dey Meaning, Definition & Usage

Dey noun
Etymology
See Dairy.
Definitions
  1. A servant who has charge of the dairy; a dairymaid. Obs. Chaucer.
Dey noun
Etymology
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.
Wordforms
plural Deys
Definitions
  1. The governor of Algiers; -- so called before the French conquest in 1830.

Webster 1913