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tay

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tay¹

  • /teɪ/

Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

Spelling form indicating original pronunciation of tea. The digraph ea represented /ɛː/ in Early Modern English; it later merged chiefly with ee, but regionally or sporadically with ay (in standard English break, great, steak). Compare the song Polly put the kettle on, where tea rhymes with away.

noun tays

  1. dialectal, obsolete Tea. Well, ma'am, you see it was whin I was jist about the age of Mary, there. I was comin' home late one Monday evenin' from the market; for my aunt Kitty, God be marciful to her! would keep me to take a cup of tay.

Tay²

  • /teɪ/

Where it comes from

Possibly from Proto-Brythonic Tausa (“silent, strong, or flowing”).

proper noun

  1. The longest river in Scotland, United Kingdom, originating on the slopes of Ben Lui and flowing eastwards through the city of Perth before becoming an estuary, the Firth of Tay. A Metro-Cammell diesel multiple-unit from Dundee approaches Perth on the single-line bridge over the Tay in July, 1961.
  2. A river in Lanark County, Ontario, Canada, a left tributary of the Rideau.
  3. A township in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada.

Tay³

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Hokkien 鄭／郑 (Tēⁿ), Teochew 鄭／郑 (dên7), Hokkien 戴 (Tè), or a variant of the English surname Tee.

proper noun Tays

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.

Tay⁴

Where it comes from

Clipping of Taylor.

proper noun Tays

  1. countable, uncountable A diminutive of the unisex given name Taylor.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: pike, tai, thai, loch, strath, anton, sachs, sach, tae, teetee, tee-tee, tiddy, tittay, tash, rosie lee, tazz

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Cite this
MLA

"tay." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tay. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tay. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tay

Chicago

"tay." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tay.

BibTeX
@misc{tay_2026,
  title = {tay},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tay},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}