Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ey

/eɪ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.29 in modern English

Syllables
ey
IPA
/eɪ/
5
Scrabble Score
2
Letters
1
Syllables
2
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An egg.

noun

A small island formed by the buildup of silt or gravel at the confluence of two rivers or streams.

British usage

noun

A place that has a name ending in "-ey" because it is or was located at such an island.

intj

Alternative form of hey.

noun

Obsolete form of eye.

Obsolete

name

Initialism of Ernst & Young.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English ei, ey, from Old English ǣġ, from Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją (“egg”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (“egg”), probably from *h₂éwis (“bird”), from *h₂ew- (“to consume”). Doublet of egg, huevo, oeuf, and ovum. Cognates Cognate with North Frisian ai (“egg”), Saterland Frisian Oai (“egg”), West Frisian aai, aei (“egg”), Bavarian Oa (“egg”), Dutch ei (“egg”), German Ei (“egg”), German Low German Ai, Ägg (“egg”), Limburgish ei, Éï (“egg”), Luxembourgish Ee (“egg”), Mòcheno oi (“egg”), Vilamovian e (“egg”), Yiddish איי (ey, “egg”), Danish æg (“egg”), Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk egg (“egg”), Swedish ägg (“egg”), Crimean Gothic ada (“egg”); also Breton vi (“egg”), Cornish oy (“egg”), Welsh wy (“egg”), Latin ōvum (“egg”), Greek αβγό (avgó), αυγό (avgó, “egg”), Albanian vo (“egg”), Belarusian and Russian яйцо́ (jajcó, “egg”), Bulgarian яйце́ (jajcé, “egg”), Czech vejce (“egg”), Macedonian јајце (jajce, “egg”), Polish jajo (“egg”), Serbo-Croatian ја́јце, jájce (“egg”), Slovak vajce (“egg”), Slovene jájce (“egg”), Ukrainian яйце́ (jajcé, “egg”), Ossetian айк (ajk), айкӕ (ajkæ, “egg”), Armenian ձու (ju, “egg”), Northern Kurdish hêk (“egg”), Southern Kurdish خا (xa, “egg”), Zazaki hak (“egg”), Pashto هګۍ (hagë́y), ويه (wë́ya, “egg”), Persian خاگ (xâg), خایه (xâye, “egg”). This native English form was displaced by the Old Norse–derived egg in the 16th century.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: ei, ǣġ, *aij, *ajją, *h₂ōwyóm, īeġ
  • Suffix: *-yos

Usage

Inflected Forms

Phrases

suffix -ey ey up

Frequently Paired Words

Cockney ea eyot island oe suffix -ey ey up

Synonyms

Homonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce ey?
The recorded pronunciation is /eɪ/.
What does ey mean?
An egg.
Where does ey come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce ey

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ey”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/eɪ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “ey”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “ey” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.