- quay (n.)
- 1690s, variant of Middle English key "wharf" (c.1400; mid-13c. in place names), from Old North French cai (Old French chai) "sand bank," from Gaulish caium (5c.), from Old Celtic *kagio- "to encompass, enclose" (cf. Welsh cae "fence, hedge," Cornish ke "hedge"), cognate with Old English haga "hedge" (see hedge). Spelling altered by influence of French quai, from the same Celtic source.