the.com/bey

means A title once used for a Turkish or regional governor or chieftain, now also used informally (especially in some Black and queer vernacular) as a casual, affectionate term for a partner or close friend.

from From Ottoman Turkish "bey," a title meaning something like "lord" or "chieftain," historically given to provincial governors and military commanders across the Ottoman Empire — a cousin of the related title "beg" found in other Turkic languages. The word traveled through centuries of empire and administration before slang gave it a second life: in recent informal English usage, especially online, "bey" (sometimes playing off "babe" or "bae" phonetically) got adopted as a casual term of address for a romantic partner or friend, the grandeur of the old title now doing much lighter, flirtier work.