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Aye
Definitions
- 1 Ever, always. archaic, not-comparable
"[…]Do that good miſcheefe, which may make this Iſland / Thine owne for euer, and I thy Caliban, / For aye thy foot-licker."
- 1 Yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question.
"Tro[ylus]. Haue I not tarried? Pan[darus]. I the grinding; but you muſt tarry the boulting. Troy. Haue I not tarried? Paude.^([sic]) I the boulting; but you muſt tarry the leauening. Troy. Still haue I tarried. Pan. I, to the leauening, but heares yet in the word hereafter, the kneading, […]"
- 2 Alternative spelling of ay (question tag). New-Zealand, alt-of, alternative
- 3 Alternative spelling of ay: expressing anger, alarm, frustration, pain, etc. alt-of, alternative
"Iſt’s der? Keine Antwort? — Er iſt’s! Reinhold? Reinhold’, der boͤſe Feind jagt dich parforce! Ey, ey, ey! Welch Skandal!"
- 4 Alternative spelling of eh. Multicultural-London-English, alt-of, alternative
- 5 A word used to acknowledge a command from a superior, usually preceded by a verbatim repeat-back.
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Used in aye aye.
- 1 A surname.
- 2 Abbreviation of Ayer Rajah Expressway. Singapore, abbreviation, alt-of
- 1 An affirmative vote; one who votes in the affirmative.
"to call for the ayes and nays"
- 1 To respond with an "aye".
"The men ayed their agreement."
Etymology
From Middle English ay, ai, aȝȝ, from Old Norse ei, ey, from Proto-Germanic *aiwa, *aiwō (“ever, always”), from *aiwaz (“age; law”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“long time”). Doublet of aeviternity and aevum. See also Old English āwo, āwa, ā, ō, Middle Dutch ie, German je; also Old English ǣ(w) (“law”), West Frisian ieu (“century”), Dutch eeuw (“century”); also Irish aois (“age, period”), Breton oad (“age, period”), Latin ævum (“eternity”), Ancient Greek αἰών (aiṓn).
"Appears suddenly about 1575, and is exceedingly common about 1600." Probably from use of aye (“ever, always”) as expression of agreement or affirmation, or from Middle English a ye (“oh yes”), or synthesis of both. Compare Faroese ája (“certainly, ah yes”). More at oh, yea. Online Etymology Dictionary also with these posits a possible descent from I (as if clipped from e.g. "I assent").
"Appears suddenly about 1575, and is exceedingly common about 1600." Probably from use of aye (“ever, always”) as expression of agreement or affirmation, or from Middle English a ye (“oh yes”), or synthesis of both. Compare Faroese ája (“certainly, ah yes”). More at oh, yea. Online Etymology Dictionary also with these posits a possible descent from I (as if clipped from e.g. "I assent").
"Appears suddenly about 1575, and is exceedingly common about 1600." Probably from use of aye (“ever, always”) as expression of agreement or affirmation, or from Middle English a ye (“oh yes”), or synthesis of both. Compare Faroese ája (“certainly, ah yes”). More at oh, yea. Online Etymology Dictionary also with these posits a possible descent from I (as if clipped from e.g. "I assent").
Borrowed from Burmese အေး (e: /eì/).
See also for "aye"
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