aye

From Middle English aye, ai, aȝȝ, from Old Norse ei, ey, from Proto-Germanic *aiwa, *aiwō (“ever, always”) (compare Old English āwo, āwa, ā, ō, Middle Dutch ie, German je), from *aiwaz (“age; law”) (compare Old English ǣ(w) (“law”), West Frisian ieu (“century”), Dutch eeuw (“century”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“long time”) (compare Irish aois (“age, period”), Breton oad (“age, period”), Latin ævum (“eternity”), Ancient Greek αἰών (aiṓn)).

• IPA^(key): /eɪ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪ
• (sometimes proscribed)[1] IPA^(key): /aɪ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪ
  • Homophones: ay, eye, I

aye (not comparable)

1. (archaic) ever, always
   • 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:

     […] Do that good miſcheefe, which may make this Iſland / Thine owne for euer, and I thy Caliban, / For aye thy foot-licker.

   • 1863 Translation by Catherine Winkworth

     Let the Amen sound from His people again; Gladly for aye we adore Him. (Praise to the Lord, the Almighty)

   • 1834 Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

     The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, / And southward aye we fled.

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:aye.

Probably from use of aye as expression of agreement or affirmation, or from Middle English a ye (“oh yes”), or synthesis of both. More at oh, yea.

• ay

• IPA^(key): /aɪ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: ay, eye, I

aye

1. yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question.

• It is much used in Scotland, the north and Midlands of England, the northern counties of Ireland, North Wales, as well as in Australia and New Zealand (where it may follow rather than precede a statement). Also notably seen in viva voce voting in legislative bodies, etc., or in nautical contexts.

• yes
• yea

• nay
• no

• The New Geordie Dictionary, Frank Graham, 1987, →ISBN
• Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin,
• A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, →ISBN

aye (plural ayes)

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

   "To call for the ayes and nays;" "The ayes have it."

• yes

• yae, yea

aye

1. (Jakarta, slang) First-person singular pronoun: I, me, my

Other pronouns with the same meaning used in Jakarta:

• gue, ogut

Other pronouns with the same meaning used elsewhere:

• aku (informal)
• ku
• daku (poetic)
• saya (formal)
• gua, gw (Java)
• hamba

aye (plural ayer or ayren)

1. Alternative form of ei

From Old Norse ei, ey, cognate with Old English ā. See the etymology for the English word above.

• IPA^(key): /aɪ/

aye (not comparable)

1. always, still

   A'll aye be wi ye an A'm nae carin whit thay say – I will always/ still be with you and I don't care what they say

aye

1. yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question