aye

See also: Aye, a'ye, and AYE

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English ay, ai, aȝȝ, from Old Norse ei, ey, from Proto-Germanic *aiwa, *aiwō (“ever, always”) (compare Old English āwo, āwa, ā, ō, Middle Dutch ie, German je), from *aiwaz (“age; law”) (compare Old English ǣ(w) (“law”), West Frisian ieu (“century”), Dutch eeuw (“century”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“long time”) (compare Irish aois (“age, period”), Breton oad (“age, period”), Latin ævum (“eternity”), Ancient Greek αἰών (aiṓn)). Doublet of aeviternity and aevum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɪ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪ
• (sometimes proscribed) IPA^(key): /aɪ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪ
  • Homophones: ay, eye, I

Adverb

aye (not comparable)

2. (archaic) ever, always
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     […] Do that good miſcheefe, which may make this Iſland / Thine owne for euer, and I thy Caliban, / For aye thy foot-licker.

   • 1834, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:

     The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, / And southward aye we fled.

   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter XIII, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     Huge hills and mountains of casks on casks were piled upon her wharves, and side by side the world-wandering whale ships lay silent and safely moored at last; while from others came a sound of carpenters and coopers, with blended noises of fires and forges to melt the pitch, all betokening that new cruises were on the start; that one most perilous and long voyage ended, only begins a second; and a second ended, only begins a third, and so on, for ever and for aye.

   • 1863, Translation by Catherine Winkworth:

     Let the Amen sound from His people again; Gladly for aye we adore Him. (Praise to the Lord, the Almighty)

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:aye.

Etymology 2

"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. More at oh, yea.

Alternative forms

• ay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɪ/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: ay, eye, I

Interjection

aye

1. yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question.
2. (nautical) a word used to acknowledge a command from a superior, usually preceded by a verbatim repeat-back.

Usage notes

• It is much used in Scotland, the north and Midlands of England, Northern Ireland, North Wales, as well as in New Zealand (where it may follow rather than precede a statement). Also notably seen in viva voce voting in legislative bodies, etc., or in nautical contexts.

Synonyms

• yes
• yea

Antonyms

• nay
• no

Derived terms

• aye aye
• aye man
• ee aye addio
• och aye
• we aye
• well aye
• wye aye

 

Translations

yes

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 嗯 (zh) (ǹg), 对 (zh) (duì), 是 (zh) (shì),没错 (zh) (méicuó)

• Danish: javel (da)
• Finnish: jaa (fi), kyllä (fi)
• French: oui (fr)
• German: jawohl (de)
• Greek: ναι (el) (nai)
• Hungarian: igen (hu)
• Irish: aidhe
• Japanese: ええ (ja), はい (ja)
• Neapolitan: sine
• Persian: بله‎ (fa)
• Russian: есть (ru) (jestʹ)
• Spanish: sí (es), sé (es)
• Turkish: evet (tr)
• Welsh: ie

References

• Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, →ISBN
• Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [2]
• A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, →ISBN

Noun

aye (plural ayes)

1. An affirmative vote; one who votes in the affirmative.

   "To call for the ayes and nays;" "The ayes have it."

Synonyms

• yes

Translations

affirmative vote

• Finnish: jaa-ääni (fi)
• Polish: afirmatywa (pl) f (archaic)
• Spanish: sí (es) m
• Turkish: evet (tr)

Etymology 3

Probably of multiple motivations, the sounds having been chosen for functional reasons.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɪ/, /eɪ/
  • (New Zealand) IPA^(key): [æe̯]

Interjection

aye

1. (MLE, MTE, regional African-American Vernacular) an attention grabber

   Synonyms: hey, oi, I say

   Aye, come here!

   Aye, what do you have?

2. (New Zealand) Alternative spelling of ay (question tag)

Anagrams

• yae, yea

Baba Malay

Etymology

From Malay air (“water”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /basi/

Noun

aye

1. water

Indonesian

Etymology

From Betawi aye. Doublet of saya.

Pronoun

aye

1. (Jakarta, slang) First-person singular pronoun: I, me, my

Synonyms

Other pronouns with the same meaning used in Jakarta:

• gue, ogut

Other pronouns with the same meaning used elsewhere:

• aku (informal)
• ku
• daku (poetic)
• saya (formal)
• gua, gw (Java)
• hamba

Middle English

Noun

aye (plural ayer or ayren)

1. Alternative form of ey (“egg”)

Scots

Etymology

From Old Norse ei, ey, cognate with Old English ā. See the etymology for the English word above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɪ/

Adverb

aye (not comparable)

1. always, still

   A'll aye be wi ye an A'm nae carin whit thay sae.

   I'll always be with you and I don't care what they say.

   It'll aye be the same wi thaim thou.

   It'll still be the same with them though.

Interjection

aye

1. yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question

Spanish

Noun

aye m (plural ayes)

1. whine; whining; whinging

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English ay, from Old Norse ey.

Adverb

aye

1. ever
   • 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, line 14:

     till ee zin o'oure daies be var aye be ee-go t'glade.

     until the sun of our lives be gone down the dark valley (of death).

References

• Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 116

Yoruba

Alternative forms

• ايعِ‎
• aiyé (archaic)

Etymology 1

Cognate with Edo aye

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ā.jé/

Noun

ayé

1. world
2. life

Derived terms

• aláyé
• ará ayé
• Ayé
• ayé lọjà, ọ̀run nilé
• Ayédọgbọ́n
• Ayéfẹ́lẹ́
• Ayégbùsì
• Ayétòrò
• Ayéyẹmí
• ilé ayé
• jayé
• Jáyésinmi
• láyé
• láyé àtijọ́
• láéláé
• ṣayé
• wáyé
• àgbáyé

 

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /à.jè/

Noun

àyè

1. chance, opportunity

Derived terms

• ráyè (“to get the opportunity”)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ā.jè/

Noun

ayè

1. (Ekiti) understanding, idea, knowledge

   Synonym: òye