ey
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
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, huevo, oeuf, 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.
Noun edit
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 terms edit
Etymology 2 edit
Coined by Christine M. Elverson in 1975 by removing the "th" from they.
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
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.
Synonyms edit
Etymology 3 edit
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.
Noun edit
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 terms edit
See also edit
Anagrams edit
Azerbaijani edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Interjection edit
ey
- Used to call someone's attention.
German edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German ei, a common interjection. In contemporary German possibly reinforced by Turkish ey (“vocative particle”), English hey.
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
ey
- (colloquial, originally youth slang) Used to call someone's attention, or as an intensifier when placed at the end.
- Boah, ey!
- (Whoa), man!
- Ey Peter, komm mal kucken, was hier auf dem Schild steht!
- Hey Peter, come and see what it says on this sign!
- 2016 April 8, Jenni Zylka, quoting Udo Lindenberg, “Echo-Verleihung: Preis, der es jedem recht machen will”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz[3], →ISSN:
- Der unkorrumpierbare Udo Lindenberg, der seinen „Bestes Video national“-Gewinn galant mit „Geilomat, ey“ kommentierte […]
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
See also edit
Icelandic edit
Etymology edit
From Old Norse ey, from Proto-Germanic *awjō.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ey f (genitive singular eyjar, nominative plural eyjar)
Declension edit
The dative singular eyju/eyjunni also occurs, but is on its own indistinguishable from the dative of the weak form eyja.
Middle English edit
Etymology 1 edit
Inherited from Old English æġ, from Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (“egg”). Doublet of egge.
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Descendants edit
- English: ey (obsolete)
References edit
- “ei, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2 edit
Inherited from Old English īeġ, īg, from Proto-West Germanic *auwju, from Proto-Germanic *awjō (“floodplain; island”).
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ey
Descendants edit
- English: ey
References edit
- “ei, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3 edit
From Latin ei and Old French ahi, äi.
Alternative forms edit
Interjection edit
ey
- An exclamation of surprise, challenge, or inquiry.
Descendants edit
References edit
- “ei, interj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 4 edit
Adverb edit
ey
- Alternative form of ay (“always”)
Etymology 5 edit
Noun edit
ey (plural eyen)
- Alternative form of eye (“eye”)
Etymology 6 edit
Noun edit
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 quotation)
Verb edit
ey
- to awe
Middle Welsh edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
ey
Old Norse edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Proto-Germanic *aiwaz m, *aiwō f (“long time, age, eternity”), itself from Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu ~ *h₂yéws. Cognate of Proto-Finnic *auvo.
Adverb edit
ey
Alternative forms edit
References edit
- “ey1”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Etymology 2 edit
From Proto-Germanic *awjō.
Noun edit
ey f (genitive eyjar, dative eyju, plural eyjar)
Declension edit
Descendants edit
- Icelandic: ey f, eyja f
- Faroese: oyggj f, oy f
- Norwegian Nynorsk: øy
- Norwegian Bokmål: øy
- Old Swedish: ø̄
- Swedish: ö c
- Danish: ø c
- → English: oe
- Gutnish: oy
- → Old Irish: í f
- Irish: í f
- ⇒ Old Norse: -ey (indicating island names)
References edit
- “ey2”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Etymology 3 edit
From Proto-Norse ᚨᚢᛃᚨ (auja), itself from Proto-Germanic *aują n, itself from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- (“enjoy”). See also Proto-Germanic *auþuz (“easy”) and Old English ieþe (“easy”).
Noun edit
ey n
- (hapax) luck, fortune
- Found twice in the same place, in a prayer towards the Cross recorded in Landnámabók: Gott ey gǫmlum mǫnnum, gott ey ungum mǫnnum.
- Good fortune to old men, good fortune to young men.
- Found twice in the same place, in a prayer towards the Cross recorded in Landnámabók:
Declension edit
Portuguese edit
Verb edit
ey
Somali edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
èy m (plural éy or eyo f)
Spanish edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
¡ey!
Related terms edit
Swedish edit
Etymology edit
Perhaps borrowed from Turkish ey (vocative article).
Interjection edit
ey
- (slang) Used to call someone's attention.
- Ey, mannen, vi gittar!
- Hey, man, let's get out of here!
See also edit
- hej (has a list of greetings and farewells)
References edit
Tagalog edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from English ay, the English name of the letter A/a.
Pronunciation edit
- (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /ˈʔej/, [ˈʔɛɪ̯]
- Rhymes: -ej
Noun edit
ey (Baybayin spelling ᜁᜌ᜔)
- The name of the Latin-script letter A/a, in the Filipino alphabet.
- Synonym: a
See also edit
- (Latin-script letter names) titik; ey, bi, si, di, i, ef, dyi, eyts, ay, dyey, key, el, em, en, enye, en dyi, o, pi, kyu, ar, es, ti, yu, vi, dobolyu, eks, way, zi
Further reading edit
- “ey”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
Turkish edit
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
ey