(ōˈyĕsˌ, ōˈyĕzˌ, ōˌyāˈ) also o·yes (ōˈyĕsˌ)
interjection Used three times in succession to introduce the opening of a court of law.
noun pl. o·yes·ses (ōˈyĕsˌĭz) This cry, used to open a court.
Word History: The courtroom cry “Oyez, oyez, oyez,” has probably puzzled more than one auditor, especially if pronounced “O yes.” (Many people have thought that the words were in fact
O yes.) This cry serves to remind us that up until the 18th century, speaking English in a British court of law was not required and one could instead use Law French, a form of French that evolved after the Norman Conquest, when Anglo-Norman became the language of the official class in England.
Oyez descends from the Anglo-Norman
oyez, the plural imperative form of
oyer, “to hear”; thus
oyez means “hear ye” and was used as a call for silence and attention. Although it would have been much heard in Medieval England, it is first recorded as an English word fairly late in the Middle English period, in a work composed around 1425.
