ay me
intjEtymology From Middle French aymi.
1
Archaic Expressing grief, sorrow etc.
- Ay me, it is my husband.c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- Ay-me, to whom did I reserve, to discover that singular and loving affection, which in my soule I bare unto him?, II. 8
1 more example
- Ay me! they little know / How dearly I abide that boast so vain[…].1667, John Milton, “Book LXXXIX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 76-77: