hay English · revision 15034

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 825|origins=ine-pro *kau-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /heɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|hei]], [[inh|ang|hēg]] (Anglian), also [[m|ang|hīeg]] (West Saxon),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*haujam|t=that which is cut or mown]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from the root of [[m|ang|hēawan|t=to cut]] (see [[hew]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*kau-|t=to hew, strike]].^(Etymonline) It is cognate with [[osx|hōi]], [[nl|hooi]], [[goh|hewi]] (modern [[de|Heu]]) and [[non|hey]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and the Old Norse word reinforced the native one.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Grass cut and dried for fodder: about 825 in the OED, before 830 in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Make hay while the sun shines'' has been a proverb since the 16th century,^(Cresswell 2021) and ''to make hay of'', to throw into confusion, is from 1546.^(OED 1989) Haycock is from 1296.^(Barnhart 1988) ''To hit the hay'', at first to sleep in a barn, is from before 1880, hay for a bed from 1903, and a ''roll in the hay'' from 1941.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Haywire, used by North American farmers to bind bales, came to describe anything patched together, and by the 1920s ''to go haywire'' meant to go wrong.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 825 – hay.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1296 – haycock.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1546 – to make hay of.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1880 – to hit the hay.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1920s – to go haywire.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1941 – a roll in the hay.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Grass, clover or similar plants cut and dried as [[fodder]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A trifling amount of money: ''that's not hay''.^(AHD)

+ # ''hit the hay'' ''(slang)'': to go to bed.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''make hay while the sun shines'': to take full advantage of an opportunity.^(Collins 2023)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cut, dry and store grass as fodder.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To feed with hay.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hayer]]

+ * [[hayey]]

+ * [[hayfield]]

+ * [[haylift]]

+ * [[hayride]]

+ * [[haywire]]

+ * [[haycock]]

+ * [[hayfork]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hew]]

+ * [[haystack]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Several obsolete words are spelled hay: a hedge or enclosure, from [[ang|hege]] (about 725);^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) a net for catching rabbits (1389);^(OED 1989) and a country dance, from [[xno|haie]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}