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
Despite councilmembers broadly disavowing the contents of the social media posts Martinez shared, a previous attempt to censure Martinez with an urgency ordinance on Jan. 6 failed with a 2-5 vote, Zepeda and Brown the two ayes.โ๐ Image Sierra Lopez, Mercury News, 16 Jan. 2026 With Cornyn not on the floor, the vote for more than 25 minutes was stuck at 56 ayes and 40 nays, with three other GOP senators, Rick Scott of Florida, Wisconsinโs Ron Johnson and Mike Lee of Utah, not voting, for unclear reasons.โ๐ Image Emily Wilkins,dan Mangan, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2025 Presuming all 53 Senate Republicans vote aye, at least seven Democrats would have to join a bipartisan majority.โ๐ Image Lauren Peller, ABC News, 2 Sep. 2025 The program is set to expire Dec. 31, 2026, but on Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee advanced a bill out of committee (13 ayes, no nays) that would extend the program, and the same major players from the 2013 legislative session are lobbying again to extend and improve the tax credit.โ๐ Image Karoline Leonard, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025 The shwe yin aye ($7.99) is more like a refreshing dessert soup, made with sweet sticky rice, firm jelly cubes, coconut, poppy sago pearls and triangles of white bread steeped in coconut milk โ cool and fresh.โ๐ Image Rachel Bernhard, jsonline.com, 3 June 2025 Last month, the San Francisco central committee resolution passed with 15 aye votes, eight nays and eight abstentions.โ๐ Image Heather Knight, New York Times, 3 May 2025 The law passed with a strong majority of Democratic members voting aye.โ๐ Image Krista Kafer, The Denver Post, 15 Jan. 2025 Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the decision following an endorsement from the Chamber of Deputies and a Senate vote that saw 76 ayes, five nays and 35 abstentions.โ๐ Image Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019
Word History
Etymology
Adverb (1)
of uncertain origin
Note:
Perhaps a univerbation in Middle English of the interjection ahah entry 1 and the affirmative yeyea entry 1 with shift of stress; however, Middle English evidence for such a phrase is lacking.
Middle English ay, borrowed from Old Norse ei, ey, รฆ "ever, forever," going back to Germanic *aiwim or *aiwom (whence also Old English ฤ "always, ever, eternally," Old Saxon io, eo "ever, at any time, always," Old High German io, eo "on every occasion, always," Gothic ni โฆ aiw "never"), accusative forms, used adverbially, of *aiwis or *aiwos "time, eternity" (whence Old Frisian ฤwe "eternity," Old Saxon and Old High German ฤwa, Middle Dutch ฤwe, ee "age, eternity"), going back to Indo-European *h2eiฬฏ-uฬฏo- "eternity, age," whence also Latin aevus, aevum "time as the medium in which events occur, age, lifetime"; also, from a stem *h2eiฬฏ-uฬฏ-on-, Greek aiแนn "lifetime, long period of time, age"; and from a u-stem with ablaut and shifting stress *h2รณiฬฏ-u-, *h2iฬฏ-รฉuฬฏ-s, Sanskrit ฤฬyuแธฅ "vital force," Avestan ฤiiu (nominative), yaoลก (genitive) "lifetime"
Note:
In Middle English the outcome of the Old Norse word has fallen together with the outcome of Old English -รฆg (as in dรฆg "day"). Old English ฤ continued into Middle English as o, oo, and the two words may occur combined as "(for) ay and oo," meaning "forever." For incorporation of ฤ 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 วฃ "law, marriage," Old Frisian ฤ, ฤwe, iลwe "law," Old Saxon ฤo, ฤu, Old High German ฤwa, ฤwฤซ "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."
