Wiktionary

hay

See also: Hay, hãy, hầy, and haþ

English

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A Romanian haycock

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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, Danish hø, Norwegian høy), from *hawwaną (“to hew, cut down”). More at hew.

Noun

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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:
      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.
    • 1994, “Bug Powder Dust”, performed by Bomb the Bass:
      Jeff Spicoli, roll me another hay
  4. A net set around the haunt of an animal, especially a rabbit.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Further reading
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Verb

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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.
Derived terms
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Translations
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See also

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Etymology 2

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

Noun

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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 3

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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.

Noun

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hay (plural hays)

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

Further reading

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See also

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Anagrams

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Fingallian

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Etymology

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From Middle English heye, from Old English heġe, from Proto-West Germanic *hagi.

Noun

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hay

  1. A circular country dance.

Lushootseed

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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hay

  1. to know

Malagasy

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Etymology 1

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Interjection

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hay

  1. truly!, indeed!

Etymology 2

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Participle

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hay

  1. possible
  2. known

Etymology 3

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Noun

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hay

  1. (dialectal) burning

Etymology 4

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Adjective

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hay

  1. (of land) exposed, bare

Etymology 5

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Noun

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hay

  1. (Tankarana) an insect which damages rice crops

Mehri

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Pronoun

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hay

  1. they two (third-person dual pronoun)

References

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  • Aaron Rubin, The Mehri Language of Oman

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Noun

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hay

  1. alternative form of haye (“net”)

Etymology 2

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Interjection

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hay

  1. alternative form of hey (“hey”)

Etymology 3

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Noun

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hay (uncountable)

  1. alternative form of hey (“hay”)

Etymology 4

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Pronoun

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hay

  1. alternative form of he (“they”)

Etymology 5

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Noun

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hay

  1. alternative form of heye (“hedge”)

Etymology 6

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Verb

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hay

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

Middle French

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Verb

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hay

  1. first-person singular present indicative of hayr

Old Galician-Portuguese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From ha + y, "there is".

Pronunciation

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Verb

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hay

  1. (impersonal, Old Galician) there is, there are
    • 1370, Ramón Lorenzo, editor, Crónica Troiana, page 533:
      Et moytas uegadas cõteçe que hay algũus que nõ catã senõ porlo que he sua prol
      And many times it happens that there are some than don't care but for their own interest

Descendants

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  • Galician: hai

Further reading

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Somali

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Verb

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hay

  1. to hold, have

Spanish

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Verb

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hay

  1. third-person singular present indicative of haber
    there is, there are
    Hay dos tiendas que venden películas.
    There are two stores that sell films.

Usage notes

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Impersonal form of haber, there is or there are, not he is or it was.

Derived terms

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Tagalog

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Compare Hokkien 害矣 (hāi--ah).

Interjection

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hay (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜌ᜔)

  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 terms
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Etymology 2

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Borrowed from English high.

Adjective

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hay (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜌ᜔)

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

Etymology 3

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Noun

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hay (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜌ᜔) (obsolete)

  1. act of frighting or startling a dog
Derived terms
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Further reading

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  • “hay”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Vietnamese

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Cognate with Arem hɪː ("to understand").

Verb

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hay • (咍, 𫨩, 台, 能)

  1. (archaic or literary) to know; to get to know; to learn
    • Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經), folio 35a
      合(Hợp)咍(hay)㝵(người)𱍸(ấy)咍(hay)把(trả)特(được)恩(ơn)盎(áng)那(nạ)
      Certainly, [one will] know that such a person can repay their parents' kindness.
    • 15th century, Nguyễn Trãi, “歸崑山重九偶作 Quy côn sơn trùng cửu ngẫu tác”, in Quốc âm thi tập (國音詩集):
      𣈜恪咍兠群役恪
      節冷馬女底朱戈
      Ngày khác hay đâu còn việc khác,
      Tiết lành mựa nỡ để cho qua.
      Who knows on a different day if I would be busy or not,
      [So] I would rather not miss out on this nice weather [right now].
    • 1820, Nguyễn Du (阮攸), Đoạn trường tân thanh (Truyện Kiều)‎[1]:
      𬖉𦋦𦰟𦹵𦲿核
      𧡊囂囂𱢻時能姉𧗱
      Trông ra ngọn cỏ lá cây,
      Thấy hiu hiu gió thì hay chị về.
      And when you look outside, to where the grass and leaves are,
      And if you see them sway in the light breeze, then you know that I, your sister, will come home soon.
    • 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[2]:
      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. (obsolete, auxiliary) can, could, may, might
    • Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經), folio 35a
      合(Hợp)咍(hay)㝵(người)𱍸(ấy)咍(hay)把(trả)特(được)恩(ơn)盎(áng)那(nạ)
      Certainly, [one will] know that such a person can repay their parents' kindness.

Adjective

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hay

  1. (obsolete) able, capable
    • 1914 [c. 5th century CE], “Kinh tin-kính [Apostles' Creed]”, in Edmond Nordemann, compiler, Chrestomathie annamite, translation of Symbolum Apostolorum (in Latin), page 152:
      Tôi tin kính Dêu cha hay lọn vậy, dựng nên lời-đất. […]
      [original: Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae, […]]
      I believe in God, the Father All Capable, Creator of heaven and earth, […]
Usage notes
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  • The sense of “to know” is now mostly used in fixed expressions, such as đến đâu hay đến đó and cho hay (“to inform”, literally “to let [someone] know”), in the non-literary language.
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Adjective

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hay • (咍, 𫨩, 台)

  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 terms
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Adverb

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hay • (𫨩)

  1. well
    Antonyms: dở, tệ, tồi
    • c. 1990s, Đậu Kinh Luân, “Hoa Tay [Deftness]”‎[3]:
      Ai hay vẽ rồi sẽ vẽ hay.
      Whoever draws often will draw well.

Etymology 3

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Adverb

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hay

  1. often, habitually
    Con hay nói nhiều lắm.
    You, child, are talkative.
    (literally, “You, child, habitually talk too much.”)
    • c. 1990s, Đậu Kinh Luân, “Hoa Tay [Deftness]”‎[4]:
      Ai hay vẽ rồi sẽ vẽ hay.
      Whoever draws often will draw well.

Etymology 4

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Conjunction

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hay • (咍, 台, 能)

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

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Pronunciation

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Interjection

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hay

  1. go, let us go

Yola

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Pronoun

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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, page 130, line 6:
      "Hay was mee gude plowere,
      "He was my good plougher,
    • 1927, “YOLA ZONG O BARONY VORTH”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 132, line 4:
      Fan Buckeen hay pooked lik own thing mad.
      When Buckeen he jumped like a thing mad.
    • 1927, “YOLA ZONG O BARONY VORTH”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 132, line 7:
      Wi spur upa heel hay gaed him a goad,
      With a spur on his heel, he gave him a goad,
    • 1927, “PAUDEEN FOUGHLAAN'S WEDDEEN”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 133, line 3:
      Shu bin vrem Vorth, an hay vrem Bargee,
      She being from Forth and he from Bargy;
    • 1927, “PAUDEEN FOUGHLAAN'S WEDDEEN”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 133, line 5:
      Yola Vather Deruse hay raree cam thoare,
      Old Father Devereux (he) early came there,
    • 1927, “PAUDEEN FOUGHLAAN'S WEDDEEN”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 133, line 6:
      Wi buke an wi candale hay tackled a paare.
      With book and with candle he tackled the pair;

References

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  • Kathleen A. Browne (1927) “THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD.”, in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of lreland (Sixth Series)‎[6], volume 17, number 2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 130
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