hay

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See also: Hay, hãy, and haþ

English[edit]

A Romanian haycock

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English hey, from Old English hīeġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hawi, from Proto-Germanic *hawją (compare West Frisian hea, Dutch hooi, German Heu, Norwegian høy), from *hawwaną (“to hew, cut down”). More at hew.

Noun[edit]

hay (countable and uncountable, plural hays)

  1. (uncountable) Grass cut and dried for use as animal fodder.
    • 1605, M. N. [pseudonym; William Camden], Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine, […], London: […] G[eorge] E[ld] for Simon Waterson, →OCLC:
      Make hay while sunne shines.
    • 1857, Charles Louis Flint, Grasses and Forage Plants: A Practical Treatise, […] :
      Hay may be dried too much as well as too little.
  2. (countable) Any mix of green leafy plants used for fodder.
  3. (slang) Cannabis; marijuana.
    • 1947, William Burroughs, letter, 19 Feb 1947:
      I would like some of that hay. Enclose $20.
    • 1994, “Bug Powder Dust”, performed by Bomb the Bass:
      Jeff Spicoli, roll me another hay
  4. A net set around the haunt of an animal, especially a rabbit.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
Further reading[edit]

Verb[edit]

hay (third-person singular simple present hays, present participle haying, simple past and past participle hayed)

  1. To cut grasses or herb plants for use as animal fodder.
  2. To lay snares for rabbits.
Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

hay (plural hays)

  1. (obsolete) A hedge.
  2. (obsolete) A net placed around the lair or burrow of an animal.
  3. (obsolete) An enclosure, haw.
  4. (obsolete) A circular country dance.

Etymology 3[edit]

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.

Noun[edit]

hay (plural hays)

  1. The letter for the h sound in Pitman shorthand.
Related terms[edit]
  • aitch, the Latin letter for this sound

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Lushootseed[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

hay

  1. to know

Malagasy[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Interjection[edit]

hay

  1. truly!, indeed!

Etymology 2[edit]

Participle[edit]

hay

  1. possible
  2. known

Etymology 3[edit]

Noun[edit]

hay

  1. (dialectal) burning

Etymology 4[edit]

Adjective[edit]

hay

  1. (of land) exposed, bare

Etymology 5[edit]

Noun[edit]

hay

  1. (Tankarana) an insect which damages rice crops

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Noun[edit]

hay (plural hayes)

  1. Alternative form of haye (“net”)

Etymology 2[edit]

Interjection[edit]

hay

  1. Alternative form of hey (“hey”)

Etymology 3[edit]

Noun[edit]

hay (uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of hey (“hay”)

Etymology 4[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

hay

  1. Alternative form of he (“they”)

Etymology 5[edit]

Noun[edit]

hay

  1. Alternative form of heye (“hedge”)

Etymology 6[edit]

Verb[edit]

hay

  1. Alternative form of haven (“to have”)

Middle French[edit]

Verb[edit]

hay

  1. first-person singular present indicative of hayr

Somali[edit]

Verb[edit]

hay

  1. to hold, have

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Spanish ha ý (“it has there”) (compare Catalan hi ha and French il y a), from ha, third-person singular present of aver (“to have”), + ý (locative pronoun, compare modern French y and Catalan hi), from Latin ibī (“there”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

hay

  1. third-person singular present indicative of haber
    there is, there are
    Hay dos tiendas que venden películas.
    There are two stores that sell films.

Derived terms[edit]

Tagalog[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Compare Hokkien 害矣 (hāi--ah).

Interjection[edit]

hay (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜌ᜔)

  1. Alternative form of ay
  2. an expression of fatigue, exhaustion, grief, sorrow, frustration, or the like: sigh
    Hay... Antok na ako!
    Sigh... I'm sleepy already!
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

hay (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜌ᜔)

  1. (obsolete) act of frighting or startling a dog
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Borrowed from English high.

Adjective[edit]

hay (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜌ᜔)

  1. (slang) high on drugs; drugged
    Synonyms: sabog, basag, bogsa

Further reading[edit]

Vietnamese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Cognate with Arem hɪː ("to understand").

Verb[edit]

hay • (咍, 𫨩, 台, 能)

  1. (archaic or literary) to know; to get to know; to learn
    • 15th century, Nguyễn Trãi, “歸崑山重九偶作 Quy côn sơn trùng cửu ngẫu tác”, in Quốc âm thi tập (國音詩集):
      𣈜恪咍兠群役恪
      節冷馬女底朱戈
      Ngày khác hay đâu còn việc khác,
      Tiết lành mựa nỡ để cho qua.
      Who knows on a different day if I would be busy or not,
      [So] I would rather not miss out on this nice weather [right now].
    • 1820, Nguyễn Du (阮攸), Đoạn trường tân thanh (Truyện Kiều)‎[1]:
      𬖉𦋦𦰟𦹵𦲿核
      𧡊囂囂𱢻時能姉𧗱
      Trông ra ngọn cỏ lá cây,
      Thấy hiu hiu gió thì hay chị về.
      And when you look outside, to where the grass and leaves are,
      And if you see them sway in the light breeze, then you know that I, your sister, will come home soon.
    • 2018 January 22, Viễn Sự, Sơn Lâm, “Trẻ con lai ở miền Tây: Con không cha như nhà không nóc [The mixed children in Southwestern Vietnam: a fatherless child is like a roofless house]”, in Tuổi Trẻ Online‎[2]:
      Hồi mẹ nó ẵm về nước, bà nội nó nói mua cho cái vé khứ hồi, tới hồi ra sân bay về lại Hàn Quốc thì mới hay cái vé đi có một chiều.
      When his mother carried him in her arms back to Vietnam, his paternal grandmother said they had bought a return ticket for her, but she realised it was only a one-way ticket when she was at the airport, trying to return to Korea.
  2. (‘hay’ + verb) to have a habit of (doing something)
    Ai hay vẽ rồi sẽ vẽ hay.
    Who draws habitually will draw well.
    Con hay nói nhiều lắm.
    You, child, have a habit of talking too much / You, child, are talkative.
Usage notes[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms

Etymology 2[edit]

Adjective[edit]

hay • (咍, 𫨩, 台)

  1. good, as in useful, inventive, interesting or entertaining; compare tốt (good as in high-quality, skillful or ethical)
    Antonyms: dở, tệ, tồi
    ý hay ― a good idea
    Phim hay quá ha !
    That was a great movie!
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms

Adverb[edit]

hay • (𫨩)

  1. well
    Antonyms: dở, tệ, tồi
    Ai hay vẽ rồi sẽ vẽ hay.
    Who draws habitually will draw well.

Etymology 3[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

hay • (咍, 台, 能)

  1. or
    Chọn cái này, hay chọn cái kia
    Choose this one, or choose that one
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms
See also[edit]

Walloon[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

hay

  1. go, let us go

Yola[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

hay

  1. Alternative form of hea (“he”)
    • 1927, “LAMENT OF A WIDOW”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, line 6:
      "Hay was mee gude plowere,
      "He was my good plougher,

References[edit]

  • Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 130
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