hey

Meaning

Intj

1. (informal) An exclamation to get attention.
2. (informal) A protest or reprimand.
3. (informal) An expression of surprise.
4. (informal) An informal greeting, similar to hi.
5. (informal) A request for repetition or explanation; an expression of confusion.
6. (informal) Used as a tag question, to emphasise what goes before or to request that the listener express an opinion about what has been said.
7. (informal) A meaningless beat marker or extra, filler syllable in song lyrics.

Verb

To greet with a "hey"

Noun

A choreographic figure in which three or more dancers weave between one another, passing by left and right shoulder alternately.

Noun

Alternative spelling of he (“Hebrew letter”).

Synonyms

hello

👋

hi

👋

hallo

howdy

you there

say

🗣️

look

come on

listen

oy

oi

what

pay attention

tell me

there

well

what the fuck

woe

wow

WTF

yo

yoo-hoo

you

be careful

can it be that

a-hey

cut it out

eh

flow

greetings

👋

ha

halloo

ho

huh

hullo

presto

so long

stop it

Translations

hé

hallo

👋

hé

👋

zeg

ehi

ei

Hallo

hé daar

opa

hè

hola

👋

hoi

He

hola

epa

👋

Pronounced as (IPA)

/heɪ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: hey

Inherited from Old English: *hē

Cognate with Dutch: hé

Cognate with German: hei

Cognate with Danish: -

Cognate with Swedish: hej

Cognate with Faroese: hey

Cognate with Old Norse: -

Cognate with Icelandic: -

Cognate with Norwegian: hei

Cognate with Polish: hej

Cognate with Romanian: hei

Cognate with Russian: эй

Cognate with Burmese: ဟေး

Cognate with Finnish: hei

Cognate with Mandarin Chinese: 哎

Cognate with Ancient Greek: εἶα

Cognate with Latin: eia

Cognate with Sanskrit: हे

In summary

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.