I

¹

or i

[ ahy ]

noun

, plural I's or Is, i's or is.

1. the ninth letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
2. any spoken sound represented by the letter I or i, as in big, nice, or ski.
3. something having the shape of an I.
4. a written or printed representation of the letter I or i.
5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter I or i.

I

²

[ ahy ]

pronoun

plural nominative: wepossessive: my or mineobjective: usobjective: mepossessive: our or oursnominative: I

1. the nominative singular pronoun, used in referring to oneself, the person speaking, writing, or otherwise communicating.

noun

, plural I's.

1. (used to denote the narrator of a literary work written in the first person singular.)
2. Metaphysics. the ego.

I

³

abbreviation for

1. interstate (used with a number to designate an interstate highway):

   I-95.

I

⁴

Symbol.

1. the ninth in order or in a series.
2. (sometimes lowercase) the Roman numeral for 1. Compare Roman numerals.
3. Chemistry. iodine ( def ).
4. Biochemistry. isoleucine ( def ).
5. Electricity. current ( def 13 ).
6. Logic. particular affirmative.
7. (italics) Physics. isotopic spin ( def ).

i

⁵

Mathematics.

1. Also called imaginary unit. the imaginary number .
2. a unit vector on the x -axis of a coordinate system.

i-

⁶

1. variant of y-.

i.

⁷

abbreviation for

1. imperator.
2. incisor.
3. interest.
4. intransitive.
5. island.
6. isle; isles.

-i-

⁸

1. the typical ending of the first element of compounds of Latin words, as -o- is of Greek words, but often used in English with a first element of any origin, if the second element is of Latin origin:

   cuneiform; Frenchify.

I.

⁹

abbreviation for

1. Independent.
2. Island; Islands.
3. Isle; Isles.

I.

¹

abbreviation for

1. International
2. Island or Isle

i

²

symbol for

1. the imaginary number √–1 Also calledj

i

³

/ aɪ /

noun

1. the ninth letter and third vowel of the modern English alphabet
2. any of several speech sounds represented by this letter, in English as in bite or hit
3. 1. something shaped like an I
   2. ( in combination )

      an I-beam

4. dot the i's and cross the t's
   dot the i's and cross the t's to pay meticulous attention to detail

I

⁴

/ aɪ /

pronoun

1. subjective refers to the speaker or writer

-i

⁵

suffix forming adjectives

1. of or relating to a region or people, esp of the Middle East

   Bangladeshi

   Iraqi

-i-

⁶

connective vowel

1. See -o-
   used between elements in a compound word Compare -o-

   cuneiform

   coniferous

I

⁷

symbol for

1. chem iodine
2. physics current
3. physics isospin
4. See O, E, A
   logic a particular affirmative categorial statement, such as some men are married, often symbolized as SiP Compare A E O 1
5. See Roman numerals
   Roman numeral one See Roman numerals

abbreviation for

1. Italy (international car registration)

i

/ ī /

1. The number whose square is equal to −1. Numbers expressed in terms of i are called imaginary or complex numbers.

Grammar Note

See me.

Word History and Origins

Origin of I¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English ik, ich, i, Old English ic, ih; cognate with Gothic ik, German ich, Old Norse ek, Latin ego, Greek egṓ, Old Church Slavonic azŭ, Lithuanian aš, Sanskrit ahám

Word History and Origins

Origin of I¹

C12: reduced form of Old English ic; compare Old Saxon ik, Old High German ih, Sanskrit ahám

Origin of I²

from an adjectival suffix in Semitic and in Indo-Iranian languages

Origin of I³

from Latin, stem vowel of nouns and adjectives in combination

Origin of I⁴

(for sense 4) from Latin ( aff ) i ( rmo ) I affirm

Idioms and Phrases

see dot the i's and cross the t's .

Example Sentences

Mahoney helped author the I-STOP legislation based on data his office collected in regard to fraud.

From The Daily Beast

As of 2012, there are over 523,000 people across the country on Medicaid waiver lists; over 309,000 of those people have I/DD.

From The Daily Beast

Barbra Driskill-Scherer is the mother of 9-year-old Gunnar, who has I/DD.

From The Daily Beast

Republicans keep saying Democrats are obsessed with the I-word.

From The Daily Beast

Some Democrats are having more success than others in their I-never-met-the-guy campaigns.

From The Daily Beast

James I. sent forth his famous "Counterblast" and in the strongest manner condemned its use.

From Project Gutenberg

Clinical study of the blood may be discussed under the following heads: I. Hemoglobin.

From Project Gutenberg

The reader wishes to infallibly remember that the date of the beheading of Charles I. was 1649.

From Project Gutenberg

As for the slipperiness of the ground, my opponent will run no greater risks than I. I am not the only impatient one.

From Project Gutenberg

But you are a gambler and so am I. I will play you for those documents against twenty-five thousand francs.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• he
• it
• she
• sie
• they
• ve
• xe
• you
• ze
• zie