ey
English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English ei, ey, from Old English ǣġ, from Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.
This native English form was displaced by the Old Norse derived egg in the 16th century, most likely due to its clashing with the word eye, wherewith it had come to be a homonym.
Noun[edit]
ey (plural eyren)
- (obsolete) An egg. [dated since the 16th century]
- 1490, William Caxton, Prologue to Eneydos:
- And one of theym... cam in to an hows and axed for mete and specyally he axyd after eggys, and the goode wyf answerde that she could speke no Frenshe. And the marchaunt was angry, for he also coude speke no Frenshe, but wolde have hadde egges; and she understode hym not. And thenne at laste a-nother sayd that he wolde have eyren. Then the good wyf sayd that she understod hym wel. Loo, what sholde a man in thyse dayes now wryte, egges, or eyren? Certaynly it is hard to playse every man, by-cause of dyversite and chaunge of langage.
- 1787, originally 1381, Liber quotidianus contrarotulatoris garderobae:
- Take brothe of capons withoute herbes, and breke eyren, and cast into the pot, and make a crudde therof, and colour hit with saffron, and then presse oute the brothe and kerve it on leches; and then take swete creme of almondes, or of cowe mylk, and boyle hit; […]
Related terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
From Middle English ei, from Old English ieġ, from Proto-West Germanic *auwju from Proto-Germanic *awjō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂.
Noun[edit]
ey (plural eys)
- An island.
Etymology 3[edit]
Coined in the year 1975 by one Christine M. Elverson by removing the "th" from they.
Pronunciation[edit]
Pronoun[edit]
ey (third-person singular, nominative case, accusative em, possessive adjective eir, possessive noun eirs, reflexive emself)
- (rare, epicene) A gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, one of the so-called Spivak pronouns, equivalent to the singular they and coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ey.
Synonyms[edit]
See also[edit]
- suffix -ey
Anagrams[edit]
Azerbaijani[edit]
Interjection[edit]
ey
- Used to call someone's attention.
German[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle High German ei, a common interjection. In contemporary German possibly reinforced by Turkish ey (“vocative particle”), English hey.
Pronunciation[edit]
Interjection[edit]
ey
- (colloquial) used to call someone’s attention
- Ey Peter, komm mal kucken, was hier auf dem Schild steht!
- Hey Peter, come and see what it says on this sign!
- Ey Peter, komm mal kucken, was hier auf dem Schild steht!
See also[edit]
Icelandic[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old Norse ey, from Proto-Germanic *awjō.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
ey f (genitive singular eyjar, nominative plural eyjar)
Declension[edit]
The dative singular eyju/eyjunnar also occurs, but is on its own indistinguishable from the dative of the weak form eyja.
Middle English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Old English æġ, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (“egg”). Doublet of egge.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- English: ey
References[edit]
- “ei, n.(1).” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2[edit]
From Old English īeġ, īg, from Proto-Germanic *awjō (“floodplain; island”).
Noun[edit]
ey
Alternative forms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- English: ey
References[edit]
- “ei, n.(2).” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3[edit]
From Latin ei and Old French ahi, äi.
Interjection[edit]
ey
- An exclamation of surprise, challenge, or inquiry.
Alternative forms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- “ei, interj.” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 4[edit]
Adverb[edit]
ey
- Alternative form of ay (“always”)
Etymology 5[edit]
Noun[edit]
ey (plural eyen)
- Alternative form of eye (“eye”)
Etymology 6[edit]
Noun[edit]
ey (uncountable)
- Alternative form of eye (“fear; awe”)
- To have no ey for nought.
- c. 1470,, O lord omnipotent:
- Exhorting thy people to have a special ey, That thee to praise they never cease.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
Verb[edit]
ey
- to awe
Middle Welsh[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
ey
Old Norse[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Proto-Germanic *aiwaz m, *aiwō f (“long time, age, eternity”), itself from Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu ~ *h₂yéws.
Adverb[edit]
ey
Alternative forms[edit]
References[edit]
- ey1 in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Etymology 2[edit]
From Proto-Germanic *awjō.
Noun[edit]
ey f (genitive eyjar, dative eyju, plural eyjar)
Declension[edit]
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- ey2 in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Portuguese[edit]
Verb[edit]
ey
- Obsolete spelling of hei
Somali[edit]
Etymology[edit]
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
èy m (plural éy or eyo f)
Spanish[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Interjection[edit]
¡ey!
Related terms[edit]
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with quotations
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with homophones
- English pronouns
- English terms with rare senses
- English third person pronouns
- en:Fear
- en:Gender
- Azerbaijani lemmas
- Azerbaijani interjections
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Turkish
- German terms derived from English
- German 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German interjections
- German colloquialisms
- Icelandic terms derived from Old Norse
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- Icelandic 1-syllable words
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- Icelandic lemmas
- Icelandic nouns
- Icelandic feminine nouns
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- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
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- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
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- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Middle English doublets
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- Middle English verbs
- enm:Eggs
- enm:Food and drink
- enm:Poultry
- enm:Landforms
- Middle Welsh terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle Welsh non-lemma forms
- Middle Welsh verb forms
- Old Norse terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old Norse terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old Norse lemmas
- Old Norse adverbs
- Old Norse terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old Norse nouns
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- non:Landforms
- Portuguese non-lemma forms
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- so:Mammals
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