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[edit] hay heigh Interjection[edit]hey (informal)
An exclamation to get attention. Hey, look at this! Hey! Listen! A protest or reprimand. Hey! Stop that! An expression of surprise. Hey! This is new! An informal greeting, similar to hi. Hey! How's it going? A request for repetition or explanation; an expression of confusion. Hey? How's that? Used as a tag question, to emphasise what goes before or to request that the listener express an opinion about what has been said. 1900, Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim, page vi. 54:"Who 's a cur - now - hey?" A meaningless beat marker or extra, filler syllable in song lyrics. The chorus is "nana na na, nana na na hey hey hey, goodbye". Synonyms[edit] (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[edit] but heyheydayhey heyhey hohey Joeheyohey passhey prestohey rubehey Rubehey therehey uphey yalike hey-go-madstomp clap heywhat the heyyehey Translations[edit] exclamation to get attention Arabic: يَاه (yāh), اسمع Egyptian Arabic: بقولك ايه Hijazi Arabic: هيه (hē), ياهو (yāhō) Armenian: հեյ (hy) (hey) Belarusian: гэй (hej), эй (ej) Bulgarian: хей (hej) Catalan: ep (ca), ei (ca) Chinese: Cantonese: 喂 (wai3) Mandarin: 喂 (zh) (wèi), 哎 (zh) (āi), 嗨 (zh) (hāi), 嘿 (zh) (hēi) Czech: hele (cs), hej (cs) Danish: hallo (da) Dutch: hé (nl), (please verify) hé daar Esperanto: he (eo), hej (eo) Estonian: hei (et) Finnish: hei (fi) French: hé (fr) Galician: oi (gl), ei (gl), eh (gl) German: Hallo (de) Greek: Ancient: οὗτος m (hoûtos), αὕτη f (haútē), ἄγε sg (áge), ἄγετε pl (ágete) Hindi: अरे (hi) (are), अजी (hi) (ajī), हे (hi) (he), रे (hi) (re) Hungarian: hé (hu), hahó (hu), figyelj, figyu Irish: hé, hóigh Italian: ehi, ou Japanese: おい (ja) (oi), ねえ (nē) Kapampangan: ne, na Korean: 이봐 (ibwa), 어이 (ko) (eoi), 야 (ko) (ya) Latgalian: dzie, klaus Latin: heus, eho, salve (la), (to multiple people) salvete (la) Latvian: klau, eu (lv) Louisiana Creole French: hé Malay: hei (ms) Maori: ētē, hā Mongolian: хөөе (mn) (xööjö) Occitan: èp (oc) Persian: هی (fa) (hey), هلا (fa) (halâ) Polish: hej (pl), ej (pl), e (pl) Portuguese: ei (pt) Romanian: hei (ro) Russian: эй (ru) (ej) Scottish Gaelic: hòigh, haoidh Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: хеј Roman: hej (sh) Spanish: oír (es) (imperative), hey (es), ey (es), eh (es), hao (es) (especially at a distance) Swedish: du (sv), hallå (sv), öh (sv) (colloquial) Tagalog: hoy (tl), uy, oy, huy, oi, ui Ukrainian: гей (uk) (hej), ей (ej) Vietnamese: ê (vi), này (vi), ơi (vi) protest or reprimand Armenian: հեյ (hy) (hey), էյ (hy) (ēy) Catalan: ep (ca) Danish: hallo (da) Dutch: hé (nl), hela (nl), ho (nl), hola (nl) Estonian: hei (et) Finnish: hei (fi) French: hé (fr) German: ey (de) Hungarian: állj (hu), ácsi (hu) Italian: ehi Japanese: おい (ja) (oi) Kapampangan: na, ot, oi Polish: ej (pl), ejże, hola (pl) Portuguese: ei (pt), epa, opa (pt) Russian: эй (ru) (ej), э (ru) (e) Spanish: oír (es) (imperative), hey (es), ey (es), eh (es) Swedish: hallå (sv), du (sv), öh (sv) (colloquial) Tagalog: hoy (tl), uy, oy, huy, oi, ui Vietnamese: ê (vi) expression of surprise Dutch: hè (nl), huh (nl) Estonian: ohoh, ohoo (et) Finnish: oh-hoh French: holà (fr) Hungarian: nocsak (hu), nahát (hu) Japanese: オラ (ora) Polish: o (pl), ojej (pl) Portuguese: epa, opa (pt) Romanian: hop (ro) Russian: ой (ru) (oj), ух ты (ru) (ux ty), ого́ (ru) (ogó), ого́ (ru) (ohó) Spanish: hey (es), ey (es), eh (es), oír (es) (imperative) Swedish: oj (sv) Tagalog: uy, oy, oi, ui, talaga, a (tl), ah informal greeting Alutor: [script needed] (mej) Arabic: هَلَا (halā) Armenian: հեյ (hy) (hey), ողջույն (hy) (oġǰuyn) Asturian: ei (ast) Chinese: Mandarin: 嗨 (zh) (hāi) Danish: hej (da) Dutch: hoi (nl), hé (nl) Esperanto: hej (eo) Finnish: hei (fi), terve (fi), moro (fi) French: coucou (fr) Hungarian: hahó (hu), helló (hu) Irish: hóigh Japanese: ヘイ (ja) (hei) Kapampangan: na, oi Latin: eho Louisiana Creole French: hé Polish: hej (pl) Portuguese: oi (pt), e aí (pt) Russian: о (ru) (o) (colloquial), ку-ку (ru) (ku-ku) (familiar) Scottish Gaelic: hòigh Spanish: hey (es), ey (es), eh (es), hola (es), hopa (es) (Colombia) Swedish: hej (sv), hejsan (sv), tjena (sv) Tagalog: hoy (tl), uy, oy, huy, oi, ui, ei request for repetition or explanation Catalan: eh (ca) Finnish: hei (fi) Hungarian: micsoda (hu) Kapampangan: na Portuguese: hã, hem (pt) Russian: что (ru) (što), чо (ru) (čo) (colloquial, close to vulgar) Spanish: hey (es), ey (es), eh (es), oír (es) (imperative) Swedish: hallå (sv) Tagalog: huy, uy, oy, ui, ei meaningless beat marker, filler syllable Finnish: hei (fi) Latin: o (la), ō (la), jo Portuguese: é (pt), hey (pt) Swedish: hej (sv) Tagalog: hoy (tl), uy, ui, oy, huy The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations. Translations to be checked French: (please verify) hé (fr), (please verify) eh (fr), (please verify) hep (fr) Slovene: (please verify) hej, (please verify) ej Swedish: (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) (please verify) hallå (sv), (4) (please verify) tja (sv), (4, 6) (please verify) hej (sv), (6) (please verify) hej hå See also[edit] huh hay is for horses hey on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Verb[edit]hey (third-person singular simple present heys, present participle heying, simple past and past participle heyed)
To greet with a "hey" Etymology 2[edit]From French haie (“hedge”), with reference to the weing patterns used in hedgelaying. Doublet of hedge and quay.
Noun[edit]hey (plural heys)
(country dancing) A choreographic figure in which three or more dancers wee between one another, passing by left and right shoulder alternately. Translations[edit] country dancing figure Danish: hej (da) Dutch: hey (nl) Etymology 3[edit]See he.
Noun[edit]hey (plural heys)
Alternative spelling of he (“Hebrew letter”). See also[edit] Yah-ta-hey (etymologically unrelated) Anagrams[edit] Yeh, hye, yeh Faroese[edit] Etymology[edit](This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation[edit] IPA(key): [hɛi] Interjection[edit]hey
hi, hey, hello Synonyms: halló, góðan morgun, góðan dag, gott kvøld Antonyms: farvæl, vit síggjast hey aftur! ― hello again! Icelandic[edit] Etymology[edit]From Old Norse hey, from Proto-Germanic *hawją.
Pronunciation[edit] IPA(key): /heiː/ Rhymes: -eiː Noun[edit]hey n (genitive singular heys, nominative plural hey)
(usually uncountable) hay Declension[edit] Declension of hey (neuter) singular plural indefinite definite indefinite definite nominative hey heyið hey heyin accusative hey heyið hey heyin dative heyi heyinu heyjum heyjunum genitive heys heysins heyja heyjanna Middle English[edit] Etymology 1[edit]From Old English hīġ, hīeġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hawi, from Proto-Germanic *hawją (“hay”).
Noun[edit]hey (uncountable)
hay Alternative forms[edit] heyȝ, heygh, hay, ay, heyn, hayn, hei, heiȝ, heigh, hai, hain Descendants[edit] English: hay Scots: hey Yola: hye References[edit] “hei, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. Etymology 2[edit]From Old English *hē, ēa. See English hey for more.
Interjection[edit]hey
hey Alternative forms[edit] hay, ay, he, heh, heigh Descendants[edit] English: hey Scots: hey Yola: ha References[edit] “hei, interj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. Etymology 3[edit] Noun[edit]hey
alternative form of heye (“hedge”) Etymology 4[edit] Noun[edit]hey
alternative form of hye (“haste”) Etymology 5[edit] Pronoun[edit]hey
alternative form of he (“he”) Etymology 6[edit] Pronoun[edit]hey
alternative form of he (“they”) Etymology 7[edit] Verb[edit]hey
alternative form of heien (“to lift up”) Etymology 8[edit] Pronoun[edit]hey
alternative form of heigh (“high”) Portuguese[edit] Verb[edit]hey
obsolete spelling of hei Somali[edit] Verb[edit]hey
possess Spanish[edit] Alternative forms[edit] ey Etymology[edit]Unadapted borrowing from English hey.
Pronunciation[edit] IPA(key): /ˈei/ [ˈei̯] Syllabification: hey IPA(key): (imitating English) /ˈxei/ [ˈxei̯] Rhymes: -ei Interjection[edit]¡hey!
hey! Synonyms: eh, oye Related terms[edit] ahhalaoh Further reading[edit] “hey”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024 Yola[edit] Etymology 1[edit]From Middle English heye, a conflation of Old English heġe (“hedge, fence”) and Old English ġehæġ (“an enclosed piece of land”).
Alternative forms[edit] hye Pronunciation[edit] IPA(key): /heː/, /hai̯/ IPA(key): /həi̯/[1] Noun[edit]hey
garden, field, enclosure[2] 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 46:Chourch hey;Church yard; Derived terms[edit] barach-hye chourch-hey Etymology 2[edit] Noun[edit]hey
alternative form of hea (“he”) References[edit] ^ Diarmaid Ó Muirithe (1990), “A Modern Glossary of the Dialect of Forth and Bargy”, in lrish University Review[1], volume 20, number 1, Edinburgh University Press, page 158 ^ Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), 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, published 1867, page 45