ait

See also: aitt, AIT, áit, áitt, -ait, and -áit

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɪt/
• Rhymes: -eɪt

Etymology 1

From Middle English eyt, eit, from Old English īġeoþ, īgoþ, iggaþ, iggoþ (“ait, eyot, islet, small island”), diminutive of īġ, ēġ, īeġ (“island”). More at eyot.

Alternative forms

• eyot (island)

Noun

ait (plural aits)

1. An island in a river, especially the River Thames in England.
   • R. Hodges (1649)

     The ait where the osiers grew.

   • 1833, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Autobiography: Truth and Fiction Relating to My Life trans. John Oxenford, book 9,

     Striking richness of vegetation which follows in the windings of the Rhine, marks its banks, islands, and aits.

   • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, ch. 1,

     Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows.

Synonyms

• eyot

Etymology 2

From Scots ait, ate, from Middle English ate, from Old English āte. More at oat.

Noun

ait (plural aits)

1. (Scotland) An oat.
   • 1785, Robbie Burns, Scotch Drink

     Let husky wheat the haughs adorn,
     An' aits set up their awnie horn,

Anagrams

• IAT, ITA, TAI, TIA, Tai, Tia, ita, tai, tia

---

Estonian

Etymology

Related to Finnish aitta.

Noun

ait

1. barn

---

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e/ or IPA^(key): /ɛ/

Verb

ait

1. third-person singular present subjunctive of avoir

---

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /atʲ/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish aitt (“pleasant, agreeable; strange, unusual”, adjective).

Adjective

ait (genitive singular masculine ait, genitive singular feminine aite, plural aite, comparative aite)

1. pleasant, likeable
2. fine, excellent
3. comical; queer

Declension

Declension of ait

	Singular		Plural (m/f)
Positive	Masculine	Feminine	(strong noun)	(weak noun)
Nominative	ait	ait	aite
Vocative	ait		aite
Genitive		aite	aite	ait
Dative	ait	ait	aite
Comparative	níos aite
Superlative	is aite

Derived terms

• aiteacht f (“queerness, oddness”)

Etymology 2

Noun

ait m

1. genitive singular of at

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
ait	n-ait	hait	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• "ait" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• “aitt” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

---

Latin

Verb

āit, ait

1. third-person singular present active indicative of āiō
2. it is said (that)

References

• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) as Homer sings (not canit): ut ait Homerus
    
  • (ambiguous) as Cicero says: ut ait Cicero (always in this order)
    

---

Old French

Alternative forms

• aït (scholarly convention)

Verb

ait

1. third-person singular present subjunctive of aidier

---

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ai̯t/

Verb

ait

1. (literary) second-person singular imperfect indicative / imperfect subjunctive / conditional of mynd

Synonyms

• aet (colloquial)
• elet (colloquial)

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
ait	unchanged	unchanged	hait
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.