Definitions for oyezˈoʊ yɛs, ˈoʊ yɛz
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word oyez
Random House Webster's College Dictionary
o•yezˈoʊ yɛs, ˈoʊ yɛz(interj.)
hear! attend! (uttered by court officers, and formerly by public criers, to command silence before a proclamation).
(n.)a cry of “oyez.”
Origin of oyez:
1375–1425; late ME < AF, pl. impv. of oyer to hear, OF oïr < L audīre
A cry of "oyez".
Hear ye. Attend. (Called by public criers or in court usually three times to secure silence).
Origin: From and oyez, oiez, imperative plural of oir, from oïr, from audio.
Oyez is a traditional interjection said three times in succession to introduce the opening of a court of law in the United States. Until the 18th century, speaking English in an English 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 upper classes in England. Oyez descends from the Anglo-Norman oyez, the plural imperative form of oyer, from French ouïr, "to hear"; thus oyez means "hear ye" and was used as a call for silence and attention. It would have been common in medieval England. The term is still in use by the Supreme Court of the United States. At the beginning of each session, the marshal of the Court announces: "Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting. God save the United States and this Honorable Court." The phrase is also in use in other federal courts, such as the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, as well as the courts of Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland.
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