aye

adv

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 ævum (“eternity”), Ancient Greek αἰών (aiṓn).

1. Ever, 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.”

intj

1. Alternative spelling of eh.

name

Etymology: Borrowed from Burmese အေး (e: /⁠eì⁠/).

1. A surname.

noun

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").

1. An affirmative vote; one who votes in the affirmative.

   “to call for the ayes and nays”

   “The ayes have it.”

verb

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").

1. To respond with an "aye".

   “The men ayed their agreement.”