Deys

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dey \Dey\, n.; pl. {Deys}. [Turk. d[=a]i, 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.
     [1913 Webster]