quay

Etymology 1

The current spelling replaced the spelling key in the 1690s to emulate the spelling but (at least originally) not the pronunciation of the equivalent modern French quai. From Middle English kay, key, kaye, keye, from Old French kay, cail, from Gaulish *kagyum, cagiíun (“enclosure”), from Proto-Celtic *kagyom (“pen, enclosure”) (compare Welsh cae (“field”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm (“enclosure”). Doublet of hedge.

noun

  1. (nautical) A stone or concrete structure on navigable water used for loading and unloading vessels; a wharf.
    moor up in the quay
    […] its harbour was filled with stately ships; and its quays, swarming with foreign traders and loaded with bales of costly merchandise[…] 1879, F. D. Morice, Pindar, chapter 10, pp. 166-167

verb

  1. To land or tie up at a quay or similar structure, especially used in the phrase "quay up".

Etymology 2

adj

  1. (MLE) Alternative spelling of qway (“far”)

adv

  1. (MLE) Alternative spelling of qway (“far”)

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/quay), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.