hey

== English == === Pronunciation === enPR: hā, IPA(key): /heɪ/ Rhymes: -eɪ Homophones: hay; hae (pane–pain merger) === Etymology 1 === From Middle English hey, hei, also without h- in ey, from Old English *hē, ēa (interjection), attested as first element in hēlā, ēalā (“O!, alas!, oh!, lo!”). Cognate with Dutch hé, hei (“hi, hey”), German hei (“hey, wow”), Danish and Swedish hej (“hello, hey”), Faroese hey (“hey, hello”), Old Norse, Icelandic and Norwegian hei (“hey”), Polish hej (“hey, hello”), Romanian hei, Russian эй (ej, “hey”); see heigh. Probably a natural expression, as may be inferred from its presence with similar meaning in many other unrelated languages: for example, Burmese ဟေး (he:), Finnish hei, Unami hè, and Mandarin 哎 (āi), and various sound-alikes as Ancient Greek εἶα (eîa) and Latin eia, eho, Sanskrit हे (he). See also hello. ==== Alternative forms ==== hay heigh ==== Interjection ==== hey (informal) An exclamation to get attention. A protest or reprimand. An expression of surprise. An informal greeting, similar to hi. A request for repetition or explanation; an expression of confusion. Used as a tag question, to emphasise what goes before or to request that the listener express an opinion about what has been said. A meaningless beat marker or extra, filler syllable in song lyrics. ===== Synonyms ===== (exclamation to get attention): oi, yo; see also Thesaurus:hey (expression of surprise): blimey, gee whiz, yowzah; see also Thesaurus:wow (for repetition or explanation): eh, huh (informal greeting): hi, howdy, wotcher; see also Thesaurus:hello ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ===== See also ===== huh hay is for horses hey on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ==== Verb ==== hey (third-person singular simple present heys, present participle heying, simple past and past participle heyed) To greet with a "hey" === Etymology 2 === From French haie (“hedge”), with reference to the weaving patterns used in hedgelaying. Doublet of hedge and quay. ==== Noun ==== hey (plural heys) (country dancing) A choreographic figure in which three or more dancers weave between one another, passing by left and right shoulder alternately. ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 3 === See he. ==== Noun ==== hey (plural heys) Alternative spelling of he (“Hebrew letter”). ==== See also ==== Yah-ta-hey (etymologically unrelated) === Anagrams === Yeh, hye, yeh == Faroese == === Etymology === (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [hɛi] === Interjection === hey hi, hey, hello Synonyms: halló, góðan morgun, góðan dag, gott kvøld Antonyms: farvæl, vit síggjast hey aftur! ― hello again! == Icelandic == === Etymology === From Old Norse hey, from Proto-Germanic *hawją. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ˈheiː] Rhymes: -eiː === Noun === hey n (genitive singular heys, nominative plural hey) (usually uncountable) hay ==== Declension ==== == Middle English == === Etymology 1 === From Old English hīġ, hīeġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hawi, from Proto-Germanic *hawją (“hay”). ==== Noun ==== hey (uncountable) hay ===== Alternative forms ===== heyȝ, heygh, hay, ay, heyn, hayn, hei, heiȝ, heigh, hai, hain ===== Descendants ===== English: hay Scots: hey Yola: hye ==== References ==== “hei, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. === Etymology 2 === From Old English *hē, ēa. See English hey for more. ==== Interjection ==== hey hey ===== Alternative forms ===== hay, ay, he, heh, heigh ===== Descendants ===== English: hey Scots: hey Yola: ha ==== References ==== “hei, interj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. === Etymology 3 === ==== Noun ==== hey alternative form of heye (“hedge”) === Etymology 4 === ==== Noun ==== hey alternative form of hye (“haste”) === Etymology 5 === ==== Pronoun ==== hey alternative form of he (“he”) === Etymology 6 === ==== Pronoun ==== hey alternative form of he (“they”) === Etymology 7 === ==== Verb ==== hey alternative form of heien (“to lift up”) === Etymology 8 === ==== Pronoun ==== hey alternative form of heigh (“high”) == Portuguese == === Verb === hey obsolete spelling of hei == Somali == === Verb === hey possess == Spanish == === Alternative forms === ey === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English hey. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈei/ [ˈei̯] Syllabification: hey IPA(key): (imitating English) /ˈxei/ [ˈxei̯] Rhymes: -ei === Interjection === ¡hey! hey! Synonyms: eh, (tú) oye, oe, (vos) oí, (vosotros) oíd, (archaic) hao ==== Related terms ==== === Further reading === “hey”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025 == Yola == === Etymology 1 === From Middle English heye, a conflation of Old English heġe (“hedge, fence”) and Old English ġehæġ (“an enclosed piece of land”). ==== Alternative forms ==== hye ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): /heː/, /hai̯/ IPA(key): /həi̯/ ==== Noun ==== hey garden, field, enclosure ===== Derived terms ===== barach-hye chourch-hey === Etymology 2 === ==== Noun ==== hey alternative form of hea (“he”) === References ===