Chapter CLXVIII: Section X: Derivation of Interjections

Those significant and constructive words which are occasionally used as Interjections, (such as _Good! Strange! Indeed_!,) do not require an explanation here; and those mere sounds which are in no wise expressive of thought, scarcely admit of definition or derivation. The Interjection HEY is probably a corruption of the adjective _High_;--ALAS is from the French _Hélas_:--ALACK is probably a corruption of _Alas_;--WELAWAY or WELLAWAY, (which is now corrupted into WELLADAY,) is said by some to be from the Anglo-Saxon _Wá-lá-wá_, i.e., _Wo-lo-wo_;--"FIE," says Tooke, "is the imperative of the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon verb _Fian_, to hate;"--_Heyday_ is probably from _high day_;--AVAUNT, perhaps from the French _avant_, before;--LO, from _look_;--BEGONE, from _be_ and _gone_;--WELCOME, from _well_ and _come_;--FAREWELL, from _fare_ and _well_.