# whey
## English
### Alternative forms

* whig (dialectal)
* whay (obsolete)

### Pronunciation

* enPR: hwā, wā, IPA: /hweɪ/, /weɪ/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪ
* Homophones: way, weigh, wey (wine–whine merger)

### Etymology 1

From Middle English whey, wheye, whei, from Old English hwǣġ, hwæiġ, hwæġ, hweġ (“whey”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwaij (“whey”) (compare Saterland Frisian Waai, Woaie, West Frisian waai, Dutch wei, Low German 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”)).

#### Noun

whey (usually uncountable, plural wheys)
* The liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained in the process of making cheese.
** 1805, Songs for the Nursery, page 23:Little Miss Muffet, She sat on a tuffet, Eating of curds and whey; There came a little spider, Who sat down beside her, And frighted Miss Muffet away.
** 1847, Emily Brontë, chapter XX, in Wuthering Heights‎:{...} if I wished any blessing in the world, it was to find him a worthy object of pride; and I’m bitterly disappointed with the whey-faced, whining wretch!

##### Coordinate terms

* curds

##### Derived terms

* curds and whey
* sack-whey
* wheyey
* whey-faced
* wheyface, whey-faced
* wheylike
* wine whey

##### Translations
#### See also

* bland
* buttermilk
* milk
* yogurt

### Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic, variation on wahey.

#### Interjection

whey
* (UK, dated) A shout for attention
** 1928, Ruth Manning-Sanders, Waste Corner:He swayed over to the door, peered out, shouted "whey!" and came back, looking severe.
** 1982, Frank Entwisle, Abroad in England:somebody who was more or less to their senses, shouted... ' Whey! ... Had on lads!' and everybody was trying to get wocken up and sorted out.
* (UK) A shout of enthusiasm or delight
** 2011 September 1, Case File 12: The Case of the Messy Mucked Up Masterpiece, Hachette UK, →ISBN:... apart from Max, who rode his pallet like a surfboard with a huge grin plastered across his face. “Wheyyyyyyy!” Max yelled with delight.
** 2016 December 30, Hahn Moo-Sook, The House of Pomegranate Trees, Literature Translation Institute of Korea, →ISBN:Several drunken men shouted from the corner. “Wheyyyy, showtime! Go on, go on!”
* (UK) Shouted when someone drops a glass or other crockery, especially in a pub.
** 2014 February 18, Catriona Harvey-Jenner, “25 things only bar staff will understand”, in Cosmopolitan UK‎:12. Smashing a glass and the whole bar choruses "WHEYYYY".
** 2020 February 10, Claire Galloway, “15 things only people who have worked in an Edinburgh pub will understand”, in Edinburgh Live‎:If they don't shout "wheyyy" when you smash a glass, did it even smash?
** 2024 May 9, Oisín McKenna, Evenings and Weekends, HarperCollins UK, →ISBN:the sloshed post-work boozers all shout "Wheyyyyyyy!' at a glass that's smashed on the floor

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* wheyy, whei, wheye, wheyȝe, wey, whay, qwhey, weyȝe, whaye, wege

### Etymology

From Old English hwǣġ, hwæiġ, hwæġ, hweġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaij (“whey”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /hwæi̯/
* (dialectal) IPA: /wæi̯/, /xwæi̯/

### Noun

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

#### Descendants

* English: whey (whig)
* Scots: quhaye, quhay, quhey, whey, fey

#### References

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