whey

• whig (dialectal)
• whay (obsolete)

From Middle English whey, wheye, whei, from Old English hwǣġ, hwæiġ, hwæġ, hweġ (“whey”), from Proto-Germanic *hwają (compare Saterland Frisian Waai, Woaie, West Frisian waai, Dutch wei, German Low German Wei), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- (“to pile up, build”) (compare Old Church Slavonic чинъ (činŭ, “order”), Ancient Greek ποιέω (poiéō, “to pile up, make”), Sanskrit कय (káya, “every one”)).

• enPR: hwā, wā, IPA^(key): /ʍeɪ/, /weɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Homophones: way, weigh, wey (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

whey (usually uncountable, plural wheys)

1. The liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained in the process of making cheese.

• wheyey
• wheylike

• buttermilk
• curd
• milk
• yogurt

• wheyy, whei, wheye, wheyȝe, wey, whay, qwhey, weyȝe, whaye

Inherited from Old English hwǣġ, hwæiġ, hwæġ, hweġ, from Proto-Germanic *hwają.

• IPA^(key): /ʍɛi̯/
• (dialectal) IPA^(key): /wɛi̯/, /xʍɛi̯/

whey (uncountable)

1. The leftovers from milk curdled during cheesemaking; whey.
2. (rare) The result of strained almond milk.

• English: whey, whig
• Scots: quhaye, quhay, quhey, whey, fey

• “whei (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-01.