aye

/eɪ/

//eɪ// adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"aye" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“aye” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #8,388) as an adverb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#8,388
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Ever, always.

Corpus desk

Index EN-aye · aye · English

aye · rank #8,388 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,388
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH awhile

Nearest frequency peer: awhile (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “aye”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “aye” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

aye vs AZ
0% similar
aye vs ayr
67% similar
aye vs Ayn
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for aye
PropertyValue
Headwordaye
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
IPA/eɪ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#8,388
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “aye”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).ayelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “awhile” (#8,387), “bastard” (#8,389), “ana” (#8,386). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “aye” is #8,388. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for aye is neighbouring look-alikes ("AZ", "ayr", …), not just typos; it is anadverb pronounced /eɪ/. Frequency #8,388 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Gloss: "Ever, always.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for aye in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "AZ", "ayr", "Ayn", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu Proto-Germanic *aiwazder. Old Norse eyder. Middle English ay English aye From Middle English ay, ai, aȝȝ, from Old Norse ei, ey, from Proto-Germanic *aiwa, *aiwō (“ever, always”), from *ai… The correct English form is aye, spelled A-Y-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ever, always.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how aye appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. […]Do that good miſcheefe, which may make this Iſland / Thine owne for euer, and I thy Caliban, / For aye thy foot-licker.
  2. The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, / And southward aye we fled.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu Proto-Germanic *aiwazder. Old Norse eyder. Middle English ay English aye From Middle English ay, ai, aȝȝ, from Old Norse ei, ey, from Proto-Germanic *aiwa, *aiwō (“ever, always”), from *aiwaz (“age; law”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“long time”). Doublet of aeviternity and aevum. See also Old English āwo, āwa, ā, ō, Middle Dutch ie, German je; also Old English ǣ(w) (“law”), West Frisian ieu (“century”), Dutch eeuw (“century”); also Irish aois (“age, period”), Breton oad (“age, period”), Latin ævum (“eternity”), Ancient Greek αἰών (aiṓn).

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "aye"?
"aye" is spelled A-Y-E. The IPA pronunciation is /eɪ/.
What does "aye" mean?
As an adverb, "aye" means: Ever, always.
What words are commonly confused with "aye"?
"aye" is commonly confused with "AZ", "ayr", "Ayn". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "aye"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "aye" is /eɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "aye"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu Proto-Germanic *aiwazder. Old Norse eyder. Middle English ay English aye From Middle English ay, ai, aȝȝ, from Old Norse ei, ey, from Proto-Germanic *aiwa, *aiwō (“ever, always”)... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "aye", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ana#8,386cod#8,399vet#8,376cuz#8,407

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list