alai

There are two hypotheses concerning the origin of this word:^[1]

• A back-formation from the adverb alaikiro (“happily, merrily”), itself from Latin alacer.
• From Spanish alhaja (“jewel”), with the final -a being reinterpreted as an article.

• IPA^(key): /alai̯/ [a.lai̯]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alai̯, -ai̯
• Hyphenation: a‧lai

alai (comparative alaiago, superlative alaien, excessive alaiegi)

1. joyous, happy

• jai alai

• “alai”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “alai”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

alai (Valdôtain, Graphie BREL)

1. Alternative form of alar (“to go”) documented in the following location(s): Fontainemore

• IPA^(key): /ʔalaˈʔi/ [ʔa.laˈʔi]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: a‧la‧i

alaí (Hanunoo spelling ᜠᜮᜡ)

1. cry, moan, or sob of pain

• Conklin, Harold C. (1953), Hanunóo-English Vocabulary (University of California Publications in Linguistics), volume 9, London, England: University of California Press, →OCLC, page 24

• IPA^(key): /alai/

alai

1. place

   Synonym: endur

alai

1. first-person singular past historic of alare

• L'Aia

alai f

1. dative singular of ala

alai

1. second-person plural imperative of alar

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish آلای (alay), from Byzantine Greek ἀλάγιον (alágion).

alai n (plural alaiuri)

1. crowd that follows a ceremony

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

alai (VAI (animate-subject intransitive))

1. to hunt

• Rementer, Jim with Pearson, Bruce L. (2005), “alai”, in Grant Leneaux, Raymond Whritenour, editors, The Lenape Talking Dictionary, The Lenape Language Preservation Project