Why are grey and gray spelt differently?
The word “Grey” or “gray” originated from the word “Greig” which with time, changed to “greie” “greye” and “graye”. And finally the “Gray” and “Grey” became the most popular. They are now spelt differently just due to geographical customs. Both spellings are commonly used in the English-speaking world. The United States prefers “Gray”, whereas the rest of the world stays with “Grey”.
‘Gray’ vs. ‘Grey’: Why is Grey Spelled Two Ways?
Spelling Difference between Gray and Grey: Gray and grey are both common spellings of the color (black and white). Essentially, Gray is more frequent used in American English, whereas grey is mostly used in British English. The Main varying usages of both grey and gray specialized in terms of animal species like gray or grey whale and scientific terms like gray or grey matter). Greyhound is an exception, which has a different derivation than the color.
Is it grey hair or gray paint? Can you tell the difference between “Gray” and “Grey”? Most of us do not. You may spell it correctly but the same spelling may be wrong at other geographical locations. So it might be possible that a word may be spelled differently and you have always thought one of the spellings is incorrect. As a matter of fact, there are certain words that can be spelled in multiple ways. The color between Black and White is called Grey or Gray.
Let’s understand the difference between ‘Grey’ and ‘Gray’ Beyond Color.