# ait

Pronunciation: say "AYT" /eɪt/

## Noun

1. A small island in a river, especially one in the River Thames in England.
   - Simple: A small island in a river, often one in the Thames.
   - _The boat drifted past a willow-covered ait below the lock._
   - _Several aits divide the river into narrow channels along this stretch._
2. An oat; usually in the plural, aits, the oat plant or its grain as a crop. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: The Scots word for oat. Aits means oats, the grain crop.

## Origin

**Meaning 1** — From Middle English eyt or eit, from Old English īġeoþ (a small island or islet), a diminutive of īġ or ēġ meaning 'island'.
**Meaning 2** — Old English āte became Middle English ate and then Scots ait or ate. The word is related to oat.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ait (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).