dey

dey

See also: Dey 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-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 2006, p. 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’.

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.

   G. Modele Dale Clarke (2012) 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?””

(Can we add an example for this sense?)

References

• dey in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “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, indicates 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

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.

---

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/[1][2]
• Rhymes: -ɛj

Noun

dey m (invariable)

1. dey (ruler of the Regency of Algiers)

References

1. dey in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
2. dey in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

---

Middle English

Noun

dey

1. Alternative form of day

Pronoun

dey

1. Alternative form of þei (“they”)

Noun

dey

1. Alternative form of dee

---

Nigerian Pidgin

Alternative forms

• deh

Etymology

From English there.

Verb

dey

1. is, are

---

Old Norse

Verb

dey

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

---

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:

     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.

References

• Jacob Poole (1867), 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, page 84

---

Zaghawa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dey/

Noun

dey

1. foot, leg
2. footstep

References

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