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gay (gā), adj., -er, -est, n., adv. --adj. 1. homosexual. 2. indicating or pertaining to homosexual interests or issues: gay rights; a gay organization. 3. having or showing a merry, lively mood: gay spirits. 4. bright or showy: gay colors. 5. given to or abounding in social or other pleasures: a gay social season. 6. licentious; dissipated; wanton: a wild, gay life. --n. 7. a homosexual person, esp. a male. --adv. 8. in a gay manner. [1275-1325; < OF < Gmc; cf. OHG gāhi fast, sudden] --gay’ness, n. --Usage. GAY has had senses dealing with sexual conduct since the 17th century. A gay woman was a prostitute, a gay man a womanizer, a gay house a brothel. GAY as an adjective meaning “homosexual” goes back at least to the 1930s. GAY was applied openly by homosexuals to themselves, first as adjective and later as noun. Today, the noun often designates only a male: gays and lesbians. The word has ceased to be slang and is not used disparagingly. HOMOSEXUAL as a noun is sometimes used only in reference to a male.*
*Random House Webster's College Dictionary, Random House, Inc., 2000
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