aye

1 of 3

adverb (1)

ˈī 

variants or less commonly ay

: 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

Adverb (1)

• always
• constantly
• invariably
• continually
• forever

Adverb (2)

• yes
• alright
• yeah
• OK

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

Noun

Yet to the researchers’ surprise, the aye-ayes had no problem locating the target areas. — Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 10 May 2026

The measure passed the Assembly with 62 bipartisan aye votes and now heads to the Senate. — June 24, CBS News, 25 June 2026

Last month, the San Francisco central committee resolution passed with 15 aye votes, eight nays and eight abstentions. — Heather Knight, New York Times, 3 May 2025

Presuming all 53 Senate Republicans vote aye, at least seven Democrats would have to join a bipartisan majority. — Lauren Peller, ABC News, 2 Sep. 2025

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

Phrases Containing aye

• aye-aye

Rhymes for aye

• ai
• bae
• bi
• buy
• by
• bye
• chai
• chi
• cry
• die
• dry
• dye

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"