# hey
## English
### Pronunciation

* enPR: hā, IPA: /heɪ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Homophone: hay
* Rhymes: -eɪ

### Etymology 1

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

* hay
* heigh

#### Interjection

hey
* 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

* (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

* but hey
* heyday
* hey hey
* hey ho
* hey Joe
* hey pass
* hey presto
* hey rube
* hey Rube
* hey there
* hey up
* hey ya
* like hey-go-mad
* stomp clap hey
* what the hey

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

* huh
* hay is for horses
* hey on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Etymology 2

From French haie (“hedge”), with reference to the weaving patterns used in hedgelaying. Doublet of hedge and quay.

#### Noun

hey (plural heys)
* (country dancing) A choreographic figure in which three or more dancers weave between one another, passing by left and right shoulder alternately.

##### Translations
### Etymology 3

See he.

#### Noun

hey (plural heys)
* Alternative spelling of he (“Hebrew letter”)

#### See also

* Yah-ta-hey (etymologically unrelated)

### Anagrams

* Yeh, hye, yeh

## Faroese
### Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [hɛi]

### Interjection

hey
* hi, hey, hello
    Synonyms: halló, góðan morgun, góðan dag, gott kvøld
    Antonyms: farvæl, vit síggjast
    hey aftur! ― hello again!

## Icelandic
### Etymology

From Old Norse hey, from Proto-Germanic *hawją.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /heiː/
* Rhymes: -eiː

### Noun

hey n (genitive singular heys, nominative plural hey)
* (usually uncountable) hay

#### Declension
## Middle English
### Etymology 1

From Old English hīġ, hīeġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hawi, from Proto-Germanic *hawją (“hay”).

#### Noun

hey (uncountable)
* hay

##### Alternative forms

* heyȝ, heygh, hay, ay, heyn, hayn, hei, heiȝ, heigh, hai, hain

##### Descendants

* English: hay
* Scots: hey
* Yola: hye

#### References

* “hei, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Etymology 2

From Old English *hē, ēa. See English hey for more.

#### Interjection

hey
* hey

##### Alternative forms

* hay, ay, he, heh, heigh

##### Descendants

* English: hey
* Scots: hey
* Yola: ha

#### References

* “hei, interj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Etymology 3
#### Noun

hey
* Alternative form of heye (“hedge”)

### Etymology 4
#### Noun

hey (uncountable)
* Alternative form of hye (“haste”)

### Etymology 5
#### Pronoun

hey
* Alternative form of he (“he”)

### Etymology 6
#### Pronoun

hey
* Alternative form of he (“they”)

### Etymology 7
#### Verb

hey (third-person singular simple present heyeth, present participle heyende, heyynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle heyed)
* Alternative form of heien (“to lift up”)

### Etymology 8
#### Pronoun

hey (comparative heyer, superlative heyest)
* Alternative form of heigh (“high”)

## Portuguese
### Verb

hey
* Obsolete spelling of hei.

## Somali
### Verb

hey
* possess

## Spanish
### Alternative forms

* ey

### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hey.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈei/ [ˈei̯]
** Syllabification: hey
* IPA: (imitating English) /ˈxei/ [ˈxei̯]
* Rhymes: -ei

### Interjection

¡hey!
* hey!
    Synonyms: eh, oye

#### Related terms

* ah
* hala
* oh

### Further reading

* “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], 2024 December 10

## Yola
### Etymology 1

From Middle English heye, a conflation of Old English heġe (“hedge, fence”) and Old English ġehæġ (“an enclosed piece of land”).

#### Alternative forms

* hye

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /heː/, /hiː/

#### Noun

hey
* garden, field, enclosure
** 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 46:Chourch hey;Church yard;

##### Derived terms

* barach-hye
* chourch-hey

### Etymology 2
#### Noun

hey
* Alternative form of hea (“he”)

### 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, page 45