gay adj. -er, -est, n., adv. -adj. 1. having or showing a merry, lively mood: gay spirits. 2. bright or showy: gay colors. 3. given to or abounding in social or other pleasures: a gay social season. 4. licentious; dissipated; wanton: a wild, gay life. 5. homosexual. 6. indicating or pertaining to homosexual interest or issues: a gay orginization. -n 7. a himosexual person, esp. a male. -adv. 8. in a gay manner. [1275-1325; ME gai < OF < Gmc; cf. OHG gãhi fast, sudden] -gay-ness, n. -usage. Gay has had senses dealing with a sexual conduct since the 17th century. A gay women was a prostitute, a gay man a womanizer, a gay hiuse a brothel. Gay as an adjectice meaning "homosexual" goes back to the early 1900s. After World War ||, as a social attitudes towards sexuality began to change. Gay was applied openly by homosexuals to themselves, first as an adjective and later as noun. Today, the noun often designates only as male: gay 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.