ey
EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English ei, ey, from Old English ǣġ, from Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm. Doublet of egg and ovum.
This native English form was displaced by the Old Norse derived egg in the 16th century, most likely due to its clashing with the word eye, wherewith it had come to be a homonym.
NounEdit
ey (plural eyren)
- (obsolete) An egg. [dated since the 16th century]
- 1490, William Caxton, Prologue to Eneydos:
- And one of theym... cam in to an hows and axed for mete and specyally he axyd after eggys, and the goode wyf answerde that she could speke no Frenshe. And the marchaunt was angry, for he also coude speke no Frenshe, but wolde have hadde egges; and she understode hym not. And thenne at laste a-nother sayd that he wolde have eyren. Then the good wyf sayd that she understod hym wel. Loo, what sholde a man in thyse dayes now wryte, egges, or eyren? Certaynly it is hard to playse every man, by-cause of dyversite and chaunge of langage.
- 1787, originally 1381, Liber quotidianus contrarotulatoris garderobae:
- Take brothe of capons withoute herbes, and breke eyren, and cast into the pot, and make a crudde therof, and colour hit with saffron, and then presse oute the brothe and kerve it on leches; and then take swete creme of almondes, or of cowe mylk, and boyle hit; […]
Related termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
Coined in 1975 by Christine M. Elverson by removing the "th" from they.
PronunciationEdit
PronounEdit
ey (third-person singular, nominative case, accusative em, possessive adjective eir, possessive noun eirs, reflexive emself)
- (rare, epicene, nonstandard) A gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, one of the so-called Spivak pronouns, equivalent to the singular they and coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ey.
SynonymsEdit
Etymology 3Edit
From Middle English ei, i, ie, from Old English ēġ, īġ, īeġ, from Proto-West Germanic *auwju, from Proto-Germanic *awjō (“watery land, floodplain, island”), earlier *agwjō ~ *ahwjō (literally “(that which is) of the water”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ékʷeh₂ (“flowing water”) + *-yeh₂.
NounEdit
ey (plural eys)
- (UK) A small island formed by the buildup of silt or gravel at the confluence of two rivers or streams.
- 1927, Essex Naturalist, page 280:
- Now it will be seen that each of the three small streamlets named forms, at its junction with the larger river into which it flows, an ey, or island, of this latter kind — Crip's-ey, Dom's-ey, and Pin's-ey, respectively; and I suggest that, from these three eys, each of the three streams indicated derived the final element of its name.
- 2009, Julie Wileman, War and Rumours of War, page 81:
- Runnymede Bridge is situated on an 'ey' – a small gravel islet close to the river bank.
- A place that has a name ending in "-ey" because it is or was located at such an island.
- 1888 January 28, Walter de Gray Birch, “WASA, ISIS, OCK”, in Academy and Literature, volume 33, number 821, page 63:
- Among the many eys, eyots , or islands, clustering about Oxford, at or near the confluence of the Isis and Cherwell, viz., Binsey, Botley, Hinksey, Iffley, Osney, Oxey, Pixey, &c., there are two, vis., Osney and Oxey, which manifestly enshrine this rivername.
- 1924, Arthur Hadrian Allcroft, Downland Pathways, page 76:
- In Saxon the word ey meant peninsula as well as island, and there are plenty of other eys about —Langney and Hydeney and Horsey to wit, Chilly and Rickney and Northeye and Mountney.
- 2018, Bob Gilbert, Ghost Trees: Nature and People in a London Parish:
- Bermondsey, Stepney, Hackney; there are many of these 'eys' in London and they were all once islands, or higher, dryer points in the surrounding marshlands.
Related termsEdit
See alsoEdit
AnagramsEdit
AzerbaijaniEdit
PronunciationEdit
Audio (file)
InterjectionEdit
ey
- Used to call someone's attention.
GermanEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle High German ei, a common interjection. In contemporary German possibly reinforced by Turkish ey (“vocative particle”), English hey.
PronunciationEdit
InterjectionEdit
ey
- (colloquial) used to call someone’s attention
- Ey Peter, komm mal kucken, was hier auf dem Schild steht!
- Hey Peter, come and see what it says on this sign!
See alsoEdit
IcelandicEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Norse ey, from Proto-Germanic *awjō.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
ey f (genitive singular eyjar, nominative plural eyjar)
DeclensionEdit
The dative singular eyju/eyjunnar also occurs, but is on its own indistinguishable from the dative of the weak form eyja.
Middle EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
Inherited from Old English æġ, from Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (“egg”). Doublet of egge.
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
DescendantsEdit
- English: ey
ReferencesEdit
- “ei, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2Edit
Inherited from Old English īeġ, īg, from Proto-West Germanic *auwju, from Proto-Germanic *awjō (“floodplain; island”).
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
ey
DescendantsEdit
- English: ey
ReferencesEdit
- “ei, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3Edit
From Latin ei and Old French ahi, äi.
Alternative formsEdit
InterjectionEdit
ey
- An exclamation of surprise, challenge, or inquiry.
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “ei, interj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 4Edit
AdverbEdit
ey
- Alternative form of ay (“always”)
Etymology 5Edit
NounEdit
ey (plural eyen)
- Alternative form of eye (“eye”)
Etymology 6Edit
NounEdit
ey (uncountable)
- Alternative form of eye (“fear; awe”)
- To have no ey for nought.
- (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- c. 1470,, O lord omnipotent:
- Exhorting thy people to have a special ey, That thee to praise they never cease.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
VerbEdit
ey
- to awe
Middle WelshEdit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
ey
Old NorseEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Proto-Germanic *aiwaz m, *aiwō f (“long time, age, eternity”), itself from Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu ~ *h₂yéws.
AdverbEdit
ey
Alternative formsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “ey1”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Etymology 2Edit
From Proto-Germanic *awjō.
NounEdit
ey f (genitive eyjar, dative eyju, plural eyjar)
DeclensionEdit
DescendantsEdit
- Icelandic: ey f, eyja f
- Faroese: oyggj f, oy f
- Norwegian Nynorsk: øy
- Norwegian Bokmål: øy
- Westrobothnian: öy, oi
- Old Swedish: ø̄
- Swedish: ö c
- Danish: ø c
- → English: oe
- Gutnish: oy
- → English: -ey, -ay (in place names)
- → Old Irish: í f
- Irish: í f
ReferencesEdit
- “ey2”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
PortugueseEdit
VerbEdit
ey
- Obsolete spelling of hei
SomaliEdit
EtymologyEdit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
èy m (plural éy or eyo f)
SpanishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
InterjectionEdit
¡ey!
Related termsEdit
SwedishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Perhaps borrowed from Turkish ey (vocative article).
InterjectionEdit
ey
- (slang) Used to call someone's attention.
- Ey, mannen, vi gittar!
- Hey, man, let's get out of here!
ReferencesEdit
TurkishEdit
PronunciationEdit
InterjectionEdit
ey