whey
/hweɪ/noun, interjection
whey is spelled W-H-E-Y: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, whey means “The liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained in the process of making cheese” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of whey is wheys.
How many letters and syllables are in whey?
| Letters | 4: W-H-E-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,150th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is whey?
Whey appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce whey?
- /hweɪ/
- /weɪ/
Whey has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-whey.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of whey
- wheys plural
- whig
- whay
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does whey mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained in the process of making cheese.
interjection
- 1
UKdatedA shout for attention
- 2
UKA shout of enthusiasm or delight
- 3
UKShouted when someone drops a glass or other crockery, especially in a pub.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Whey in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense liquid remaining after milk has been curdled:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | petit-lait |
| German | Molke |
| Portuguese | soro |
| Spanish | suero |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does whey come from?
From Middle English whey, wheye, whei, from Old English hwǣġ, hwæiġ, hwæġ, hweġ (“whey”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwaij (“whey”) (cognate with Saterland Frisian Waai, Woaie, West Frisian waai, Dutch wei, Low German Wei, German Low German Wei), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- (“to pile up, build”) (compare Old Church Slavonic чинъ (činŭ, “order”), Ancient Greek ποιέω (poiéō, “to pile up, make”), Sanskrit कय (káya, “every one”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).