voys

Middle English

Alternative forms

• vois, voice, voyce, voysce, voyse, voise, voyz, voix, voce, veys, vaise, voyes

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman voiz, voys, veys, from Latin vōx, from Proto-Indo-European *wṓkʷs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vui̯s/, /vɔi̯s/
• (dialectal) IPA^(key): /voːs/, /væi̯s/

Noun

voys (plural voyses)

1. A voice (sound made with the mouth):
   1. The voice of a particular person.
   2. A particular type of voice.
      • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[1], published c. 1410, Apocalips 12:10, page 121v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

        ⁊ I herde a greet vois in heuene .· ſeiynge / now is maad helþe ⁊ vertu ⁊ kyngdom of oure god .· ⁊ þe power of his criſt / foꝛ þe accuſere of oure bꝛiþeren is caſt doun .· which accuſide hem bifoꝛe þe ſiȝt of oure god · dai ⁊ nyȝt

        And I heard a powerful voice in Heaven, saying: "Now health, power, the kingdom of our God, and the might of his Christ have been established, because the accuser of our brothers is hurled down, who criticised them day and night."

      • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[2], published c. 1410, Apocalips 14:15, page 122r, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

        ⁊ an oþer aungel wente out of þe temple .· ⁊ criede wiþ greet vois to hym þat ſat on þe cloude / ſende þi ſikel ⁊ repe .· foꝛ þe our comeþ þat it be ropun. foꝛ þe coꝛn of þe erþe is ripe

        And another angel went out of the temple, and cried with a powerful voice to the one who sat on the cloud: "Take your sickle and reap, as the hour it should be reaped is coming; the harvest of the Earth is ripe!"

   3. The sound made by a certain kind of talking.
   4. The speech faculty; one's capability to make sound.
   5. The vocal organs.
2. An utterance; the use of one's voice:
   1. A sentence (especially a maxim or byword)
   2. A prayer (entreaty to a deity).
3. A particular sound or noise:
   1. A musical sound; a tune, note, or musical piece or a kind of one.
   2. The sound an animal makes or their capability to make it.
4. Intent, preference (What a person or people want):
   1. A vote (cast by an individual).
   2. One's decision-making ability.
5. A speech variety (language or dialect)
6. (grammar) Grammatical voice; the relation a verb or noun has to the subject.
7. (figurative) One's repute or fame.
8. (figurative) A revelator or opiner; someone with a view or information.
9. (rare) The concept which a word denotes.

Derived terms

• voysen

Descendants

• English: voice
• Scots: voice, vice, vyce
• Yola: vice

References

• “voice, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-01.

Middle French

Verb

voys

1. third-person singular present indicative of veoyr