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Webster 1913 Edition
Dey
Dey
,Noun.
pl.
Deys
(#)
. [Turk.
dāi
, 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
.] The governor of Algiers; – so called before the French conquest in 1830.
Webster 1828 Edition
Dey
DEY
,Noun.