# dey
## English
### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /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-West Germanic *daigijā, 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)
* (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)
* (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, published 2006, page 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’.

### Etymology 3
#### Pronoun

dey
* Pronunciation spelling of their, representing African-American Vernacular English.
* Pronunciation spelling of there, representing African American Vernacular English or Caribbean English.
** 2012, G. Modele Dale Clarke, 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?”
* Pronunciation spelling of they, representing dialects with th-stopping in English.

### Etymology 4

From Tamil டேய் (“hey!”).

#### Alternative forms

* deh, dei

#### Pronunciation

* (Singapore) IPA: [ˈde(ː)]

#### Interjection

dey
* (Singlish, Manglish) An informal Tamil-language term of address used when trying to get someone's attention.
** 2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 46:Dey! Did you press the lift button? What? You have pressed the button for the tenth time?
** 2012 February 7 [2007], Laremy Lee, Radio Silence, →ISBN:Dei, you think what, President’s Star Charity ah?
** 2007 September 10, Sandra Leong, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited, →OCLC, page 6:If a player makes a silly mistake, he doesn’t wail when told to “wake up lah, dey”.

##### Usage notes

Only commonly used by the younger generation and Tamil speakers.

### References

* “dey”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “dey”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Anagrams

* Dye, d'ye, dye, ye'd, yed

## Cameroon Pidgin
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /de/

### Etymology 1

From English there.

#### Predicative

dey
* there is, there are, indicates presence in a location

##### Alternative forms

* deiy

##### See also

* na (copula for noun phrases, indicating existence)

### Etymology 2

From English they.

#### Pronoun

dey
* they, 3rd person plural subject personal pronoun

##### See also
### Etymology 3

From English day.

#### Noun

dey
* day

##### Alternative forms

* dei

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دایی (dayı), from Persian دایی (dâyi, “maternal uncle”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dɛj/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

dey m (plural deys)
* dey (ruler of the Regency of Algiers)

### Further reading

* “dey”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## German
### Etymology

Borrowed from English they, adjusted to German phonology and suppleted with plural forms of demonstrative pronoun die.
dem, demm are borrowed from English them.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dɛɪ̯/

### Pronoun

dey
* (neologism) they (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun.

#### Declension

* Nominative: dey
* Accusative: demm or dey or dem (with a short vowel)
* Dative: denen or demm or dem (with a short vowel)
* Genitive: deren
* Possessive: deren

## Icelandic
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /teiː/
* Rhymes: -eiː

### Verb

dey
* inflection of deyja:
** first-person singular present indicative
** second-person singular imperative

## Italian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دایی (dayı), from Persian دایی (dâyi, “maternal uncle”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈdɛj/
* Rhymes: -ɛj

### Noun

dey m (invariable)
* dey (ruler of the Regency of Algiers)

### References

* ↑ dey in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
* ↑ dey in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

## Kalasha
### Etymology

From Persian ده (deh).

### Noun

dey
* village
    Synonym: grom

## Middle English
### Etymology 1
#### Noun

dey
* Alternative form of day

### Etymology 2
#### Pronoun

dey
* Alternative form of þei (“they”)

### Etymology 3
#### Noun

dey
* Alternative form of dee

## Nigerian Pidgin
### Alternative forms

* deh

### Etymology

From Igbo dị.

### Verb

dey
* to be
** (Can we date this quote?), Zanele Buthelezi, Thembani Dladla, Clare Verbeek, “Count animals”, in Storybooks African Languages‎:One elephant dey go drink water.One elephant is going to drink water.

## Old Norse
### Verb

dey
* inflection of deyja:
** first-person singular present active indicative
** second-person singular present active imperative

## Sranan Tongo
### Noun

dey
* Alternative spelling of dei.

## Yola
### Noun

dey
* Alternative form of die (“day”)
** 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 84: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.
** 1867, “DR. RUSSELL ON THE INHABITANTS AND DIALECT OF THE BARONY OF FORTH”, in APPENDIX, page 131:Fad didn'st thou cum t' ouz on zum other dey?[Why didn't you come to us on some other day?]

### References

* 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

## Zaghawa
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dey/

### Noun

dey
* foot, leg
* footstep

### References

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