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AY

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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

ay¹

  • /aɪ/

Sounds like aye, eye, I · Rhymes with -aɪ

Where it comes from

From Middle English ei, ej, ey, eye, ultimately imitative of the natural utterance, although probably also influenced by Anglo-Norman and Old French ahi, Old French haï, and Middle French aï, aïe, ay.

interjection

  1. Ah! alas! Expressing anger, alarm, frustration, pain, etc. And ſuch as yet, coulde neuer weapon wꝛeſt, / But on the lappe are woont to dandled be, / Ne yet foꝛgotten had the mothers bꝛeſt, / How greekes them ſlew, alas here ſhall ye ſe, / To make repoꝛte therof, ay woe is me, / My ſong is miſchiefe, murder miſerye.
  2. Northern England, Scotland Expressing earnestness, surprise, wonder, etc. Ay my word! I am glad to see you.
  3. Used in ay, ay.

ay²

  • /aɪ/

Sounds like aye, eye, I · Rhymes with -aɪ

Where it comes from

See aye.

interjection

  1. alternative Alternative spelling of aye (“yes”).aye "Good morrow to thee, jolly fellow," quoth Robin; "thou seemest happy this merry morn." "Ay, that am I," quoth the jolly Butcher; "and why should I not be so?[…]"

noun ays

  1. alternative Alternative spelling of aye (“yes”).aye counting the ays and the noes in a vote

ay³

  • /ˈeɪ/

Sounds like A, a, eh · Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From Middle English ai, from Old Norse ei, from Proto-Germanic *aiwaz (“eternity, age”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“vitality”); cognate with Old English ā, Ancient Greek ἀεί (aeí, “always”), and Latin aevum (“an age”).

adverb aye

  1. Northern England, Scotland, archaic, not comparable, poetic Always; ever; continually; for an indefinite time. O he that hath ay lived free, …

ay⁴

noun ays

  1. alternative Alternative form of a: the name of the Latin script letter A/a.a It said, in a whispering, buzzing voice, "Gee-you-ess-ess-ay-dash-em-ee-ar-ar-wye-dash-em-eye-en-gee-oh-dash-pee-eye-pee-dash-pee-ee-ar-ar-wye-dash-pee-eye-en-gee-oh."

ay⁵

  • /eɪ/
  • [æe̯] New Zealand

Sounds like A, eh · Rhymes with -eɪ

interjection aye

  1. New Zealand spelling of eh (question tag). For example, New Zealanders tended to say "ay" at the end of sentences, but in the Asian community people used different tags to check whether people were still listening.

ay⁶

  • /eɪ/

Sounds like A, a, eh · Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

Origin uncertain; possibly related to eh and hey; popularized by a catch phrase in a 1970s sitcom.

interjection

  1. All right (inter); hooray (inter); cool (inter).

AY⁷

noun AYs

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of academic year.academic year

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