Category:Dey

Dey, n. Etym: [See Dairy.]

Defn: A servant who has charge of the dairy; a dairymaid. [Obs.] Chaucer.

dey Dey, n.; pl. Deys. Etym: [Turk. dai, 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.]

Defn: The governor of Algiers; -- so called before the French conquest in 1830.