Wey - Wiktionary

See also: Wey

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English weie, waie, weihe, wæȝe, from Old English wǣġ (“a weight; a tool for weighing, balance, scale”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāgu, from Proto-Germanic *wēgō (“scales; weight”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to move, bring, transport”). Cognate with German Waage (“weight”), Icelandic vág (“a weight”).

Pronunciation

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• enPR: wā, IPA(key): /weɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Homophones: way, weigh; whey (wine–whine merger)

Noun

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wey (plural weys)

1. (uncommon, archaic) An old English measure of weight containing 224 pounds; equivalent to 2 hundredweight.
   • c. 1376, William Langland, The Vision of Piers Plowman, Version B, Passus 5, Line 91: Than though I hadde this wouke ywonne a weye of Essex cheese.
   • 1843, The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge‎[1], volume 27, page 202:Seven pounds make a clove, 2 cloves a stone, 2 stone a tod, 6½ tods a wey, 2 weys a sack, 12 sacks a last. […] It is to be observed here that a sack is 13 tods, and a tod 28 pounds, so that the sack is 364 pounds.
   • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 208:Cheese and salt are purchased by the wey of two hundredweight, or by the stone of fourteen pounds.
   • 1858, Peter Lund Simmonds, The Dictionary of Trade Products, Manufacturing, and Technical Terms‎[2], page 410:WEY, WEIGH, an English measure of weight; for wool, equal to 6½ tods of 28 lbs.; a load or five quarters of wheat; 40 bushels of salt, each 56 lbs.; 32 cloves of cheese, each 7 lbs.; 48 bushels of oats and barley; 2 to 3 cwt. of butter.

Anagrams

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• Wye, wye, yew

Akatek

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Etymology

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From Proto-Mayan *way-

Pronunciation

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• IPA(key): /bej/

Verb

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wey

1. (intransitive) to sleep

References

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Preliminary Classic Maya ‐ English, English ‐ Classic Maya Vocabulary of Hieroglyphic Readings by Erik Boot  2022. Akateko Living Dictionary. Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. ( to sleep "wey" wav recording )

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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From Old English weġ, from Proto-West Germanic *weg, from Proto-Germanic *wegaz.

Alternative forms

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• wei, weie, wai, way

Pronunciation

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• IPA(key): /wæi̯/

Noun

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wey (plural weys)

1. way

Descendants

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• English: way
• Scots: wey, way
• Yola: wye, waie

References

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• “wei, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

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Noun

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wey

1. alternative form of whey

Nigerian Pidgin

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Etymology

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Conjunction

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wey

1. that
   • 2025 April 24, Sammi Awami, “Wetin to know as Tanzania ban South Africa and Malawi imports inside quarrel wey enter anoda level”, in BBC News Pidgin‎[3]:Di border crossing between Tanzania and Malawi wey dey normally dey full off life dey quiet dan usual on Thursday as a result of one regional trade row wey don enter anoda level.The border crossing between Tanzania and Malawi that is normally full of life is quieter than usual on Thursday as a result of one regional trade row that has escalated.

Pronoun

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wey

1. who
   • 2019 March 27, “How NYSC corpers fit get di free laptops and phones wey EU wan dash dem”, in BBC News Pidgin:Any NYSC member wey dey interested need to send in entry ontop social media: Instagram and Twitter.Any NYSC member who is interested needs to send in an entry on social media: Instagram and Twitter.

Pipil

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Adjective

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wey (plural wejwey or wejweymet)

1. big

Further reading

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• Campbell, L. (1985). The Pipil Language of El Salvador. Mouton De Gruyter.
• Lara-Martínez, R., McCallister, R. Glosario cultural náwat pipil y nicarao.

Spanish

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Etymology

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Variant of güey, representing the relaxed pronunciation of the /ɡw/ sounds.

Pronunciation

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• IPA(key): /ˈwei/ [ˈwei̯]
• Rhymes: -ei
• Syllabification: wey

Noun

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wey m (plural weyes)

1. (Mexico, colloquial slang, eye dialect, Internet) chump, punk, dumbass, idiot, jerk
2. (Mexico, colloquial, Internet, also Latin America) dude, guy, buddy Synonyms: carnal, cuate, tonto, bato

Usage notes

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• Due to the popularization of memes using Mexican slang all over Latin America through social networks, the word is heavily used on the internet by non-Mexicans and sometimes employed in spoken language.

Sranan Tongo

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Etymology

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From Dutch weide.

Noun

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wey

1. pasture