different between estray vs stray

English

Etymology

From Middle English astrai, from Anglo-Norman estray, from the Old French verb estraier. Etymological doublet with stray.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?.st?e?/

Noun

estray (plural estrays)

1. (law) An animal that has escaped from its owner; a wandering animal whose owner is unknown. An animal cannot be an estray when on the range where it was raised, and permitted by its owner to run. A lost animal whose owner is known to the party at hand is not an estray.
2. (archaic) Stray.
   • 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, VIII:

     [...] All the day / Had been a dreary one at best, and dim / Was settling to its close, yet shot one grim / Red leer to see the plain catch its estray.

Verb

estray (third-person singular simple present estrays, present participle estraying, simple past and past participle estrayed)

1. (archaic) To stray.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Daniel to this entry?)

Related terms

• astray
• stray

References

• 2006 - For the purpose of this chapter, “estray” means any unbranded cattle, horses, mules, asses, or sheep found running at large or found trespassing upon the premises of another person, or any branded cattle, horses, mules, asses, or sheep found running at large or trespassing upon the premises of another person whose owner cannot be found after a reasonable search, or any llama, ostrich, emu, goat or swine found running at large or trespassing upon the premises of another person whose owner cannot be found after a reasonable search. - Uintah County, UT County Code, 6.48.010
• 2006 - VRWPA finds good adoptive homes for Estray wild horses picked up by the State of Nevada, monitors the horses, the range, and the laws to insure the survivability of a viable, ecologically balanced herd. - Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association

Anagrams

• Stayer, e-trays, reasty, satyre, starey, stayer, stayre, tyrase, yarest

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: str?, IPA^(key): /st?e?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Etymology 1

From Middle English stray, strey, from Anglo-Norman estray, stray, Old French estrai, from the verb (see below).

Noun

stray (plural strays)

1. Any domestic animal that has no enclosure, or its proper place and company, and wanders at large, or is lost; an estray.
2. (figuratively) One who is lost, either literally or metaphorically.
3. The act of wandering or going astray.
4. (historical) An area of common land or place administered for the use of general domestic animals, i.e. "the stray"
5. (radio) An instance of atmospheric interference.
   • 1926, Popular Radio (volume 9, page 191)

     This invention relates broadly to radio communication, but more particularly to a radio receiving system used for the reception of high frequency current signals wherever they are subject to interference from "static" or strays of an untuned or aperiodic character.

   • 1942, John C. Mathisson, Radio Acoustic Ranging (page 652)

     Because of their shortness, such signals are usually easy to distinguish from the bomb returns but, when such a stray is recorded just before the bomb return, too close to be distinguished by ear […]

   • 1976, IEEE Power Engineering Society, Nuclear Power: Health, Safety, Waste Disposal (page 20)

     Electromagnetic interference EMI, radio interference RI, television interference TVI, and radio frequency interference RFI, can all be described as a confusion to received radio signals due to strays and undesirable signals.

Hyponyms

• (stray cats) See feral cat

Related terms

• astray
• estray

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English strayen, partly from Old French estraier, from Vulgar Latin via strata, and partly from Middle English strien, streyen, strey?en (“to spread, scatter”), from Old English str??an (“to strew”).

Verb

stray (third-person singular simple present strays, present participle straying, simple past and past participle strayed)

1. (intransitive) To wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way.
   • 1642, John Denham, Cooper's Hill

     Thames among the wanton valleys strays.

2. (intransitive) To wander from one's limits; to rove or roam at large; to go astray.
3. (intransitive, figuratively) To wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err.
   • November 2 2014, Daniel Taylor, "Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk

     It was a derby that left Manchester United a long way back in Manchester City’s wing-mirrors and, in the worst moments, straying dangerously close to being their own worst enemy.

4. (transitive) To cause to stray.
   • 1591, William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, V. i. 51:

     Hath not else his eye / Strayed his affection in unlawful love,

Synonyms

• deviate
• err

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English stray, from the noun (see above).

Adjective

stray (not comparable)

1. Having gone astray; strayed; wandering
2. In the wrong place; misplaced.

   a stray comma

Derived terms

• stray line
• stray mark

Translations

References

Anagrams

• T-rays, artsy, satyr, stary, trays, yrast