gray
While your general use of grey or gray may depend on whether you live in the U.S. or another English - address country , there are also specific instances that call for using one over the other .
While people generally infer both spelling , these model demonstrate that the option between " Lady Jane Grey " and " gray " often depends on your preferences and variation in spelling conventions betweenBritish English and American English .
This article was create in colligation with AI technology , then was fact - checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor .
