English Dictionary: Dey | by the DICT Development Group |
2 results for Dey | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Dey \Dey\, n. [See {Dairy}.] A servant who has charge of the dairy; a dairymaid. [Obs.] --Chaucer. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Dey \Dey\, n.; pl. {Deys}. [Turk. d[be]i, orig., a maternal uncle, then a friendly title formerly given to middle-aged or old people, especially among the Janizaries; and hence, in Algiers, consecrated at length to the commanding officer of that corps, who frequently became afterward pasha or regent of that province; hence the European misnomer of dey, as applied to the latter: cf. F. dey.] The governor of Algiers; -- so called before the French conquest in 1830. |