dey

See also: Dey, để ý, and deþ

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /deɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Homophone: day

Etymology 1

From Middle English deye, deie, daie, from Old English dǣġe (“maker of bread; baker; dairy-maid”), from Proto-West Germanic *daigijā, from Proto-Germanic *daigijǭ (“kneader of bread, maid”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to knead, form, build”). Cognate with Swedish deja, Icelandic deigja (“dairy-maid”); compare dairy, dough, lady.

Alternative forms

• daie, deie, deye

Noun

dey (plural deys)

1. (UK dialectal, Scotland) A servant who has charge of the dairy; a dairymaid.

Related terms

• dairy
• lady

Etymology 2

From French dey, from Ottoman Turkish دایی (modern Turkish dayı).

Noun

dey (plural deys)

1. (historical) The ruler of the Regency of Algiers (now Algeria) under the Ottoman Empire.
   • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 29:

     […] the reigning Dey of Algiers (half of whose twenty-eight predecessors are said to have met violent ends) lost his temper with the French consul, struck him in the face with a fly-whisk, and called him ‘a wicked, faithless, idol-worshipping rascal’.

Etymology 3

Pronoun

dey

1. Pronunciation spelling of they, representing dialects with th-stopping in English.
2. Pronunciation spelling of there, representing African American Vernacular English or Caribbean English.
   • 2012, G. Modele Dale Clarke, Up in Mahaica: Stories from the Market People (ebook), Xlibris:

     “Boy, is horrors over dey, for so,” he said, obviously excited and anxious to be the bearer of extraordinary news. “Wat happen, somebody dead?”

Etymology 4

From Tamil டேய் (“hey!”).

Alternative forms

• deh, dei

Pronunciation

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): [ˈde(ː)]

Interjection

dey

1. (Singlish, Manglish) An informal Tamil-language term of address used when trying to get someone's attention.
   • 2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 46:

     Dey! Did you press the lift button? What? You have pressed the button for the tenth time?

   • 2007 September 10, Sandra Leong, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited, →OCLC, page 6:

     If a player makes a silly mistake, he doesn’t wail when told to “wake up lah, dey”.

Usage notes

Only commonly used by the younger generation and Tamil speakers; may be considered rude or disrespectful when used with strangers.

References

• “dey”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “dey”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• Dye, d'ye, dye, ye'd, yed

Cameroon Pidgin

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de/

Etymology 1

From English there.

Predicative

dey

1. there is, there are, indicates presence in a location

Alternative forms

• deiy

See also

• na (copula for noun phrases, indicating existence)

Etymology 2

From English they.

Pronoun

dey

1. they, 3rd person plural subject personal pronoun

See also

Cameroonian Pidgin personal pronouns

Subject personal pronouns
		singular	plural
1st person		I	we, wu
2nd person		you	wuna
3rd person		i	dey
Object and topic personal pronouns
1st person		me	we
2nd person		you	wuna
3rd person		yi, -am	dem, -am

Etymology 3

From English day.

Noun

dey

1. day

Alternative forms

• dei

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دایی (dayı), from Persian دایی (dâyi, “maternal uncle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛj/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

dey m (plural deys)

1. dey (ruler of the Regency of Algiers)

Further reading

• “dey”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English they, adjusted to German phonology and suppleted with plural forms of demonstrative pronoun die.

dem, demm are borrowed from English them.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛɪ̯/

Pronoun

dey

1. (neologism) they (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun.

Declension

• Nominative: dey
• Accusative: demm or dey or dem (with a short vowel)
• Dative: denen or demm or dem (with a short vowel)
• Genitive: deren
• Possessive: deren

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teiː/
• Rhymes: -eiː

Verb

dey

1. inflection of deyja:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دایی (dayı), from Persian دایی (dâyi, “maternal uncle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛj/
• Rhymes: -ɛj

Noun

dey m (invariable)

1. dey (ruler of the Regency of Algiers)

Kalasha

Etymology

From Persian ده (deh).

Noun

dey

1. village

   Synonym: grom

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

dey

1. Alternative form of day

Etymology 2

Pronoun

dey

1. Alternative form of þei (“they”)

Etymology 3

Noun

dey

1. Alternative form of dee

Nigerian Pidgin

Alternative forms

• deh

Etymology

From Igbo dị.

Verb

dey

1. to be
   • (Can we date this quote?), Zanele Buthelezi, Thembani Dladla, Clare Verbeek, “Count animals”, in Storybooks African Languages‎^[1]:

     One elephant dey go drink water.

     One elephant is going to drink water.

Old Norse

Verb

dey

1. inflection of deyja:
   1. first-person singular present active indicative
   2. second-person singular present active imperative

Sranan Tongo

Noun

dey

1. Alternative spelling of dei.

Yola

Noun

dey

1. Alternative form of die (“day”)
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 84:

     Ch'am a stouk, an a donel; wou'll leigh out ee dey.

     I am a fool and a dunce; we'll idle out the day.

   • 1867, “DR. RUSSELL ON THE INHABITANTS AND DIALECT OF THE BARONY OF FORTH”, in APPENDIX, page 131:

     Fad didn'st thou cum t' ouz on zum other dey?

     [Why didn't you come to us on some other day?]

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867

Zaghawa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dey/

Noun

dey

1. foot, leg
2. footstep

References

• Beria-English English-Beria Dictionary [provisional] ADESK, Iriba, Kobe Department, Chad