hey

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• hā
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• /heɪ/
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• UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• rhymes with -eɪ
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• homophone: hay
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• homophone: hae (pane–pain merger)
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• CMU ARPABET: HH EY1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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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.

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

See he.

251 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: يَاه (yāh) — exclamation to get attention
• Arabic: اسمع — exclamation to get attention
• Arabic: بقولك ايه — exclamation to get attention
• Arabic: هيه (hē) — exclamation to get attention
• Arabic: ياهو (yāhō) — exclamation to get attention
• Armenian: հեյ (hey) — exclamation to get attention
• Asturian: oi — exclamation to get attention
• Asturian: á — exclamation to get attention
• Belarusian: гэй (hej) — exclamation to get attention
• Belarusian: эй (ej) — exclamation to get attention
• Bulgarian: хей (hej) — exclamation to get attention
• Catalan: ep — exclamation to get attention
• Catalan: ei — exclamation to get attention
• Chinese Cantonese: 喂 (wai3) — exclamation to get attention
• Chinese Mandarin: 喂 (wèi) — exclamation to get attention
• Chinese Mandarin: 哎 (āi) — exclamation to get attention
• Chinese Mandarin: 嗨 (hāi) — exclamation to get attention
• Chinese Mandarin: 嘿 (hēi) — exclamation to get attention
• Czech: hele — exclamation to get attention
• Czech: hej — exclamation to get attention
• Danish: hallo — exclamation to get attention
• Dutch: hé — exclamation to get attention
• Esperanto: he — exclamation to get attention
• Esperanto: hej — exclamation to get attention
• Estonian: hei — exclamation to get attention
• Finnish: hei — exclamation to get attention
• French: hé — exclamation to get attention
• Galician: oi — exclamation to get attention
• Galician: ei — exclamation to get attention
• Galician: eh — exclamation to get attention
• German: Hallo — exclamation to get attention
• Ancient Greek: οὗτος (hoûtos) — exclamation to get attention
• Ancient Greek: αὕτη (haútē) — exclamation to get attention
• Ancient Greek: ἄγε (áge) — exclamation to get attention
• Ancient Greek: ἄγετε (ágete) — exclamation to get attention
• Hindi: अरे (are) — exclamation to get attention
• Hindi: अजी (ajī) — exclamation to get attention
• Hindi: हे (he) — exclamation to get attention
• Hindi: रे (re) — exclamation to get attention
• Hungarian: hé — exclamation to get attention
• Hungarian: hahó — exclamation to get attention
• Hungarian: figyelj — exclamation to get attention
• Hungarian: figyu — exclamation to get attention
• Irish: hé — exclamation to get attention
• Irish: hóigh — exclamation to get attention
• Italian: ehi — exclamation to get attention
• Italian: ou — exclamation to get attention
• Japanese: おい (oi) — exclamation to get attention
• Japanese: ねえ (nē) — exclamation to get attention
• Kapampangan: ne — exclamation to get attention
• Kapampangan: na — exclamation to get attention
• Korean: 이봐 (ibwa) — exclamation to get attention
• Korean: 어이 (eoi) — exclamation to get attention
• Korean: 야 (ya) — exclamation to get attention
• Latgalian: dzie — exclamation to get attention
• Latgalian: klaus — exclamation to get attention
• Latin: heus — exclamation to get attention
• Latin: eho — exclamation to get attention
• Latin: salve — exclamation to get attention
• Latin: salvete — exclamation to get attention
• Latvian: klau — exclamation to get attention
• Latvian: eu — exclamation to get attention
• Louisiana Creole: hé — exclamation to get attention
• Malay: hei — exclamation to get attention
• Māori: ētē — exclamation to get attention
• Māori: hā — exclamation to get attention
• Mongolian: хөөе (xööjö) — exclamation to get attention
• Occitan: èp — exclamation to get attention
• Persian: هی (hey) — exclamation to get attention
• Persian: هلا (halâ) — exclamation to get attention
• Polish: hej — exclamation to get attention
• Polish: ej — exclamation to get attention
• Polish: e — exclamation to get attention
• Portuguese: ei — exclamation to get attention
• Romanian: hei — exclamation to get attention
• Russian: эй (ej) — exclamation to get attention
• Scottish Gaelic: hòigh — exclamation to get attention
• Scottish Gaelic: haoidh — exclamation to get attention
• Serbo-Croatian: хеј — exclamation to get attention
• Serbo-Croatian: hej — exclamation to get attention
• Spanish: imperative oír — exclamation to get attention
• Spanish: hey — exclamation to get attention
• Spanish: ey — exclamation to get attention
• Spanish: eh — exclamation to get attention
• Spanish: hao — exclamation to get attention
• Spanish: oe — exclamation to get attention
• Swedish: du — exclamation to get attention
• Swedish: hallå — exclamation to get attention
• Swedish: öh — exclamation to get attention
• Tagalog: hoy — exclamation to get attention
• Tagalog: uy — exclamation to get attention
• Tagalog: oy — exclamation to get attention
• Tagalog: huy — exclamation to get attention
• Tagalog: oi — exclamation to get attention
• Tagalog: ui — exclamation to get attention
• Ukrainian: гей (hej) — exclamation to get attention
• Ukrainian: ей (ej) — exclamation to get attention
• Vietnamese: ê — exclamation to get attention
• Vietnamese: này — exclamation to get attention
• Vietnamese: ơi — exclamation to get attention
• Xibe: ᠣᡞ (oi) — exclamation to get attention
• Zhuang: vei — exclamation to get attention
• Armenian: հեյ (hey) — protest or reprimand
• Armenian: էյ (ēy) — protest or reprimand
• Catalan: ep — protest or reprimand
• Danish: hallo — protest or reprimand
• Dutch: hé — protest or reprimand
• Dutch: hela — protest or reprimand
• Dutch: ho — protest or reprimand
• Dutch: hola — protest or reprimand
• Estonian: hei — protest or reprimand
• Finnish: hei — protest or reprimand
• French: hé — protest or reprimand
• German: ey — protest or reprimand
• Hungarian: állj — protest or reprimand
• Hungarian: ácsi — protest or reprimand
• Italian: ehi — protest or reprimand
• Japanese: おい (oi) — protest or reprimand
• Kapampangan: na — protest or reprimand
• Kapampangan: ot — protest or reprimand
• Kapampangan: oi — protest or reprimand
• Polish: ej — protest or reprimand
• Polish: ejże — protest or reprimand
• Polish: hola — protest or reprimand
• Portuguese: ei — protest or reprimand
• Portuguese: epa — protest or reprimand
• Portuguese: opa — protest or reprimand
• Russian: эй (ej) — protest or reprimand
• Russian: э (e) — protest or reprimand
• Spanish: imperative oír — protest or reprimand
• Spanish: hey — protest or reprimand
• Spanish: ey — protest or reprimand
• Spanish: eh — protest or reprimand
• Spanish: oe — protest or reprimand
• Swedish: hallå — protest or reprimand
• Swedish: du — protest or reprimand
• Swedish: öh — protest or reprimand
• Tagalog: hoy — protest or reprimand
• Tagalog: uy — protest or reprimand
• Tagalog: oy — protest or reprimand
• Tagalog: huy — protest or reprimand
• Tagalog: oi — protest or reprimand
• Tagalog: ui — protest or reprimand
• Vietnamese: ê — protest or reprimand
• Dutch: hè — expression of surprise
• Dutch: huh — expression of surprise
• Estonian: ohoh — expression of surprise
• Estonian: ohoo — expression of surprise
• Finnish: oh-hoh — expression of surprise
• French: holà — expression of surprise
• Hungarian: nocsak — expression of surprise
• Hungarian: nahát — expression of surprise
• Japanese: オラ (ora) — expression of surprise
• Polish: o — expression of surprise
• Polish: ojej — expression of surprise
• Portuguese: epa — expression of surprise
• Portuguese: opa — expression of surprise
• Romanian: hop — expression of surprise
• Russian: ой (oj) — expression of surprise
• Russian: ух ты (ux ty) — expression of surprise
• Russian: ого́ (ogó) — expression of surprise
• Russian: ого́ (ohó) — expression of surprise
• Spanish: hey — expression of surprise
• Spanish: ey — expression of surprise
• Spanish: eh — expression of surprise
• Spanish: imperative oír — expression of surprise
• Spanish: oe — expression of surprise
• Swedish: oj — expression of surprise
• Tagalog: uy — expression of surprise
• Tagalog: oy — expression of surprise
• Tagalog: oi — expression of surprise
• Tagalog: ui — expression of surprise
• Tagalog: talaga — expression of surprise
• Tagalog: a — expression of surprise
• Tagalog: ah — expression of surprise
• Arabic: هَلَا (halā) — informal greeting
• Armenian: հեյ (hey) — informal greeting
• Armenian: ողջույն (oġǰuyn) — informal greeting
• Asturian: ei — informal greeting
• Catalan: ei — informal greeting
• Chinese Mandarin: 嗨 (hāi) — informal greeting
• Danish: hej — informal greeting
• Dutch: hoi — informal greeting
• Dutch: hé — informal greeting
• Esperanto: hej — informal greeting
• Finnish: hei — informal greeting
• Finnish: terve — informal greeting
• Finnish: moro — informal greeting
• French: coucou — informal greeting
• Hungarian: hahó — informal greeting
• Hungarian: helló — informal greeting
• Irish: hóigh — informal greeting
• Japanese: ヘイ (hei) — informal greeting
• Kapampangan: na — informal greeting
• Kapampangan: oi — informal greeting
• Latin: eho — informal greeting
• Louisiana Creole: hé — informal greeting
• Polish: hej — informal greeting
• Portuguese: oi — informal greeting
• Portuguese: e aí — informal greeting
• Russian: о (o) — informal greeting
• Russian: ку-ку (ku-ku) — informal greeting
• Scottish Gaelic: hòigh — informal greeting
• Scottish Gaelic: shin thu — informal greeting
• Spanish: hey — informal greeting
• Spanish: ey — informal greeting
• Spanish: eh — informal greeting
• Spanish: hola — informal greeting
• Spanish: hopa — informal greeting
• Swedish: hej — informal greeting
• Swedish: hejsan — informal greeting
• Swedish: tjena — informal greeting
• Tagalog: hoy — informal greeting
• Tagalog: uy — informal greeting
• Tagalog: oy — informal greeting
• Tagalog: huy — informal greeting
• Tagalog: oi — informal greeting
• Tagalog: ui — informal greeting
• Tagalog: ei — informal greeting
• Catalan: eh — request for repetition or explanation
• Finnish: hei — request for repetition or explanation
• Hungarian: micsoda — request for repetition or explanation
• Kapampangan: na — request for repetition or explanation
• Portuguese: hã — request for repetition or explanation
• Portuguese: hem — request for repetition or explanation
• Russian: что (što) — request for repetition or explanation
• Russian: чо (čo) — request for repetition or explanation
• Spanish: hey — request for repetition or explanation
• Spanish: ey — request for repetition or explanation
• Spanish: eh — request for repetition or explanation
• Spanish: imperative oír — request for repetition or explanation
• Swedish: hallå — request for repetition or explanation
• Tagalog: huy — request for repetition or explanation
• Tagalog: uy — request for repetition or explanation
• Tagalog: oy — request for repetition or explanation
• Tagalog: ui — request for repetition or explanation
• Tagalog: ei — request for repetition or explanation
• Finnish: hei — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Latin: o — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Latin: ō — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Latin: jo — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Portuguese: é — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Portuguese: hey — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Swedish: hej — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Tagalog: hoy — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Tagalog: uy — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Tagalog: ui — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Tagalog: oy — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Tagalog: huy — meaningless beat marker, filler syllable
• Danish: hej — country dancing figure
• Dutch: hey — country dancing figure