A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1420, 1513
[0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Hey, int. [e.m.E. and ME. hey, early ME. hei. Cf. Du. and G. hei, Dau. and Sw. hej, and Hay int.] A call to attract attention, or a word used simply as an exclamation. — c1420 Wynt. viii. 4686.
The Erle … cryid ‘Hey, apone thame tyte’ 1513 Doug. iii. viii. 36.
Our feris … hailsing gan the land with hey and haill 1513 Ib. vii. vii. 109.
Scho schowtis, ‘hey, how, Bacchus’ 1513 Ib. xi. i. 134.
Quhou large support, hey, … In hym hes tynt Ausonya
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Hey interj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/hey_interj>
