Contextualizebeta

ay

intj
/aɪ//ˈeɪ//eɪ/

Etymology

From Middle English ai, from Old Norse ei, from Proto-Germanic *aiwaz (“eternity, age”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“vitality”); cognate with Old English ā, Ancient Greek ἀεί (aeí, “always”), and Latin aevum (“an age”).

  1. derived from *h₂eyu-✻
  2. derived from *aiwaz✻
  3. derived from ei
  4. inherited from ai

Definitions

  1. Ah! alas! Expressing anger, alarm, frustration, pain, etc.

  2. Expressing earnestness, surprise, wonder, etc.

    • Ay my word! I am glad to see you.
    • Ay! bonny little buttercup, what are ta dewin’ heear, / Hoddin’ up thi tiny heead, this raw, cowd time o’ t’year?

  3. Used in ay, ay.

  4. ›+ 6 more definitions

    1. Alternative spelling of aye (“yes”).

      • "Good morrow to thee, jolly fellow," quoth Robin; "thou seemest happy this merry morn." "Ay, that am I," quoth the jolly Butcher; "and why should I not be so?[…]"
      • I swear also that I will honour and will cherish thee, Kallikrates, who hast been swept by the wave of time back into my arms, ay, till the very end, come it soon or late.

    2. Always

      Always; ever; continually; for an indefinite time.

      • O he that hath ay lived free, …

    3. Alternative form of a

      Alternative form of a: the name of the Latin script letter A/a.

      • It said, in a whispering, buzzing voice, "Gee-you-ess-ess-ay-dash-em-ee-ar-ar-wye-dash-em-eye-en-gee-oh-dash-pee-eye-pee-dash-pee-ee-ar-ar-wye-dash-pee-eye-en-gee-oh."
      • ETA [is spoken] as "ee-tee-ay" instead of "I SPELL Echo Tango Alfa".

    4. New Zealand spelling of eh (question tag).

      • For example, New Zealanders tended to say "ay" at the end of sentences, but in the Asian community people used different tags to check whether people were still listening.

    5. All right (inter)

      All right (inter); hooray (inter); cool (inter).

    6. Initialism of academic year.

The neighborhood

Derived

ay, chihuahua, ay me

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for ay. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA