ye
1
[ yee ]
/ yi /
pronoun
Archaic, except in some elevated or ecclesiastical prose Literary, or British Dialect.
- (used nominatively as the plural of thou especially in rhetorical, didactic, or poetic contexts, in addressing a group of persons or things): O ye of little faith; ye brooks and hills.
- (used nominatively for the second person singular, especially in polite address): Do ye not know me?
- (used objectively in the second person singular or plural): I have something to tell ye. Arise, the enemy is upon ye!
(used with mock seriousness in an invocation, mild oath, or the like): Ye gods and little fishes!
Origin of ye
1
before 900; Middle English; Old English
gē; cognate with Dutch
gij, German
ihr, Old Norse
ēr, Gothic
jus
Definition for ye (2 of 3)
ye
2
[ th ee; spelling pronunciation yee ]
/ ði; spelling pronunciation yi /
definite article Archaic.
the1.
usage note for ye
The word
ye2 , as in
Ye Olde Booke Shoppe, is simply an archaic spelling of the definite article
the. The use of the letter
Y was a printer's adaptation of the thorn, þ, the character in the Old English alphabet representing the
th- sounds (th) and (th̸) in Modern English;
Y was the closest symbol in the Roman alphabet. Originally, the form would have been rendered as
or
ye. The pronunciation
[yee] /yi/ today is a spelling pronunciation.
Definition for ye (3 of 3)
thou
1
[ th ou ]
/ ðaʊ /
pronoun, singular, nominative thou; possessive thy or thine; objective thee; plural, nominative you or ye; possessive your or yours; objective you or ye.
Archaic except in some elevated or ecclesiastical prose.
the personal pronoun of the second person singular in the nominative case (used to denote the person or thing addressed): Thou shalt not kill.
(used by the Friends) a familiar form of address of the second person singular.
verb (used with object)
to address as “thou.”
verb (used without object)
to use “thou” in discourse.
Origin of thou
1
before 900; Middle English; Old English
thū; cognate with German, Middle Dutch
du, Old Norse
thū, Gothic
thu, Old Irish
tú, Welsh, Cornish
ti, Latin
tū, Doric Greek
tý, Lithuanian
tù, OCS
ty; akin to Sanskrit
tvam; (v.) late Middle English
thowen, derivative of the pronoun
Example sentences from the Web for ye
British Dictionary definitions for ye (1 of 5)
ye
1
/ (jiː, unstressed jɪ) /
pronoun
archaic, or dialect
refers to more than one person including the person addressed but not including the speaker
Also: ee (iː) dialect
refers to one person addressed
I tell ye
Word Origin for ye
Old English
gē; related to Dutch
gij, Old Norse
ēr, Gothic
jus
British Dictionary definitions for ye (2 of 5)
ye
2
/ (ðiː, spelling pron jiː) /
determiner
a form of the, used in conjunction with other putative archaic spellings
ye olde oake
Word Origin for ye
from a misinterpretation of
the as written in some Middle English texts. The runic letter thorn (Þ, representing
th) was incorrectly transcribed as
y because of a resemblance in their shapes
British Dictionary definitions for ye (3 of 5)
ye
3
the internet domain name for
Yemen
British Dictionary definitions for ye (4 of 5)
thou
1
/ (ðaʊ) /
pronoun (subjective)
archaic, dialect
refers to the person addressed: used mainly in familiar address or to a younger person or inferior
(usually capital)
refers to God when addressed in prayer, etc
Word Origin for thou
Old English
thū; related to Old Saxon
thū, Old High German
du, Old Norse
thū, Latin
tū, Doric Greek
tu
British Dictionary definitions for ye (5 of 5)
thou
2
/ (θaʊ) /
noun plural thous or thou
one thousandth of an inch. 1 thou is equal to 0.0254 millimetre
informal short for thousand