ei

Forms

ei ^[1] It is also spelled hei.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is an exclamation of grief, which the OLD compares with Ancient Greek αἴ (aí, “ah!”).^[2] Köbler sets it beside a reconstructed interjection Proto-Indo-European *ēi (Pokorny 297).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Plautus as its first author,^[3] who has ei, periī miser, “ah, I am lost, poor wretch”, in the Amphitruo.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It expresses anguish or distress, especially in ei mihi! and ei miserō mihi!, “ah me!”, “woe is me!”.^[2] It is frequent in comedy, in Plautus, Caecilius and Terence.^[4][5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ei, periī miser.^[4][3]
• 190–159 BC – Terence.^[5][3]

Meanings

Interjection

1. Ah! Alas! (in grief or fear);^[2][5][1] ei mihi!, woe is me!^[2]

Usage notes

The same spelling is also the dative singular of is.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press