# eh
## English
### Alternative forms

* ay (NZ)
* ehh, ehhh, etc. to indicate length

### Etymology 1

Natural exclamation; first recorded mid-16th century. Perhaps an unstressed variant of aye (“yes, yeah”). The Philippine sense is possibly influenced by Tagalog e and/or Spanish eh.

#### Pronunciation

(tag question, request for repetition, ascertaining continued attention):
* (Canada, UK) enPR: ā, IPA: /eɪ/
* Audio (Canada):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪ
(apathy or lack of enthusiasm, unremarkable):
* (Canada, UK, US) enPR: ĕ, â, IPA: /ɛ/, [ɛː]
* (Scotland) IPA: /e/
* Audio (General Australian):(file)

#### Interjection

eh
* (informal, chiefly Canada, Northern US, New Zealand, Australia, UK, Ireland, South Africa, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Commonwealth) Used as a tag question, to emphasise what goes before or to request that the listener express an opinion about what has been said.
    These hot dogs are pretty good, eh?
** 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick 16:Well, what dost thou think then of seeing the world? Do ye wish to go round Cape Horn to see any more of it, eh? Can’t ye see the world where you stand?
* In isolation, a request for repetition or clarification of what has just been said.
    Synonyms: what, pardon, sorry, come again; see also Thesaurus:say again
    —I've been studying Graphiurus murinus. —Eh? Studying what?
* In isolation, expressing surprise or confusion
    Synonyms: what, wha, huh, za, sorry, come again
    —You're going to be a dad! —Eh? You're joking!
* (chiefly Canada) An interjection used to ascertain the continued attention of someone addressed by the speaker.
    Synonym: yeah
    I went to the restaurant, eh, but my friends didn't show up.
* Expressing apathy or lack of enthusiasm; meh.
    —Do you feel like going out tonight? —Eh, I don't know.
** 2010, Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, directors, Despicable Me:“Look, Mom; I made the real rocket, based on the macaroni prototype!” “…Eh.”
* (Philippines) Expressing apprehension following or preceding a reasoning or excuse; uh.
    —Why is it like this? —Eh, It's like that eh.

##### Usage notes

* In North America, the word is stereotypically associated with Canada and can sometimes convey that the speaker is trying to sound (sarcastically) Canadian outside the country. However, it is in widespread use in many other parts of the English-speaking world, including the northern United States, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Malaysia, Philippines, Scotland, Wales, Singapore, South Africa, India, Hong Kong and Commonwealth of Nations.

##### Translations
#### Verb

eh (third-person singular simple present ehs, present participle ehing, simple past and past participle ehed)
* To use the interjection eh.

#### Adjective

eh (not comparable)
* (informal, predicative only) Of mediocre quality; unremarkable.
    My French fries were eh.

##### See also

* eh up (possibly etymologically related)

##### References

* James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Eh”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.

### Etymology 2

From Hokkien 欸 (--eh) and Mandarin 欸 (ê̄ / ế / ê̌, interjection).

#### Alternative forms

* ay

#### Pronunciation

* (Singapore)
** IPA: (Sense 1) [ˈe˦˧], [ˈe˧]
** IPA: (Sense 2) [eɪ˧˨]
** IPA: (Sense 3) [eɪ˩˦]

#### Interjection

eh (Singapore)
* (Singlish, usually impolite) Hey, oi; said to get someone's attention.
* An interjection expressing disapproval.
    Eh, please don’t say that...
* (with rising pitch) Huh?; expresses confusion.

##### See also

* eh eh eh (interjection, possibly related to the above)

### Etymology 3

Probably of multiple motivations, the sounds having been chosen for functional reasons.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /eɪ/
* Audio (UK):(file)

#### Interjection

eh
* (MLE, MTE, regional African-American Vernacular, Chicano) an attention grabber
    Synonyms: hey, oi, I say
    Eh, come here!
    Eh, what do you have?
** 2017, Dirty Heads, Vacation:E-, e-, eh, I'm on vacation / Every single day 'cause I love my occupation
* (informal, Internet slang) A greeting between friends (typically male) or display of approval.

##### Alternative forms

* aye (misspelling)

### Etymology 4

A reduced form of ain't.

#### Adverb

eh (not comparable)
* (Caribbean, chiefly Trinidad and Tobago) Used to negate the following verb; (am/are/is/do/does) not.
** 1972, Harold Sonny Ladoo, No Pain Like This Body, Toronto, Ont.: Anansi, →ISBN, page 73:And she: "Ay man, watch you one foot ass. Wen I want a man, I want a good man. Me eh want man like you."

### Etymology 5

From Hokkien 咧 (--leh), with the l dropped.

#### Particle

eh
* (Manglish, Singlish) Alternative form of leh

### References

* ↑ “eh, adv.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

### Anagrams

* H&E, H.E., HE, He, he, he-

## Albanian
### Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *akˢka, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”).

### Verb

eh (aorist eha, participle ehur) (transitive)
* to sharpen
* to whet
* to hone (metal-edged tools)

#### Derived terms

* preh
* mpreh
* ehull
* teh

#### Related terms

* ath
* athët
* thua

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Interjection

eh
* er, uh (confusion; space filling)
    Synonyms: uh, um, ehm

## French
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /e/
* Audio:(file)

### Interjection

eh
* signifying indifference or surprise

#### Derived terms

* eh bien

### Further reading

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

### Anagrams

* hé

## German
### Etymology

From Middle High German ē (“earlier, ere”), originally ēr. Modern Standard German uses the lengthened form ehe (only as a conjunction).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʔeː/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -eː
* Homophones: Ä (one pronunciation), E

### Conjunction

eh
* (colloquial) before
    Lass uns gehn, eh wir den Bus verpassen!Let's go before we miss the bus!

#### Derived terms

* eh und je

### Adverb

eh
* (colloquial) anyway, in any case
    Synonyms: sowieso, ohnehin, ohnedies
    Du brauchst nicht laufen. Du kriegst die Bahn eh nicht.No need to run. You won’t catch the tram anyways.
** 2020, Joachim Kretschmer, “Unmittelbares Ansetzen (§ 22 StGB) bei mittelbarer Täterschaft und bei Mittäterschaft”, in Juristische Arbeitsblätter‎, number 8, pages 588–589:Nach der Einzellösung ist § 22 StGB für jeden Mittäter gesondert und individuell zu betrachten. Nur wer selbst unmittelbar ansetzt bzw. wer im Gesamtversuchsstadium seinen eigenen Tatbeitrag erbringt, kann wegen einer versuchten mittäterschaftlichen Tat bestraft werden. Bei der versuchten Mittäterschaft soll danach nicht die wechselseitige Zurechnung der Gesamtlösung gelten. Diese enge Ansicht beruht vor allem auf der Annahme, dass man eh nur Mittäter sein kann, wenn man einen tatherrschaftlichen Beitrag in der Ausführungsphase erbringt.(please add an English translation of this quotation)
** 2023 July 5, “Kritik von Grünen in Bielefeld: Wieder Streit um Johannisbachaue”, in Radio Bielefeld‎:Aus Sicht der Grünen ginge es CDU und FDP nicht um einen Badesee, der eh nicht möglich wäre, sondern um die teuren Grundstücke an einem Untersee.From the view of the Greens, CDU and FDP are not about a swimming lake, which would not be feasible anyway, but rather the expensive estates adjacent to a Lower Sea [planned to possibly complement the present Upper Sea].
* (colloquial, Austria) well, admittedly (for which in Germany only schon is used)
    Ich hab eh drüber nachgedacht, aber es wär nicht gegangen.I did well consider it, but it wouldn't have worked out.

### Further reading

* “eh” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

## Hungarian
### Pronunciation

* Rhymes: -ɛx

### Interjection

eh
* indicates indifference, usually used as a reply alone: meh
* indicates an obvious mistake: oh, no

#### Related terms

* ej

### Further reading

* eh in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
* eh in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

## Icelandic
### Pronoun

eh
* (informal, nonstandard) Abbreviation of einhver.

#### Usage notes

See einhver § Usage notes.

## Juǀ'hoan
### Pronunciation

* The murmured vowel IPA: /e̤/

### Letter

eh (upper case Eh)
* A letter of the Juǀ'hoan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

## Manx
### Etymology

From Old Irish é (“he, they”), from Proto-Indo-European *éy. Cognate with Irish é and Scottish Gaelic e.

### Pronoun

eh (emphatic eshyn)
* he, him
    Cha vel breagerey dy ve credjit ga dy vel eh ginsh yn irriney.A liar is not to be believed even if he tells the truth.
    Cur meer da’n feeagh as hig eh reesht.Give the raven a bit and he’ll come again.
    Cur lhiat magh eh.Bring him out.
* it
    Skeeal eddyr troor, t’eh ersooyl.A story between three, it’s gone.

## Nauruan
### Particle

eh
* yes

## Norwegian
### Interjection

eh
* uh

#### Synonyms

* øh

## Old English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ex/, [eç]

### Noun

eh m or n
* Alternative form of eoh

## Pohnpeian
### Etymology 1
#### Noun

eh
* The name of the Latin-script letter E/e.

### Etymology 2
#### Alternative forms

* e
* ah

#### Determiner

eh
* his, her, hers, its, third person possessive pronoun
    Liho iang eh pwoud.The woman joined her husband.

### Etymology 3

From Proto-Oceanic *qatay (“liver”), from Proto-Austronesian *qaCay (“liver”)

#### Noun

eh
* liver

### Etymology 4
#### Interjection

eh
* a particle used after names of people when calling them

### Etymology 5
#### Interjection

eh
* an interjection signifying understanding
* a response used when answering a call in a feast

## Portuguese
### Verb

eh
* (Internet slang, text messaging) Alternative spelling of é (“is”)

### Interjection

eh
* (Internet slang, text messaging) Alternative spelling of é (“yeah”)

## Romanian
### Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

### Interjection

eh
* expresses dissatisfaction or sadness

### References

* eh in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

## Scots
### Etymology

Dialectal representation of ee.

### Noun

eh (plural ehs)
* (Dundee) eye

## Southern Ohlone
### Noun

eh
* gray ground squirrel

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈe/ [ˈe]
* Rhymes: -e
* Homophones: e, he

### Interjection

eh
* hey! (used to call, draw attention, warn or reprehend)
    Synonyms: hey, ey
* uh, um (space filler in a conversation, expression of hesitation or pause in speech)
    Synonym: este

#### Related terms

* ah
* hala
* oh

### Further reading

* “eh”, 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

## Sumerian
### Romanization

eh
* Romanization of 𒄴 (eḫ)

## Tagalog
### Interjection

eh (Baybayin spelling ᜁ)
* Alternative spelling of e

### Anagrams

* he

## Zou
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ēʔ/
* Hyphenation: eh

### Noun

eh
* tear

### References

* Philip Thanglienmang (2014) “Zou Tonology”, in Indian Linguistics, volume 75, numbers 1-2, →ISSN