oyez
/oʊˈjeɪ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.59 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
intj
Hear ye. Attend. (Called by public criers or in court usually three times to secure silence or attentiveness).
noun
A cry of oyez.
Example Sentences
- "“Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! The Banquet is now ready!” called the two Beef Eaters, and in no time at all Palmer Cox’s resourceful Brownies had found a seat for every guest."
- "I truſte you make no queſtion about thoſe dull pated pennifathers, that in ſuch dudgen ſcorne reiected him, drunck deep of the ſowre cup of repentance for it, when the high flight of his lines in common brute was ooyeſſed."
Etymology
From Middle English oyes, from Old French oyez, the imperative plural of oir (“to hear; to listen”), from Latin audīre. Commonly folk-etymologized as (and pronounced homophonously to) O + yes in the early modern period.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /oʊˈjeɪ/
- British English: /ˈəʊˌjeɪ/