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[[Image:Heron Island, Australia - View of Island from helicopter.JPG|thumb|Heron Island from helicopter]]
A '''cay''' (also spelled '''key'''; both pronounced alike as "key" {{IPAEng|kiː}}) is a small, low [[island]] made of mostly [[sand]] or [[coral]] and on top of a [[coral reef]].

The [[English language|English]] word ''cay'' comes from the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] word ''cayo'' and this from the [[Taíno]] word ''cayo'' meaning "small island".<ref>"...cayos en esta lengua son islas" ("...cays in this language are islands") {{cite book
  | last = Las Casas
  | first =  Bartolomé de
  | title = Historia de las Indias, Libro I, Cap. XL
  | publisher = Fondo de Cultura Económica
  | date = 1965
  | location = Mexico
  | language = Spanish }}</ref> The English words ''key'' and ''quay'' (which means [[wharf]]) come from the old [[French language|French]] ''kai'' meaning "sand bank". Because it is a Taíno word, "cay" (and the other forms) are used mainly in the [[Caribbean]], but the type of island is in [[tropical]] seas where there are coral reefs.

Sand cays are built on the edge of the coral reefs, opposite the direction from which the [[wind]] blows most of the time. Because of that, cays are often elongated. [[Tide]]s and [[wind]] (and sometimes sea [[bird]]s) deposit coral [[debris]]. [[Weather]] affects the formation of cays greatly. Large tides bring much more debris onto the cay and make it larger, while a [[hurricane]] destroys a cay.

Some cays are very large; Cayo Coco, north of Cuba, is about 370 km<sup>2</sup>. Those large cays are being used for [[tourism]] because they have [[beach]]es with white sand and the presence of coral reefs.

==Notes and references==
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==Other websites==

*[http://cvc.cervantes.es/obref/aih/pdf/04/aih_04_2_027.pdf Montague, Artur, ''El elemento español en el vocabulario inglés: prolegómenos a una lista.'' AIH. Actas IV (1971). (in Spanish)]
*[http://www.etymonline.com/ Online Etymology Dictionary]

[[Category:Islands]]