FromMiddle Englishky,kye, fromOld Englishcȳ(“cows”), plural ofcū(“cow”). Cognate withDutchkoeien(“cows”),GermanKühe(“cows”),Danishkøer(“cows”),Icelandickýr(“cows”). More atcow and comparekine(“cows”).
kye
- (archaic or dialectal)plural ofcow
1836,Joanna Baillie,Witchcraft, act 1:Ay, that I do, to my cost. She and her black cat, too, live owre near my milkkye, Brindle and Hawky gi' but half the milk they should gi', and we wat weel whare the ither half gangs to.
1932,Lewis Grassic Gibbon,Sunset Song (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published2006, page23:devil the move would the factor at Meikle House make to[…] mend the roof of the byre that leaked like a sieve on the head of Mistress Munro when she milked thekye on a stormy night.
kye (uncountable)
- (UK, navalslang)Cocoa(the drink).
2009, John Roberts,Safeguarding the Nation: The Story of the Modern Royal Navy:[…] wrapped in layers of warm clothing against rushing icy air, and all longing for bubbling hotkye (Navy cocoa) at midnight.
2013, David Arnold,Hursey in Conflict: A Story of Love and Victory, page73:Then he walked back to the wheelhouse. Guido arrived with three cups ofkye and a plate of hot buttered toast.
FromKorean계(契)(gye).
kye (pluralkyes)
- AKoreanfundraisingmeeting.
kye
- Thekatakana syllableキェ(kye) inHepburn-like romanization.
kye
- Alternative form ofkeye(“key”)
kye
- Alternative form ofkie
FromOld Englishcȳ.
kye
- plural ofcoo
1794,Robert Burns,The Highland Widow's Lament:For then I had a score o'kye, / Och-on, Och-on, Och-rie! / Feeding on yon hill sae high, / And giving milk to me.- (pleaseadd an English translation of this quotation)
kye (pluralkyes)
- (Southern Scots) akey
