Wiktionary

hay

See also: Hay, hãy, and haþ

EnglishEdit

 
A Romanian haycock

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English hey, from Old English hīeġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hawi, from Proto-Germanic *hawją (compare West Frisian hea, Dutch hooi, German Heu, Norwegian høy), from *hawwaną (“to hew, cut down”). More at hew.

NounEdit

hay (countable and uncountable, plural hays)

  1. (uncountable) Grass cut and dried for use as animal fodder.
    • 1605, M. N. [pseudonym; William Camden], Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine, […], London: […] G[eorge] E[ld] for Simon Waterson, OCLC 1064186951:
      Make hay while sunne shines.
    • 1857, Charles Louis Flint, Grasses and Forage Plants: A Practical Treatise […]
      Hay may be dried too much as well as too little.
  2. (countable) Any mix of green leafy plants used for fodder.
  3. (slang) Cannabis; marijuana.
    • 1947, William Burroughs, letter, 19 Feb 1947:
      I would like some of that hay. Enclose $20.
  4. A net set around the haunt of an animal, especially a rabbit.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
Further readingEdit

VerbEdit

hay (third-person singular simple present hays, present participle haying, simple past and past participle hayed)

  1. To cut grasses or herb plants for use as animal fodder.
  2. To lay snares for rabbits.
TranslationsEdit

See alsoEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Middle English haye, heye, a conflation of Old English heġe (“hedge, fence”) and Old English ġehæġ (“an enclosed piece of land”).

NounEdit

hay (plural hays)

  1. (obsolete) A hedge.
  2. (obsolete) A net placed around the lair or burrow of an animal.
  3. (obsolete) An enclosure, haw.
  4. (obsolete) A circular country dance.

Etymology 3Edit

From the sound it represents, by analogy with other letters such as kay and gay. The expected form in English if the h had survived in the Latin name of the letter "h", hā.

NounEdit

hay (plural hays)

  1. The letter for the h sound in Pitman shorthand.
Related termsEdit
  • aitch, the Latin letter for this sound

Further readingEdit

AnagramsEdit

LushootseedEdit

Alternative formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

hay

  1. to know

MalagasyEdit

Etymology 1Edit

InterjectionEdit

hay

  1. truly!, indeed!

Etymology 2Edit

ParticipleEdit

hay

  1. possible
  2. known

Etymology 3Edit

NounEdit

hay

  1. (dialectal) burning

Etymology 4Edit

AdjectiveEdit

hay

  1. (of land) exposed, bare

Etymology 5Edit

NounEdit

hay

  1. (Tankarana) an insect which damages rice crops

Middle EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

NounEdit

hay (plural hayes)

  1. Alternative form of haye (“net”)

Etymology 2Edit

InterjectionEdit

hay

  1. Alternative form of hey (“hey”)

Etymology 3Edit

NounEdit

hay (uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of hey (“hay”)

Etymology 4Edit

PronounEdit

hay

  1. Alternative form of he (“they”)

Etymology 5Edit

NounEdit

hay

  1. Alternative form of heye (“hedge”)

Etymology 6Edit

VerbEdit

hay

  1. Alternative form of haven (“to have”)

Middle FrenchEdit

VerbEdit

hay

  1. first-person singular present indicative of hayr

SomaliEdit

VerbEdit

hay

  1. to hold

SpanishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old Spanish ha ý (“it has there”) (compare Catalan hi ha and French il y a), from ha, third-person singular present of aver (“to have”), + ý, from Latin ibī (“there”).

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

hay

  1. (impersonal) Present indicative form of haber, there is, there are
    Hay dos tiendas que venden películas.
    There are two stores that sell films.

Derived termsEdit

TagalogEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

Compare Hokkien 害矣 (hāi--ah).

InterjectionEdit

hay

  1. Alternative form of ay
  2. an expression of fatigue, exhaustion, grief, sorrow, frustration, or the like: sigh
    Hay... Antok na ako!
    Sigh... I'm sleepy already!
Derived termsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

NounEdit

hay

  1. (obsolete) act of frighting or startling a dog
Derived termsEdit

Etymology 3Edit

Borrowed from English high.

AdjectiveEdit

hay

  1. (slang) high on drugs; drugged
    Synonyms: sabog, basag, bogsa

VietnameseEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

Cognate with Arem hɪː ("to understand").

VerbEdit

hay • (𫨩)

  1. (archaic or literary) to know; to get to know; to learn
    • 2018 January 22, Viễn Sự, Sơn Lâm, “Trẻ con lai ở miền Tây: Con không cha như nhà không nóc [The mixed children in Southwestern Vietnam: a fatherless child is like a roofless house]”, in Tuổi Trẻ Online‎[1]:
      Hồi mẹ nó ẵm về nước, bà nội nó nói mua cho cái vé khứ hồi, tới hồi ra sân bay về lại Hàn Quốc thì mới hay cái vé đi có một chiều.
      When his mother carried him in her arms back to Vietnam, his paternal grandmother said they had bought a return ticket for her, but she realised it was only a one-way ticket when she was at the airport, trying to return to Korea.
  2. (‘hay’ + verb) to have a habit of (doing something)
    Ai hay vẽ rồi sẽ vẽ hay.
    Who draws habitually will draw well.
    Con hay nói nhiều lắm.
    You, child, have a habit of talking too much / You, child, are talkative.
Usage notesEdit
Derived termsEdit
Derived terms

Etymology 2Edit

AdjectiveEdit

hay • (𫨩)

  1. good, as in useful, inventive, interesting or entertaining; compare tốt (good as in high-quality, skillful or ethical)
    Antonyms: dở, tệ, tồi
    ý hay ― a good idea
    Phim hay quá ha !
    That was a great movie!
Derived termsEdit
Derived terms

AdverbEdit

hay • (𫨩)

  1. well
    Antonyms: dở, tệ, tồi
    Ai hay vẽ rồi sẽ vẽ hay.
    Who draws habitually will draw well.

Etymology 3Edit

ConjunctionEdit

hay (là) (咍)

  1. or
    Chọn cái này, hay chọn cái kia
    Choose this one, or choose that one
Derived termsEdit
Derived terms
See alsoEdit

WalloonEdit

PronunciationEdit

InterjectionEdit

hay

  1. go, let us go

YolaEdit

PronounEdit

hay

  1. Alternative form of hea (“he”)
    • 1927, “LAMENT OF A WIDOW”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, line 6:
      Hay was.
      He was.

ReferencesEdit

  • Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 130
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