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quay

 - 4 dictionary results

quay

  [kee, key, kwey]
Use quay in a Sentence
–noun
a landing place, esp. one of solid masonry, constructed along the edge of a body of water; wharf.
Origin:
1690–1700; sp. var. (after F quai) of earlier kay (also key, whence the mod. pronunciation) < OF kay, cay; akin to Sp cayo shoal. See key 2

Related forms:
quaylike, adjective

Synonyms:
pier, dock, landing, levee.

Quay

  [kwey]
–noun
Matthew Stanley, 1833–1904, U.S. politician: senator 1887–99, 1901–4.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To quay
quay   (kē, kā)   
n.  A wharf or reinforced bank where ships are loaded or unloaded.

[Middle English keye, from Old North French cai, of Celtic origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

quay 
1696, variant of M.E. key "wharf" (1306), from O.N.Fr. cai (O.Fr. chai) "sand bank," from Gaulish caium (5c.), from O.Celt. *kagio- "to encompass, enclose" (cf. Welsh cae "fence, hedge," Cornish ke "hedge"), cognate with O.E. haga "hedge" (see hedge). Spelling altered by infl. of Fr. quai, from the same Celtic source.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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