Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

I-

I-

,
pre
fix.
See
Y-
.
{

Y-

, or

I-

}
.
[OE.
y-
,
i-
, AS.
ge-
, akin to D. & G.
ge-
, OHG.
gi-
,
ga-
, Goth.
ga-
, and perhaps to Latin
con
-; originally meaning, together. Cf.
Com-
,
Aware
,
Enough
,
Handiwork
,
Ywis
.]
A prefix of obscure meaning, originally used with verbs, adverbs, adjectives, nouns, and pronouns. In the Middle English period, it was little employed except with verbs, being chiefly used with past participles, though occasionally with the infinitive. Ycleped, or yclept, is perhaps the only word not entirely obsolete which shows this use.
That no wight mighte it see neither
y
heere.
Chaucer.
Neither to ben
y
buried nor
y
brent.
Chaucer.
☞ Some examples of Chaucer’s use of this prefix are; ibe, ibeen, icaught, ycome, ydo, idoon, ygo, iproved, ywrought. It inough, enough, it is combined with an adjective. Other examples are in the Vocabulary.
Spenser and later writers frequently employed this prefix when affecting an archaic style, and sometimes used it incorrectly.

Definition 2024

i-

i-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "i"

English

Prefix

i-

  1. (obsolete) Used to form past participles of verbs. Alternative spelling of y-

Etymology 2

From Latin ī-, assimilated form of in- used before g-.

Prefix

i-

  1. A form of the prefix in-, used before gn, as in ignoble, ignominy, and ignore.

Etymology 3

Prefix

i-

  1. (Jamaica) Used to transform English words into words used by Rastafarians with a special meaning.

See also

Etymology 4

Popularized in the name of the iMac line of computers (1998).

Prefix

i-

  1. Alluding to cutting-edge or fashionable digital devices and computer programs, especially those from Apple.
    • 1999, Melissa August, “Ad Infinitum”, in Time, v 154, November 1, p 39:
      I-WHAT?! Seems everyone's ripping off the iMac idea. Take this parody ad for the fruity-colored “iBrator” at sleeplessknights.com.
    • 2011, Scotty Smith, Everyday Prayers: 365 Days to a Gospel-Centered Faith, Baker Books, ISBN 9780801014048, 178:
      In our “iWorld” of new gadgets and cool widgets, help us to ponder the reality that over half of the population on the earth exists on three of our American dollars, or less, a day.

Curripaco

Prefix

i-

  1. second person plural agent marker

Reference

  • Swintha Danielsen, Tania Granadillo, Agreement in two Arawak languages, in The Typology of Semantic Alignment (edited by Mark Donohue, Søren Wichmann) (2008, ISBN 0199238383), page 398

Esperanto

Etymology

The i vowel common to other correlatives, such as ki- and ti-, without the defining consonant.

Prefix

i-

  1. Any-, some-. (Indeterminate correlative prefix.)

Derived terms

<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:Esperanto_words_prefixed_with_i-'>Esperanto words prefixed with i-</a>

Latin

Etymology

Assimilated form of in-, before g-.

Prefix

ī-

  1. Alternative form of in-

Malagasy

Prefix

i-

  1. prefix element of i- -ana

See also

Taos

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʔi/

Prefix

i-

  1. (transitive) First person plural subject + third person singular object.
  2. (transitive) Second person singular subject + third person inverse number object.
  3. (transitive) Third person singular subject + third person inverse number object.
  4. (transitive) Third person plural subject + third person singular object.
  5. (formative) Third person plural subject.

Tocharian B

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey-.

Verb

i-

  1. to go

Zulu

Prefix

i- ‎(full noun prefix, basic form li-)

  1. Class 5 noun prefix.

Usage notes

The original full form is ili-, but that form is no longer commonly used.

See also

Prefix

i- ‎(subject concord, medial form -yi-)

  1. they (class 4)
  2. he, she, it (class 9)

See also

Etymology

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