ahoy

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[edit] English

From "a-hoy"; 'hoy' being a Middle English greeting dating back to the fourteenth century.^[1]

ahoy

(nautical) Used to hail a ship, a boat or a person, or to attract attention.
- 1751: While he was thus occupied, a voice, still more uncouth than the former, bawled aloud, ‘Ho! the house, a-hoy!’, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, Tobias Smollett.

Traditionally, when used from a ship to hail an approaching boat, the standard responses are:
- "aye aye", if a commissioned officer is in the boat;
- "no no", if no officer is in the boat;
- name of ship, if the captain of another ship is in the boat;
- "flag" if an admiral is in the boat.

used to hail a ship, etc