aye

1 of 3

adverb (1)

ˈī 
variants or less commonly ay
Synonyms of aye
: yes
aye, aye, sir

aye

2 of 3

noun

ˈī 
variants or less commonly ay
plural ayes
: an affirmative vote or voter
the ayes have it

aye

3 of 3

adverb (2)

ˈā 
variants or less commonly ay
: always, continually, ever
Love that will aye endure …—W. S. Gilbert

Synonyms of aye

Relevance

Adverb (1)

Adverb (2)

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of aye in a Sentence

Adverb (1) I aye thought that she was the loveliest woman I ever laid eyes on a friendship that will aye endure Adverb (2) aye, you're right about that
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The internet is a little insane for me right now, but aye, the teeth are getting done, and the girls are talking about me. — Moises Mendez Ii, USA Today, 14 Aug. 2026 The measure passed the Assembly with 62 bipartisan aye votes and now heads to the Senate. — June 24, CBS News, 25 June 2026 National topic, local debate Avon Township’s resolution passed with four ayes and an abstaining vote from Supervisor Michele Bauman. — Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2026 Yet to the researchers’ surprise, the aye-ayes had no problem locating the target areas. — Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 10 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for aye

Word History

Etymology

Adverb (1)

of uncertain origin

Note: Perhaps a univerbation in Middle English of the interjection ah ah entry 1 and the affirmative ye yea entry 1 with shift of stress; however, Middle English evidence for such a phrase is lacking.

Noun

noun derivative of aye entry 1

Adverb (2)

Middle English ay, borrowed from Old Norse ei, ey, æ "ever, forever," going back to Germanic *aiwim or *aiwom (whence also Old English ā "always, ever, eternally," Old Saxon io, eo "ever, at any time, always," Old High German io, eo "on every occasion, always," Gothic ni … aiw "never"), accusative forms, used adverbially, of *aiwis or *aiwos "time, eternity" (whence Old Frisian ēwe "eternity," Old Saxon and Old High German ēwa, Middle Dutch ēwe, ee "age, eternity"), going back to Indo-European *h2ei̯-u̯o- "eternity, age," whence also Latin aevus, aevum "time as the medium in which events occur, age, lifetime"; also, from a stem *h2ei̯-u̯-on-, Greek aiṓn "lifetime, long period of time, age"; and from a u-stem with ablaut and shifting stress *h2ói̯-u-, *h2i̯-éu̯-s, Sanskrit ā́yuḥ "vital force," Avestan āiiu (nominative), yaoš (genitive) "lifetime"

Note: In Middle English the outcome of the Old Norse word has fallen together with the outcome of Old English -æg (as in dæg "day"). Old English ā continued into Middle English as o, oo, and the two words may occur combined as "(for) ay and oo," meaning "forever." For incorporation of ā into compounds in Old English see aught entry 1, no entry 1, naught entry 1, each entry 1. Overlapping in formation with this Germanic etymon is a homonymous root evident in Old English ǣ "law, marriage," Old Frisian ē, ēwe, iōwe "law," Old Saxon ēo, ēu, Old High German ēwa, ēwī "law, command, covenant" (see echt). The two roots have been taken by some as identical, with the sense "law" a concretization of the sense "what lasts, what always exists."

First Known Use

Adverb (1)

1576, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1589, in the meaning defined above

Adverb (2)

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of aye was in the 13th century

Phrases Containing aye

Rhymes for aye

See All Rhymes for aye

Browse Nearby Words

Aydın
aye
aye-aye
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Aye.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aye. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

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Kids Definition

aye

1 of 3 adverb
variants also ay
ˈā 
: forever sense 1, always

aye

2 of 3 adverb
variants also ay
ˈī 
: yes entry 1 sense 1
aye, aye, sir

aye

3 of 3 noun
variants also ay
ˈī 
plural ayes
: a vote yes or a person who votes yes
Etymology

Adverb

Middle English aye "always"; of Scandinavian origin

Adverb

perhaps from Middle English ye "yes, yea"

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