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
1before 900; Middle English; Old English gē; cognate with Dutch gij, German ihr, Old Norse ēr, Gothic jus
Definition for ye (2 of 3)
ye2
[ 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.
or ye. The pronunciation [yee] /yi/ today is a spelling pronunciation.Definition for ye (3 of 3)
thou1
[ 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
1before 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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for ye
British Dictionary definitions for ye (1 of 5)
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 5)
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 5)
ye3
the internet domain name for
Yemen
British Dictionary definitions for ye (4 of 5)
thou1
/ (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)
thou2
/ (θaʊ) /
noun plural thous or thou
one thousandth of an inch. 1 thou is equal to 0.0254 millimetre
informal short for thousand
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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