dey
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
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 edit
Noun edit
dey (plural deys)
Related terms edit
Etymology 2 edit
From French dey, from Ottoman Turkish دایی (modern Turkish dayı).
Noun edit
dey (plural deys)
- (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 edit
Pronoun edit
dey
- Pronunciation spelling of they, representing dialects with th-stopping in English.
- 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 edit
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
dey
- (Singapore, Malaysia, slang, rare, between friends) A familiar term of address conveying extra emphasis at the end of sentences.
- 2007 September 10, Sandra Leong, w:The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited, →OCLC, page 6:
- If a player makes a silly mistake, he doesn’t wail when told to “wake up lah, dey”.
Usage notes edit
Used after lah (Sense 1) in most cases.
References edit
- “dey”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “dey”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams edit
Cameroon Pidgin edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Predicative edit
dey
Alternative forms edit
See also edit
- na (“copula for noun phrases, indicates existence”)
Etymology 2 edit
Pronoun edit
dey
- they, 3rd person plural subject personal pronoun
See also edit
Etymology 3 edit
Noun edit
dey
Alternative forms edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دایی (dayı), from Persian دایی (dâyi, “maternal uncle”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
dey m (plural deys)
- dey (ruler of the Regency of Algiers)
Further reading edit
- “dey”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
German edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Pronoun edit
dey
- (neologism) they (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun.
Declension edit
Icelandic edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
dey
- inflection of deyja:
Italian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دایی (dayı), from Persian دایی (dâyi, “maternal uncle”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
dey m (invariable)
- dey (ruler of the Regency of Algiers)
References edit
- ^ dey in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
- ^ dey in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
Kalasha edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
dey
Middle English edit
Etymology 1 edit
Noun edit
dey
- Alternative form of day
Etymology 2 edit
Pronoun edit
dey
- Alternative form of þei (“they”)
Etymology 3 edit
Noun edit
dey
- Alternative form of dee
Nigerian Pidgin edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Verb edit
dey
- to be
Old Norse edit
Verb edit
dey
- inflection of deyja:
Yola edit
Noun edit
dey
- 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 edit
- 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 edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
dey
References edit
- Beria-English English-Beria Dictionary [provisional] ADESK, Iriba, Kobe Department, Chad