quay

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 and hey (“choreographic figure”).

• cay (obsolete)

• (UK) enPR: kē, (UK) IPA^(key): /kiː/
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /keɪ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kiː/, /keɪ/, /kweɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː, -eɪ
• Homophone: key

quay (plural quays)

1. (nautical) A stone or concrete structure on navigable water used for loading and unloading vessels; a wharf.

   moor up in the quay

   • 1879, F. D. Morice, Pindar, chapter 10, pp. 166-167:

     […] its harbour was filled with stately ships; and its quays, swarming with foreign traders and loaded with bales of costly merchandise […]

• → Bulgarian: кей (kej)
• → Macedonian: кеј (kej)
• → Scottish Gaelic: cidhe
• → Serbo-Croatian: кеј / kej

quay (third-person singular simple present quays, present participle quaying, simple past and past participle quayed)

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

• dock; pier; float; cay; harbour, harbor; mole; riprap; wharf

quay (comparative quayer, superlative quayest)

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

quay (comparative quayer, superlative quayest)

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

• “quay”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• quya

From Proto-Vietic *kweː.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kwaj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kwaj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [waj˧˧]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

quay • (𢮿, 虧, 𢵴, 乖, 怪, 外)

1. to turn; to revolve; to swivel

   Synonym: xoay

2. to whirl; to reverse; to turn back

   Synonym: xoay

3. to move on, to proceed
4. to spit roast
5. (by extension) to film

   Synonyms: ghi hình, ghi

6. to question thoroughly and in a tricky manner (often in the context of exams or lessons)
7. to cheat (in exams)

   quay bài ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

8. (by extension, transitive) to dial (a phone number)

   quay số 9-1-1 ― to dial 9-1-1

quay

1. a wooden spinning top