oyez

English dictionary entry

Meanings

intj
  1. Hear ye. Attend. (Called by public criers or in court usually three times to secure silence and/or attentiveness).
noun
  1. A cry of "oyez".
verb
  1. To proclaim with a cry of "oyez".

Pronunciation

/ˈəʊˌjeɪ/ /oʊˈjeɪ/ /oʊˈjɛs/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-oyez.wav LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-oyez2.wav

Word forms

oyez oyes oyezes

Etymology

From Middle English oyes, from Old French oyez, the imperative plural of oir (“hear; listen”), from Latin audīre. Commonly folk-etymologized as (and pronounced homophonously to) O + yes in the early modern period.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.