ye
1[ yee ]
/ yi /
Save This Word!
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!
QUIZZES
THINK YOU’VE GOT A HANDLE ON THIS US STATE NICKNAME QUIZ?
Did you ever collect all those state quarters? Put them to good use on this quiz about curious state monikers and the facts around them.
Question 1 of 8
Mississippi’s nickname comes from the magnificent trees that grow there. What is it?
Origin of ye
1before 900; Middle English; Old English gē; cognate with Dutch gij,German ihr,Old Norse ēr,Gothic jus
Definition for ye (2 of 2)
ye2
[ thee; 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for ye
British Dictionary definitions for ye (1 of 3)
ye1
/ (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 addressedI 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 3)
ye2
/ (ðiː, spelling pron jiː) /
determiner
a form of the, used in conjunction with other putative archaic spellingsye 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 3)
ye3
the internet domain name for
Yemen
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012