ay me
English
Etymology
From Middle French aymi.[1]
Interjection
- (now archaic) Expressing grief, sorrow etc.
- c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- Ay me, it is my husband.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:, II. 8:
- Ay-me, to whom did I reserve, to discover that singular and loving affection, which in my soule I bare unto him?
- 1667, John Milton, “Book LXXXIX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 76-77:
- Ay me! they little know / How dearly I abide that boast so vain […].
References
- ^ “ay”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.