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Hay

//heɪ// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
  2. 2
    A place name:; A town and local government area (Hay Shire) in the Riverina area of New South Wales, Australia, named after John Hay.
  3. 3
    A place name:; A township in Gladwin County, Michigan, United States.
  4. 4
    A place name:; An unincorporated community in Whitman County, Washington, United States.
  5. 5
    A place name:; Ellipsis of Hay-on-Wye: a small town in Hay community, Powys, Wales, on the England-Wales border. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
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  1. 6
    A place name:; A community (civil parish) for Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, served by Hay-on-Wye Town Council.
Noun
  1. 1
    Grass cut and dried for use as animal fodder. uncountable

    "Make hay while sunne shines."

  2. 2
    A hedge. obsolete
  3. 3
    The letter for the h sound in Pitman shorthand.
  4. 4
    grass mowed and cured for use as fodder wordnet
  5. 5
    Any mix of green leafy plants used for fodder. countable
Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    A net placed around the lair or burrow of an animal. obsolete
  2. 7
    Cannabis; marijuana. countable, slang, uncountable

    "I would like some of that hay. Enclose $20."

  3. 8
    An enclosure, haw. obsolete
  4. 9
    A net set around the haunt of an animal, especially a rabbit. countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    A circular country dance. obsolete

    "My men like Satyres grazing on the lawnes, Shall with their Goate feete daunce an antick hay,"

Verb
  1. 1
    To cut grasses or herb plants for use as animal fodder.
  2. 2
    convert (plant material) into hay wordnet
  3. 3
    To lay snares for rabbits.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English hey, from Old English hīeġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hawi, from Proto-Germanic *hawją, from *hawwaną (“to hew, cut down”). Cognate with West Frisian hea (“hay”), Alemannic German Heuw (“hay”), Cimbrian höobe (“hay”), Dutch hooi (“hay”), German Heu (“hay”), Luxembourgish Hee (“hay”), Mòcheno hei (“hay”), Yiddish היי (hey, “hay”), Danish hø (“hay”), Faroese hoyggj (“hay”), Gutnish hoy (“hay”), Icelandic hey (“hay”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk høy (“hay”), Swedish hö (“hay”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍅𐌹 (hawi, “grass, hay”). More at hew.

Etymology 2

From Middle English hey, from Old English hīeġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hawi, from Proto-Germanic *hawją, from *hawwaną (“to hew, cut down”). Cognate with West Frisian hea (“hay”), Alemannic German Heuw (“hay”), Cimbrian höobe (“hay”), Dutch hooi (“hay”), German Heu (“hay”), Luxembourgish Hee (“hay”), Mòcheno hei (“hay”), Yiddish היי (hey, “hay”), Danish hø (“hay”), Faroese hoyggj (“hay”), Gutnish hoy (“hay”), Icelandic hey (“hay”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk høy (“hay”), Swedish hö (“hay”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍅𐌹 (hawi, “grass, hay”). More at hew.

Etymology 3

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

Etymology 4

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.

Etymology 5

From Middle English Hay.

See also for "hay"

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