ai - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Originated 1685–95, from Brazilian Portuguese aí, from Old Tupi.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑ.i/

ai (plural ais or ai)

1. A type of three-toed sloth, Bradypus tridactylus, endemic to forests of southern Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern Brazil.

• (Bradypus tridactylus): maned sloth

• unau (two-toed sloth)

• “ai”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “ai”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

•   ai on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
•   Bradypus tridactylus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Contraction of aight (which itself is a contraction of all right).

• IPA^(key): /aɪ/
• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: ay, aye, I, eye

ai

1. (slang, US) All right.

   Ai, let's go.

• -ia, IA, i.a.

ai

1. water

• Sidney Herbert Ray, A comparative study of the Melanesian Island languages (1926), page 351

• ay

From Proto-Albanian *a-ei (compound of proclitic particle *a and an ancient demostrative *ei), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey combined with Proto-Indo-European *ís (“he, this (one)”). Compare Latin is, German er, Lithuanian jìs, Sanskrit अयम् (ayám)).

• IPA^(key): [aj]

ai m sg (accusative atë, dative atij, ablative atij)

1. he

ai

1. that

ai

1. water

• Darrell T. Tryon, New Hebrides languages: an internal classification (1976)

ai

1. banana

• transnewguinea.org, citing Franklin KJ. 1975. Comments on Proto-Engan. In SA Wurm, Ed. New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study: Papuan languages and the New Guinea linguistic scene. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 263-275.'

ai

1. penis

From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

ai

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)
2. river, lake

• François, Alexandre. 2008. An online lexicon of Araki (Santo, Vanuatu). Electronic files. Paris: CNRS. (Pdf version) ‒ entry ai.

From English eye.

ai

1. eye
2. headlight of a car
3. seed

From English I.

ai

1. I

From English high.

ai

1. high, tall

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈaj]
• Rhymes: -aj

ai

1. ouch (pain), ooh (pain)

ai m (plural ais)

1. ooh (pain)

ai

1. First person singular general possessive; my (used with general-class objects)

• IPA^(key): /ˈaj/
• Hyphenation: ai

ai

1. second-person singular indicative present of avè

• “avè” in Aiaccinu: Cunghjugatori corsu

ạị

1. water

• wẹ

• Karl J. Franklin, Comparative Wordlist 1 of the Gulf District and adjacent areas (1975), page 67
• Karl James Franklin, Pacific Linguistics (1973, →ISBN, page 130 (see we)

ai

1. water

• Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 114

• aï (obsolete)

Borrowed from Portuguese ai, from Old Tupi ai.

• IPA^(key): /ɑi/
• Hyphenation: ai

ai m (plural ais)

1. pale-throated sloth, Bradypus tridactylus

   Synonym: drievingerige luiaard

ai

1. ow, ouch

• aia

Compare Estonian ai, Ingrian ai, Karelian ai, Ludian ai, Veps ai, Votic ai, and Swedish aj, Norwegian aj, Latvian aj. Perhaps natural; tracing an origin is practically impossible.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑi̯/, [ˈɑ̝i̯]
• Rhymes: -ɑi
• Syllabification^(key): ai

ai

1. ouch!
2. oh!

   Ai, se olitkin sinä!

   Oh, it was you!

3. (colloquial, interrogative particle) Oh? As in...?

   "Käytkö kaupassa?" "Ai, ruokakaupassa?"

   "Will you go to the shop?" "Oh, the food shop?"

• (ouch): aih, au, auts.
• (interrogative): -ko, -kö

• ai niin

• “ai”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

• -ia, ia

• IPA^(key): /e/, /ɛ/
• Homophones: et, aie, aies, aient, ait, es, est, hais, hait

ai

1. first-person singular present indicative of avoir

   J’ai un chien.

   I have a dog.

• IA

From Latin allium.

ai m (plural ais)

1. garlic

From Old Galician-Portuguese ay (attested since the 13^th century).

• IPA^(key): [ˈaj]

ai

1. ouch! expresses pain
2. ooh! expresses pain
3. oh! expresses concern

   • 1812, Antonio Benito Fandiño, A Casamenteira:

     Ai tontiño, porque iñoras
     o qu’he mantér casa e vida,
     que por ben que estea sortida,
     hai faltas a todas horas.
     O segundo, que teu pai
     pensa com’home de ben,
     e así por vergonza ten
     unha nora que non trai.
     Orasme, sobr’esto hai,
     que a dous parizós que teña,
     non tendes donde vos veña,
     cando ela non colla un mal.

     Oh, silly, because you don't know
     what it is to keep house and life,
     no matter how well stocked it is,
     there's lack at all hours.
     Second, your father
     thinks like a good man,
     and to his shame he has
     a daughter-in-law who doesn't bear.
     However, on this matter,
     with just two childbirths that she has,
     you'll be left resourceless,
     and that if she doesn't get sick.

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “ay”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “ai”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “ai”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “ai”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kahiw.

ai

1. tree
2. wood

From Proto-Oceanic *api, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *api, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *apuy, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *hapuy, from Proto-Austronesian *Sapuy.

ai

1. fire

• ayí (Benin)

From Proto-Gbe *a-yĩ́ (“earth”). Cognates include Fon ayǐ, Saxwe Gbe nyixɔ́, Adja anyi. Perhaps related to Yoruba ayé

• IPA^(key): /ā.jí/

aí (plural aí lẹ́) (Nigeria)

1. ground

From Proto-Polynesian *qai, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qasiq.

• IPA^(key): /ˈai̯/, [ˈɐj], [ˈɛj] (rapid speech)

ai

1. to have sexual intercourse; to copulate

ai

1. 1st-person plural pronoun exclusive: we, us (but not you)

From Proto-Malayic *air, Proto-Malayo-Chamic *air, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

• IPA^(key): /aiʔ/, /aɛʔ/

ai

1. water

• Adelaar, K. A. (1992) Proto-Malayic: The reconstruction of its phonology and parts of its lexicon and morphology‎^[2], Canberra: The Australian National University
• Asmah Haji Omar (1977) “The Iban Language”, in The Sarawak Museum Journal, volume XXV, number 46, pages 81-100
• Smith, A. (2017) The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Ultimately a natural sound. Compare Finnish ai and Estonian ai.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈɑi̯/, [ˈɑi̯]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈɑi̯/, [ˈɑi̯]
• Rhymes: -ɑi̯
• Hyphenation: ai

ai

1. Exclamation of pain or frustration: ouch! oh!

   ai voi ― oh-oh

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 5

• a' (truncation)

• IPA^(key): /ˈaj/
• Homophone: hai
• Rhymes: -aj
• Hyphenation: ài

ai

1. contraction of a i; to the, at the

• -ia, IA

ai

1. Rōmaji transcription of あい
2. Rōmaji transcription of アイ

ai

1. Alternative spelling of ábi (sense 1).

From Proto-Malayic *air, Proto-Malayo-Chamic *air, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

• IPA^(key): /aiʔ/

ai

1. water

• Smith, A. (2017) The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

• IPA^(key): /aj/

ai (upper case Ai)

1. A letter of the Kiowa alphabet.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ai ai, Au au, Aui aui, B̶ b̶, B b, D̶ d̶, D d, E e, G̶ g̶, G g, H h, I i, K k, Kʼ kʼ, L l, M m, N n, n̶, O o, Oi oi, P p, Pʼ pʼ, S s, T t, Tʼ tʼ, Ts ts, Tsʼ tsʼ, U u, Ui ui, W w, Y y, Z z, ꞉

Inherited from Proto-Yeniseian *axʷ (“I”). Compare Assan aj (“I”), Arin aj (“I”), and Pumpokol ad (“I”).

ai

1. I (first-person singular subjective)

• ajoŋ

ai

1. friend

a +‎ i

ai

1. at or to the (+ plural noun)

ai (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling אאי)

1. Alternative form of aí

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈa.iː/, [ˈäiː] or IPA^(key): /ˈa.i/, [ˈäɪ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.i/, [ˈäːi]

ai

1. second-person singular present active imperative of aiō

   • c. 270 BCE – c. 201 BCE, Gnaeus Naevius, Fragments Palliatae.125:^[1]

     An nā́ta est spṓnsa praégnās? Vél aï vél negā!

     Was the fiancée born pregnant? Answer ”yes” or ”no”!

This form was no longer in common use in Classical Latin and is attested only once, in a quotation in a grammatical treatise.

• “ai”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ai”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • do you think so? are you in earnest: ain tu?
    

ai

1. ouch!
2. oh!

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *apuy, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *hapuy, from Proto-Austronesian *Sapuy.

ai

1. fire

Compare Russian ой (oj, “ow!”).

ái: IPA^(key): /a͡ɪ/

aĩ: IPA^(key): /ɐ͡ɪ/

ái! or aĩ!

1. ow!, ah!, (expresses pain, fear or surprise)
2. oi!, hey! (used to attract someone's attention)

• oi!, ui!
• oi!, a!

ai

1. Alternative form of aj (“garlic”)

ai

1. Romanization of ᠠᡳ

ai

1. Nonstandard spelling of āi.
2. Nonstandard spelling of ái.
3. Nonstandard spelling of ǎi.
4. Nonstandard spelling of ài.

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

ai

1. (to be) bitter

ai

1. wound, injury

ai

1. Alternative form of þei (“they”)

Inherited from Assamese আই (ai).

ai

1. mother, mom

ai

1. (Guernsey) first-person singular present indicative of aver

ai

1. (Mooring) not

ai

1. used to express surprise

• “ai” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

ai

1. used to express surprise

• “ai” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

ai

1. first-person singular present indicative of aver

ai

1. huh
2. geez
3. what
4. hey

• "ai" in Cliff Goddard (1992) Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara to English Dictionary, 2nd edition
• Ninti Ngapartji

• IPA^(key): /ɐi/

ai

1. no way!

Onomatopoeic.

• Rhymes: -aj
• Hyphenation: ai

ai

1. ouch (expression of physical pain)

   Ai! Pisei um prego! ― Ouch! I stepped on a nail!

2. oh (expression of concern)

From Proto-Polynesian *hai. Cognates include Tongan hai and Maori wai.

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.i/
• Hyphenation: a‧i

ai

1. who?

• Paulus Kieviet (2017) A grammar of Rapa Nui‎^[4], Berlin: Language Science Press, →ISBN, page 404

ai

1. come

• IPA^(key): /aj/
• Rhymes: -aj
• Hyphenation: ai

ai (masculine plural possessive)

1. of

   Niște prieteni ai lui sunt interesanți.

   Some friends of his are interesting.

• al (masculine/neuter singular)
• a (feminine singular)
• ale (feminine/neuter plural)

From Latin allium / alium.

ai m (uncountable)

1. (regional) garlic

   Synonym: usturoi

• aior
• mujdei

• ceapă

Inflected form of avea (“to have”).

ai

1. second-person singular present indicative of avea

   (you) have

   Ai vreun prieten în România?

   Do you have any friends in Romania?

2. inflection of avea:
   1. second-person singular present subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

From an old or proto-Romanian form ae, from Latin habēs.^[1]

ai

1. (tu) ai (modal auxiliary, second-person singular form of avea, used with past participles to form perfect compus tenses)

   (you) have...

• am
• a
• ați
• au

Probably from a Vulgar Latin *eas, from Latin habēbās.

(tu) ai (modal auxiliary, second-person singular form of avea, used with infinitives to form conditional tenses)

1. (you) would

   Ai fi murit dacă ți-aș fi spus.

   You would have died if I'd told you.

• am
• ați
• ar
• aș

ai (plural aaita)

1. his father

ai

1. (rare) still (used with nominalized third person verbs)

• Moser, Mary B., Marlett, Stephen A. (2010) Comcaac quih yaza quih hant ihiip hac: cmiique iitom - cocsar iitom - maricaana iitom [Seri-Spanish-English Dictionary], 2nd edition, Hermosillo: Plaza y Valdés Editores, →ISBN, page 43.

• ay (unofficial)

• IPA^(key): /aj/

From English eye.

ai

1. eye

From English aye, ay.

ai

1. yes

• Wilner, John, editor (2003-2007), “ai”, in Languages of Suriname, 5th edition, SIL International, Sranan-English Dictionary

From Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *wair, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

ai

1. water

• ABVD; Bahasa Sumbawa

• (Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA^(key): [ʔaːj˧˧]
• (Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key): [ʔaːj˦˥]

ai

1. Synonym of cò niêng

ai (埃)

1. to lean on

ai

1. blow (of wind); steam;
2. breath

   lẹo ai ― out of breath

3. smell; odor

   đâm ai ― to smell

   ai nắc ― strong smell

   ai hom ― pleasant smell

   ai mên ― rancid smell

   lẹo ai ― odorless

• Lương Bèn (2011) Từ điển Tày-Việt [Tay-Vietnamese dictionary]‎^[5][6] (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên
• Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎^[7] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội
• Léopold Michel Cadière (1910) Dictionnaire Tày-Annamite-Français [Tày-Vietnamese-French Dictionary]‎^[8] (in French), Hanoi: Impressions d'Extrême-Orient

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kahiw, compare Tagalog kahoy.

ai

1. tree
2. wood

From English eye.

ai

1. (anatomy) eye

   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 3:5:

     Sapos yutupela i kaikai pikinini bilong dispela diwai, bai ai bilong yutupela i op na yutupela i kisim save long wanem samting i gutpela, na wanem samting i nogut, na bai yutupela i kamap wankain olsem God. God i save long dispela, olsem na em i tambuim yutupela long kaikai pikinini bilong dispela diwai.”

     →New International Version translation

2. hole, opening, lid
3. tip

• ai i pas

• IPA^(key): [ˈa.i]
• Hyphenation: a‧i

From Proto-Polynesian *hai. Cognates include Hawaiian ai and Samoan ai.

ai

1. who?

From Proto-Polynesian *ai. Cognates include Hawaiian ai and Samoan ai.

ai

1. Anaphoric particle used to refer to an adverbial clause; there, then

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎^[9], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 1

From English I.

ai

1. I (see also mi)

From English eye.

ai

1. eye

ai

1. plural of aio

From Proto-Vietic *ʔeː (“who”). Cognate with Tho [Cuối Chăm] ʔeː¹.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔaːj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔaːj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔaːj˧˧]

ai • (埃)

1. who

   Ai (mà) biết.

   Who knows? / How should I know?

2. whoever
3. someone else
4. one, a person
   • 2005, Nguyễn Ngọc Tư, "Cuối mùa nhan sắc" (in Cánh đồng bất tận), Trẻ publishing house

     Người ở chùa, người bán vé số, người ngủ công viên, người hát rong, ít ai có nhà để về.

     Some live at the temple, some sell lottery tickets, some sleep in parks, some play music in the streets; few have a home to go back to.

5. (rhetorical) nobody

• The interrogative pronoun ai is used for a person. When ai functions as the subject of the question, it is placed at the beginning of the question.

Ai có ô tô? ― Who has a car?

• When functioning as the predicate, it can either follow or predate the linking verb là.

Hải là ai? ― Who is Hải?

Ai là Hải? ― Who is Hải?

• When functioning as the object, it is placed after the verb.

Nga vẽ ai? ― Whom is Nga drawing?

• "ai" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)

ai

1. always
2. at all times
3. constantly (habitually)
4. ever (always)
5. habitually

• neai

• ai laidio (forever)

May derive from a (“interrogative particle”) +‎ yw (“is, are”) or from or via the synonymous ae.

• IPA^(key): /ai̯/
• Rhymes: -ai̯

ai

1. interrogative particle (used when a non-verbal element is fronted for emphasis)

   Synonym: ife

   Ai ef yw dy dad?

   Is he your father?

2. whether, if (used when the subordinate clause has a non-verbal element fronted for emphasis)

   Ni wn ai ef yw dy dad.

   I do not know whether he is your father.

• Used before a non-verbal element fronted for emphasis. Unemphatic initial verbs, on the other hand, employ the interrogative particle a.
• This word is found in formal language. As an initial interrogative particle, it is often dropped altogether in colloquial language or replaced with ife in some southern dialects.
• Likewise, with the meaning "whether", this may be dropped colloquially. An alternative construction influenced by English is to replaced the ai with os (“if”) followed by the appropriate dialect-specific indicating an emphatic subordinate clause, namely taw in south Wales and mai or na in the north.

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “ai”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.i/

ai

1. (intransitive) to come back, return
2. (intransitive) to depart

   naai sito? ― where did you depart from?

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[10], Pacific linguistics (as ay)

ai

1. (anatomy) foot

From Proto-Cariban [Term?]. Compare Apalaí ae, Hixkaryana yaye, Macushi yapai, and Waiwai yay.

• IPA^(key): [aj]

ai

1. through, by; indicates motion by way of a non-aquatic object of class 1

A possessed noun that is the object of this postposition does not take the possessed suffix -dü. The postposition can thus combine with nouns referring to body parts and parts of objects to form more complex postpositions/relational nouns.

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011) Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎^[11], Lyon, pages 267–272

• IPA^(key): /ai̯˧˥/

ái

1. crab

• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 40