Wiktionary

dey

See also: Dey, để ý, and deþ

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English deye, deie, daie, from Old English dǣġe (“maker of bread; baker; dairy-maid”), from Proto-West Germanic *daigijā, from Proto-Germanic *daigijǭ (“kneader of bread, maid”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to knead, form, build”). Cognate with Swedish deja, Icelandic deigja (“dairy-maid”); compare dairy, dough, lady.

Alternative forms

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Noun

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dey (plural deys)

  1. (UK dialectal, Scotland) A servant who has charge of the dairy; a dairymaid.
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Etymology 2

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From French dey, from Ottoman Turkish دایی (modern Turkish dayı).

Noun

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dey (plural deys)

  1. (historical) The ruler of the Regency of Algiers (now Algeria) under the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 29:
      […] the reigning Dey of Algiers (half of whose twenty-eight predecessors are said to have met violent ends) lost his temper with the French consul, struck him in the face with a fly-whisk, and called him ‘a wicked, faithless, idol-worshipping rascal’.

Etymology 3

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Pronoun

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dey

  1. Pronunciation spelling of they, representing dialects with th-stopping in English.
  2. Pronunciation spelling of there, representing African American Vernacular English or Caribbean English.
    • 2012, G. Modele Dale Clarke, Up in Mahaica: Stories from the Market People (ebook), Xlibris:
      “Boy, is horrors over dey, for so,” he said, obviously excited and anxious to be the bearer of extraordinary news. “Wat happen, somebody dead?”

Etymology 4

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From Tamil டேய் (“hey!”).

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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dey

  1. (Singapore, Malaysia, slang, rare, between friends) A familiar term of address conveying extra emphasis at the end of sentences.
Usage notes
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Used after lah (Sense 1) in most cases.

References

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Anagrams

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Cameroon Pidgin

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From English there.

Predicative

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dey

  1. there is, there are, indicates presence in a location
Alternative forms
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See also
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  • na (“copula for noun phrases, indicates existence”)

Etymology 2

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From English they.

Pronoun

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dey

  1. they, 3rd person plural subject personal pronoun
See also
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Cameroonian Pidgin personal pronouns
Subject personal pronouns
singular plural
1st person I we, wu
2nd person you wuna
3rd person i dey
Object and topic personal pronouns
1st person me we
2nd person you wuna
3rd person yi, -am dem, -am

Etymology 3

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From English day.

Noun

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dey

  1. day
Alternative forms
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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دایی (dayı), from Persian دایی (dâyi, “maternal uncle”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /dɛj/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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dey m (plural deys)

  1. dey (ruler of the Regency of Algiers)

Further reading

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German

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English they, adjusted to German phonology and suppleted with plural forms of demonstrative pronoun die.

dem, demm are borrowed from English them.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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dey

  1. (neologism) they (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun.

Declension

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  • Nominative: dey
  • Accusative: demm or dey or dem (with a short vowel)
  • Dative: denen or demm or dem (with a short vowel)
  • Genitive: deren
  • Possessive: deren

Icelandic

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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dey

  1. inflection of deyja:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Italian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دایی (dayı), from Persian دایی (dâyi, “maternal uncle”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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dey m (invariable)

  1. dey (ruler of the Regency of Algiers)

References

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  1. ^ dey in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
  2. ^ dey in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Kalasha

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Etymology

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From Persian ده (deh).

Noun

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dey

  1. village
    Synonym: grom

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Noun

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dey

  1. Alternative form of day

Etymology 2

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Pronoun

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dey

  1. Alternative form of þei (“they”)

Etymology 3

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Noun

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dey

  1. Alternative form of dee

Nigerian Pidgin

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From English there.

Verb

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dey

  1. to be
    • (Can we date this quote?), Zanele Buthelezi, Thembani Dladla, Clare Verbeek, “Count animals”, in Storybooks African Languages‎[1]:
      One elephant dey go drink water.
      One elephant is going to drink water.

Old Norse

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Verb

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dey

  1. inflection of deyja:
    1. first-person singular present active indicative
    2. second-person singular present active imperative

Yola

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Noun

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dey

  1. Alternative form of die (“day”)
    • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 84:
      Ch'am a stouk, an a donel; wou'll leigh out ee dey.
      I am a fool and a dunce; we'll idle out the day.
    • 1867, “DR. RUSSELL ON THE INHABITANTS AND DIALECT OF THE BARONY OF FORTH”, in APPENDIX, page 131:
      Fad didn'st thou cum t' ouz on zum other dey?
      [Why didn't you come to us on some other day?]

References

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  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867

Zaghawa

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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dey

  1. foot, leg
  2. footstep

References

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