aye
adverbinterjectionverbnouninterjectioninterjectioninterjectioncommon in dialogue
- New Zealand/[æe̯]/
- //eɪ//
- //aɪ//
Yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question.
adverb
- 1
archaicEver, always.
[…]Do that good miſcheefe, which may make this Iſland / Thine owne for euer, and I thy Caliban, / For aye thy foot-licker.
The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, / And southward aye we fled.
Let the Amen sound from His people again; / Gladly for aye we adore Him.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- Proto-Indo-European *-u Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu Proto-Indo-European *-osinflu. Proto-Germanic *aiwazder. Old Norse eyder. Middle English ay English aye From Middle English ay, ai, aȝȝ, from Old Norse ei, ey, from Proto-Germanic *aiwa, *aiwō (“ever, always”), from *aiwaz (“age; law”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“long time”). Doublet of aeviternity and aevum. See also Old English āwo, āwa, ā, ō, Middle Dutch ie, German je; also Old English ǣ(w) (“law”), West Frisian ieu (“century”), Dutch eeuw (“century”); also Irish aois (“age, period”), Breton oad (“age, period”), Latin aevum (“eternity”), Ancient Greek αἰών (aiṓn).
interjection
- 1
Yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question.
Tro[ylus]. Haue I not tarried? Pan[darus]. I the grinding; but you muſt tarry the boulting. Troy. Haue I not tarried? Paude.^([sic]) I the boulting; but you muſt tarry the leauening. Troy. Still haue I tarried. Pan. I, to the leauening, but heares yet in the word hereafter, the kneading, […]
david: […] Will he surely give him his daughter? The daughter of his house in Gilgal? soldier: Aye, surely he will.
- 2
A word used to acknowledge a command from a superior, usually preceded by a verbatim repeat-back.
Etymology
"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. Compare Faroese ája (“certainly, ah yes”). More at oh, yea. Online Etymology Dictionary also with these posits a possible descent from I (as if clipped from e.g. "I assent").
verb
- 1
To respond with an "aye".
The men ayed their agreement.
noun
- 1
An affirmative vote; one who votes in the affirmative.
to call for the ayes and nays
The ayes have it.
interjection
- 1
Variant of ayAlternative spelling of ay (question tag).
interjection
- 1
Used in aye aye.
- 2
Variant of ayAlternative spelling of ay: expressing anger, alarm, frustration, pain, etc.
Iſt’s der? Keine Antwort? — Er iſt’s! Reinhold? Reinhold’, der boͤſe Feind jagt dich parforce! Ey, ey, ey! Welch Skandal!
jonathan: Oh, peace! Thou art all mischief, Michal, Thou shouldst be married to a Philistine, for his undoing. michal: Ayeee! This David has come back to trouble us! Why didst not thou slay the Philistine, Jonathan?
"Aye, aye, aye," Federer said when he hit an uncharacteristically wayward shot when serving for the match, such were his comfort levels.
interjection
- 1
Variant of ehAlternative spelling of eh.
Forms
- plural
- ayes
- past tense
- ayed
- past participle
- ayed
- present participle
- ayeing, aying
- third person singular
- ayes
aye · Yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question.
Aye · A surname.Aziz · A male given name from Arabic.b · The second letter of the English alphabet, called bee and…