See ay in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "ay, chihuahua"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "ay me"
}
],
"etymology_number": 1,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "ei,ej,ey,eye"
},
"expansion": "Middle English ei, ej, ey, eye",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"title": "imitative"
},
"expansion": "imitative",
"name": "onomatopoeic"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "xno,fro",
"2": "ahi"
},
"expansion": "Anglo-Norman and Old French ahi",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "fro",
"2": "haï"
},
"expansion": "Old French haï",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "frm",
"2": "aï,aïe,ay"
},
"expansion": "Middle French aï, aïe, ay",
"name": "cog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Middle English ei, ej, ey, eye, ultimately imitative of the natural utterance, although probably also influenced by Anglo-Norman and Old French ahi, Old French haï, and Middle French aï, aïe, ay.",
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "ay oop"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "ay up"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "ay up me duck"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
204,
206
]
],
"ref": "1559, Lucius, Anneus, Seneca, translated by Iasper Heywood, “The Preface to the Tragedye”, in The Sixt Tragedie of the Most Graue and Prudent Author Lucius, Anneus, Seneca, Entituled Troas, […], London: […] Richard Tottyll, →OCLC, signature [A5], verso:",
"text": "And ſuch as yet, coulde neuer weapon wꝛeſt, / But on the lappe are woont to dandled be, / Ne yet foꝛgotten had the mothers bꝛeſt, / How greekes them ſlew, alas here ſhall ye ſe, / To make repoꝛte therof, ay woe is me, / My ſong is miſchiefe, murder miſerye.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Ah! alas! Expressing anger, alarm, frustration, pain, etc."
],
"id": "en-ay-en-intj-iUCTt9nI",
"links": [
[
"Ah",
"ah"
],
[
"alas",
"alas"
],
[
"anger",
"anger#English"
],
[
"alarm",
"alarm#English"
],
[
"frustration",
"frustration#English"
],
[
"pain",
"pain#English"
]
],
"related": [
{
"tags": [
"alternative"
],
"word": "aie"
},
{
"tags": [
"alternative"
],
"word": "aye"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Northern England English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Scottish English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "22 6 18 1 13 25 5 9 1",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "22 4 17 1 14 24 8 8 1",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English heteronyms",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "20 74 6",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English onomatopoeias",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
0,
2
]
],
"ref": "1863, Mrs. Toogood, Specimens of the Yorkshire Dialect; quoted in “Ay (ēⁱ), int.”, in James A[ugustus] H[enry] Murray [et al.], editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, 1884–1928, →OCLC, page 601, column 2:",
"text": "Ay my word! I am glad to see you.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
110,
112
]
],
"ref": "1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 137:",
"text": "Under the strain of this continually impending doom and by the sleeplessness to which I now condemned myself, ay, even beyond what I had thought possible to man, I became, in my own person, a creature eaten up and emptied by fever, languidly weak both in body and mind, and solely occupied by one thought: the horror of my other self.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
0,
2
]
],
"ref": "1888 December 9, Æthelbert [Binns], “Thoughts in Verse. On Finding a Buttercup.”, in The Keighley News, Keighley, West Yorkshire, published 16 March 1889, →OCLC, page 7, column 7:",
"text": "Ay! bonny little buttercup, what are ta dewin’ heear, / Hoddin’ up thi tiny heead, this raw, cowd time o’ t’year?",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
1,
3
]
],
"ref": "1917 December 29, “Mary Maxwell; or, The Shadow on the Manse”, in The People’s Journal, Dundee, →OCLC, page 6, column 3:",
"text": "“Ay, I’m glad he’s going to be mairrit,” he said a few minutes later as he sat in the manse kitchen.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
0,
2
]
],
"ref": "1930 January 4, Northern Weekly Gazette, Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, →OCLC, page 21, column 3:",
"text": "AY BY GUM. They’ve summat to put up wi’ hez t’ tram conductors, especially wheer t’ swells lives.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
0,
2
]
],
"ref": "2011, Cynthia B. Huntington, “Full Circle”, in Through Her Eyes: An Infidel’s Perspective […], [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 88:",
"text": "Ay, lass, you’ve ruined your chances now. When you left for New York to become a Pan Am stewardess we thought you’d got it made.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Expressing earnestness, surprise, wonder, etc."
],
"id": "en-ay-en-intj-q-0rKcBY",
"links": [
[
"earnestness",
"earnestness#English"
],
[
"surprise",
"surprise#English"
],
[
"wonder",
"wonder#English"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(now chiefly Northern England and Scotland) Expressing earnestness, surprise, wonder, etc."
],
"tags": [
"Northern-England",
"Scotland"
]
},
{
"glosses": [
"Used in ay, ay."
],
"id": "en-ay-en-intj-dzL7tfpt",
"links": [
[
"ay, ay",
"aye aye#English"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/aɪ/"
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ay.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/85/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay.wav.mp3",
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},
{
"rhymes": "-aɪ"
},
{
"homophone": "aye"
},
{
"homophone": "eye"
},
{
"homophone": "I"
}
],
"word": "ay"
}
{
"etymology_number": 2,
"etymology_text": "See aye.",
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"senses": [
{
"alt_of": [
{
"extra": "yes",
"word": "aye"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Mid-Ulster English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "22 6 18 1 13 25 5 9 1",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "22 4 17 1 14 24 8 8 1",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English heteronyms",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
89,
91
]
],
"ref": "1883, Howard Pyle, “Robin Hood Turns Butcher”, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC, part second, page 48:",
"text": "\"Good morrow to thee, jolly fellow,\" quoth Robin; \"thou seemest happy this merry morn.\"\n\"Ay, that am I,\" quoth the jolly Butcher; \"and why should I not be so?[…]\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
127,
129
]
],
"ref": "1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “The Spirit of Life”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 284:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Alternative spelling of aye (“yes”)."
],
"id": "en-ay-en-intj-HdxPe4qc",
"links": [
[
"aye",
"aye#English"
]
],
"qualifier": "others",
"raw_glosses": [
"(Mid-Ulster, others) Alternative spelling of aye (“yes”)."
],
"tags": [
"alt-of",
"alternative"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/aɪ/"
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ay.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/85/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay.wav.mp3",
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},
{
"rhymes": "-aɪ"
},
{
"homophone": "aye"
},
{
"homophone": "eye"
},
{
"homophone": "I"
}
],
"word": "ay"
}
{
"etymology_number": 2,
"etymology_text": "See aye.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "ays",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "ay (plural ays)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"alt_of": [
{
"extra": "yes",
"word": "aye"
}
],
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
13,
16
]
],
"text": "counting the ays and the noes in a vote",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Alternative spelling of aye (“yes”)."
],
"id": "en-ay-en-noun-HdxPe4qc",
"links": [
[
"aye",
"aye#English"
]
],
"tags": [
"alt-of",
"alternative"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/aɪ/"
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ay.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/85/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay.wav.mp3",
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},
{
"rhymes": "-aɪ"
},
{
"homophone": "aye"
},
{
"homophone": "eye"
},
{
"homophone": "I"
}
],
"word": "ay"
}
{
"etymology_number": 3,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "ai"
},
"expansion": "Middle English ai",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "non",
"3": "ei"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse ei",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*aiwaz",
"4": "",
"5": "eternity, age"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *aiwaz (“eternity, age”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*h₂eyu-",
"4": "",
"5": "vitality"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“vitality”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "ā"
},
"expansion": "Old English ā",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "grc",
"2": "ἀεί",
"3": "",
"4": "always"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek ἀεί (aeí, “always”)",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "aevum",
"3": "",
"4": "an age"
},
"expansion": "Latin aevum (“an age”)",
"name": "cog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "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”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "aye",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "ay (not comparable)",
"name": "en-adv"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adv",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Northern England English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Scottish English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "22 6 18 1 13 25 5 9 1",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "22 4 17 1 14 24 8 8 1",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English heteronyms",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "ay-green"
},
{
"word": "forever and ay"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1670, John Barbour, The Acts and Life of the most victorious Conquerour Robert Bruce King of Scotland, as cited in 1860, Thomas Corser, Collectanea Anglo-poetica, page 160",
"text": "O he that hath ay lived free, …"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Always; ever; continually; for an indefinite time."
],
"id": "en-ay-en-adv-YnK387uL",
"links": [
[
"Always",
"always"
],
[
"ever",
"ever"
],
[
"continually",
"continually"
],
[
"indefinite",
"indefinite"
],
[
"time",
"time"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(archaic, poetic or Northern England or Scotland) Always; ever; continually; for an indefinite time."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "always"
},
{
"word": "continually"
},
{
"word": "forever"
}
],
"tags": [
"Northern-England",
"Scotland",
"archaic",
"not-comparable",
"poetic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈeɪ/"
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ay2.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay2.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay2.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay2.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay2.wav.ogg"
},
{
"audio": "Eh-sound.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e3/Eh-sound.ogg/Eh-sound.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Eh-sound.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-eɪ"
},
{
"homophone": "A"
},
{
"homophone": "a"
},
{
"homophone": "eh"
}
],
"word": "ay"
}
{
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Rohingya",
"lang_code": "rhg",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"word": "ee"
},
{
"lang": "Tagalog",
"lang_code": "tl",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"word": "ey"
}
],
"etymology_number": 4,
"forms": [
{
"form": "ays",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "s"
},
"expansion": "ay (plural ays)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"alt_of": [
{
"extra": "the name of the Latin-script letter A/a",
"word": "a"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with redundant script codes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Latin letter names",
"orig": "en:Latin letter names",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
58,
60
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],
"ref": "2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170:",
"text": "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.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2016 CCEB, Communications Instructions Radiotelephone Procedures: ACP125 (G), p. 3-5",
"text": "ETA [is spoken] as \"ee-tee-ay\" instead of \"I SPELL Echo Tango Alfa\"."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Alternative form of a: the name of the Latin-script letter A/a."
],
"id": "en-ay-en-noun-MQirhHZg",
"links": [
[
"a",
"a#English"
],
[
"A",
"A#English"
]
],
"tags": [
"alt-of",
"alternative"
]
}
],
"word": "ay"
}
{
"etymology_number": 5,
"forms": [
{
"form": "aye",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "New Zealand English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "16 6 15 4 11 21 16 9 3",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English 2-letter words",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "22 6 18 1 13 25 5 9 1",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "22 4 17 1 14 24 8 8 1",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English heteronyms",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
39,
41
],
[
43,
45
]
],
"ref": "2013 November 13, “Surprising changes in the way Aucklanders speak”, in Stuff:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"New Zealand spelling of eh (question tag)."
],
"id": "en-ay-en-intj-tpQ0jI7k",
"links": [
[
"eh",
"eh#English"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/eɪ/"
},
{
"ipa": "[æe̯]",
"tags": [
"New-Zealand"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ay2.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay2.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-ay2.wav.mp3",
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},
{
"rhymes": "-eɪ"
},
{
"homophone": "A"
},
{
"homophone": "eh"
}
],
"word": "ay"
}
{
"etymology_number": 6,
"etymology_text": "Origin uncertain; possibly related to eh and hey; popularized by a catch phrase in a 1970s sitcom.",
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English links with manual fragments",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"glosses": [
"All right (inter); hooray (inter); cool (inter)."
],
"id": "en-ay-en-intj-9BrEEHpc",
"links": [
[
"All right",
"all right#Interjection"
],
[
"hooray",
"hooray#Interjection"
],
[
"cool",
"cool#Interjection"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/eɪ/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-eɪ"
},
{
"homophone": "A"
},
{
"homophone": "a"
},
{
"homophone": "eh"
}
],
"word": "ay"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 2-letter words",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
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"Rhymes:English/aɪ/1 syllable",
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"Rhymes:English/eɪ/1 syllable",
"zag:Metals"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "ay, chihuahua"
},
{
"word": "ay me"
}
],
"etymology_number": 1,
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{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "ei,ej,ey,eye"
},
"expansion": "Middle English ei, ej, ey, eye",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"title": "imitative"
},
"expansion": "imitative",
"name": "onomatopoeic"
},
{
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"name": "cog"
},
{
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"1": "fro",
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},
{
"args": {
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"2": "aï,aïe,ay"
},
"expansion": "Middle French aï, aïe, ay",
"name": "cog"
}
],
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"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"related": [
{
"word": "ay oop"
},
{
"word": "ay up"
},
{
"word": "ay up me duck"
}
],
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{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
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{
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206
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"ref": "1559, Lucius, Anneus, Seneca, translated by Iasper Heywood, “The Preface to the Tragedye”, in The Sixt Tragedie of the Most Graue and Prudent Author Lucius, Anneus, Seneca, Entituled Troas, […], London: […] Richard Tottyll, →OCLC, signature [A5], verso:",
"text": "And ſuch as yet, coulde neuer weapon wꝛeſt, / But on the lappe are woont to dandled be, / Ne yet foꝛgotten had the mothers bꝛeſt, / How greekes them ſlew, alas here ſhall ye ſe, / To make repoꝛte therof, ay woe is me, / My ſong is miſchiefe, murder miſerye.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Ah! alas! Expressing anger, alarm, frustration, pain, etc."
],
"links": [
[
"Ah",
"ah"
],
[
"alas",
"alas"
],
[
"anger",
"anger#English"
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[
"alarm",
"alarm#English"
],
[
"frustration",
"frustration#English"
],
[
"pain",
"pain#English"
]
],
"related": [
{
"tags": [
"alternative"
],
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},
{
"tags": [
"alternative"
],
"word": "aye"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"Northern England English",
"Scottish English"
],
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{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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"ref": "1863, Mrs. Toogood, Specimens of the Yorkshire Dialect; quoted in “Ay (ēⁱ), int.”, in James A[ugustus] H[enry] Murray [et al.], editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, 1884–1928, →OCLC, page 601, column 2:",
"text": "Ay my word! I am glad to see you.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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110,
112
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],
"ref": "1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 137:",
"text": "Under the strain of this continually impending doom and by the sleeplessness to which I now condemned myself, ay, even beyond what I had thought possible to man, I became, in my own person, a creature eaten up and emptied by fever, languidly weak both in body and mind, and solely occupied by one thought: the horror of my other self.",
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{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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"ref": "1888 December 9, Æthelbert [Binns], “Thoughts in Verse. On Finding a Buttercup.”, in The Keighley News, Keighley, West Yorkshire, published 16 March 1889, →OCLC, page 7, column 7:",
"text": "Ay! bonny little buttercup, what are ta dewin’ heear, / Hoddin’ up thi tiny heead, this raw, cowd time o’ t’year?",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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1,
3
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"ref": "1917 December 29, “Mary Maxwell; or, The Shadow on the Manse”, in The People’s Journal, Dundee, →OCLC, page 6, column 3:",
"text": "“Ay, I’m glad he’s going to be mairrit,” he said a few minutes later as he sat in the manse kitchen.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
0,
2
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"ref": "1930 January 4, Northern Weekly Gazette, Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, →OCLC, page 21, column 3:",
"text": "AY BY GUM. They’ve summat to put up wi’ hez t’ tram conductors, especially wheer t’ swells lives.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
0,
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"ref": "2011, Cynthia B. Huntington, “Full Circle”, in Through Her Eyes: An Infidel’s Perspective […], [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 88:",
"text": "Ay, lass, you’ve ruined your chances now. When you left for New York to become a Pan Am stewardess we thought you’d got it made.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Expressing earnestness, surprise, wonder, etc."
],
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[
"earnestness",
"earnestness#English"
],
[
"surprise",
"surprise#English"
],
[
"wonder",
"wonder#English"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(now chiefly Northern England and Scotland) Expressing earnestness, surprise, wonder, etc."
],
"tags": [
"Northern-England",
"Scotland"
]
},
{
"glosses": [
"Used in ay, ay."
],
"links": [
[
"ay, ay",
"aye aye#English"
]
]
}
],
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"ipa": "/aɪ/"
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{
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"etymology_number": 2,
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{
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{
"extra": "yes",
"word": "aye"
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"ref": "1883, Howard Pyle, “Robin Hood Turns Butcher”, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC, part second, page 48:",
"text": "\"Good morrow to thee, jolly fellow,\" quoth Robin; \"thou seemest happy this merry morn.\"\n\"Ay, that am I,\" quoth the jolly Butcher; \"and why should I not be so?[…]\"",
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"ref": "1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “The Spirit of Life”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 284:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Alternative spelling of aye (“yes”)."
],
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[
"aye",
"aye#English"
]
],
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"(Mid-Ulster, others) Alternative spelling of aye (“yes”)."
],
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]
}
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{
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{
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{
"homophone": "eye"
},
{
"homophone": "I"
}
],
"word": "ay"
}
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"zag:Metals"
],
"etymology_number": 2,
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{
"form": "ays",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
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}
],
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13,
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"text": "counting the ays and the noes in a vote",
"type": "example"
}
],
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"Alternative spelling of aye (“yes”)."
],
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[
"aye",
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],
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]
}
],
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},
{
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},
{
"homophone": "aye"
},
{
"homophone": "eye"
},
{
"homophone": "I"
}
],
"word": "ay"
}
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"English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
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],
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{
"word": "ay-green"
},
{
"word": "forever and ay"
}
],
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{
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"2": "enm",
"3": "ai"
},
"expansion": "Middle English ai",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "non",
"3": "ei"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse ei",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*aiwaz",
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"5": "eternity, age"
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"name": "der"
},
{
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},
{
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},
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},
{
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"1": "grc",
"2": "ἀεί",
"3": "",
"4": "always"
},
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"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "aevum",
"3": "",
"4": "an age"
},
"expansion": "Latin aevum (“an age”)",
"name": "cog"
}
],
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{
"form": "aye",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
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{
"args": {
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},
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{
"categories": [
"English poetic terms",
"English terms with archaic senses",
"Northern England English",
"Scottish English"
],
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{
"ref": "1670, John Barbour, The Acts and Life of the most victorious Conquerour Robert Bruce King of Scotland, as cited in 1860, Thomas Corser, Collectanea Anglo-poetica, page 160",
"text": "O he that hath ay lived free, …"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Always; ever; continually; for an indefinite time."
],
"links": [
[
"Always",
"always"
],
[
"ever",
"ever"
],
[
"continually",
"continually"
],
[
"indefinite",
"indefinite"
],
[
"time",
"time"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(archaic, poetic or Northern England or Scotland) Always; ever; continually; for an indefinite time."
],
"tags": [
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"Scotland",
"archaic",
"not-comparable",
"poetic"
]
}
],
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},
{
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},
{
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"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Eh-sound.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-eɪ"
},
{
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},
{
"homophone": "a"
},
{
"homophone": "eh"
}
],
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"word": "always"
},
{
"word": "continually"
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{
"word": "forever"
}
],
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],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Rohingya",
"lang_code": "rhg",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
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},
{
"lang": "Tagalog",
"lang_code": "tl",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
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}
],
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{
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"plural"
]
}
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{
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"extra": "the name of the Latin-script letter A/a",
"word": "a"
}
],
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"English terms with redundant script codes",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned",
"en:Latin letter names"
],
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{
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],
"ref": "2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170:",
"text": "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.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2016 CCEB, Communications Instructions Radiotelephone Procedures: ACP125 (G), p. 3-5",
"text": "ETA [is spoken] as \"ee-tee-ay\" instead of \"I SPELL Echo Tango Alfa\"."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Alternative form of a: the name of the Latin-script letter A/a."
],
"links": [
[
"a",
"a#English"
],
[
"A",
"A#English"
]
],
"tags": [
"alt-of",
"alternative"
]
}
],
"word": "ay"
}
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}
],
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"lang_code": "en",
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{
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"New Zealand English"
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{
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39,
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43,
45
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],
"ref": "2013 November 13, “Surprising changes in the way Aucklanders speak”, in Stuff:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"New Zealand spelling of eh (question tag)."
],
"links": [
[
"eh",
"eh#English"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/eɪ/"
},
{
"ipa": "[æe̯]",
"tags": [
"New-Zealand"
]
},
{
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},
{
"rhymes": "-eɪ"
},
{
"homophone": "A"
},
{
"homophone": "eh"
}
],
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}
{
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"zag:Metals"
],
"etymology_number": 6,
"etymology_text": "Origin uncertain; possibly related to eh and hey; popularized by a catch phrase in a 1970s sitcom.",
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English links with manual fragments"
],
"glosses": [
"All right (inter); hooray (inter); cool (inter)."
],
"links": [
[
"All right",
"all right#Interjection"
],
[
"hooray",
"hooray#Interjection"
],
[
"cool",
"cool#Interjection"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/eɪ/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-eɪ"
},
{
"homophone": "A"
},
{
"homophone": "a"
},
{
"homophone": "eh"
}
],
"word": "ay"
}
Download raw JSONL data for ay meaning in English (16.7kB)
{
"called_from": "form_descriptions/1831",
"msg": "unrecognized sense qualifier: Mid-Ulster, others",
"path": [
"ay"
],
"section": "English",
"subsection": "interjection",
"title": "ay",
"trace": ""
}
{
"called_from": "form_descriptions/1831",
"msg": "unrecognized sense qualifier: Mid-Ulster, others",
"path": [
"ay"
],
"section": "English",
"subsection": "interjection",
"title": "ay",
"trace": ""
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (f492ef9 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.