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Webster 1913 Edition
Ye
Y′ë
Ye
Webster 1828 Edition
Ye
YE
, pron. The nominative plural of the second person, of which thou is the singular. But the two words have no radical connection. Ye is now used only in the sacred and solemn style. In common discourse and writing, you is exclusively used.Definition 2024
Ye
ye
ye
English
Alternative forms
- ȝe (obsolete)
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) & (US) IPA(key): /jiː/
- Rhymes: -iː
Pronoun
ye (personal pronoun)
- (archaic outside Northern England, Cornwall, Ireland) You (the people being addressed).
Usage notes
Ye was originally used only for the nominative case (as the subject), and only for the second-person plural. Later, ye was used as a subject or an object, either singular or plural, which is the way that you is used today.
Derived terms
References
Verb
ye (present participle yeyn)
- (obsolete) Address a single person by the use of the pronoun ye instead of thou.
- 1483, Catholicon Anglicum: An English–Latin Wordbook (Monson 168), page 426
- To ȝe, vosare jn plurali numero vos vestrum vel tibi [perh. read vobis].
- 1511, Promptorium Parvulorum (de Worde), sig. M.iiiᵛ/2
- Yeyn or sey ye with worshyp, viso.
- 1483, Catholicon Anglicum: An English–Latin Wordbook (Monson 168), page 426
Synonyms
- (address by the pronoun ye): yeet (obsolete)
Antonyms
- (address by the pronoun ye): thowt (obsolete)
Etymology 2
From Middle English þe. The letter y is a variant of þ (“thorn”), a letter which corresponds to modern th, but letter þ did not exist in the first press typographies, so was replaced using either "th" or "y", which resembled it some typefaces. Etymological y was for a time distinguished by a dot, ẏ, but the letters were conflated when that was dropped.
Pronunciation
- Traditionally pronounced the same as the, but now often pronounced with the ordinary sound of <y>: IPA(key): /jiː/
Article
ye
- (archaic, definite) the
- 1647, The old deluder, Satan, Act. (cited in American Public School Law, K. Alexander, M. Alexander, 1995)
- It being one cheife proiect of ye ould deluder, Satan, to keepe men from the knowledge of v Scriptures, as in formr times by keeping ym in an unknowne tongue, so in these lattr times by perswading from ye use of tongues, yt so at least ye true sence & meaning of ye originall might be clouded by false glosses of saint seeming deceivers, yt learning may not be buried in ye church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting or endeavors,—
- Ye Olde Medicine Shoppe.
- 1647, The old deluder, Satan, Act. (cited in American Public School Law, K. Alexander, M. Alexander, 1995)
Derived terms
Etymology 3
Shortened from yes.
Interjection
ye
- (slang) Yes.
Statistics
Anagrams
Catawba
Noun
ye
Usage notes
- Catawba nouns do not inflect for number.
- Many of Catawba's names for tribes incorporate this word, e.g. yę iswa (“the Catawba”, literally “people of the river”), yę manterą (“the Cherokee”, literally “people born in/on the land”).
- The vowel of this word is generally nasalized; this is reflected in different ways or not at all in different transcriptions: ye, yę, yen. Sometimes, an initial i, also nasalized, is found: inyen / įyę.
References
- 1858, Oscar M. Lieber, Vocabulary of the Catawba Language
- 1900, Albert S. Gatschet, Grammatic Sketch of the Catawba Language (published in the American Anthropologist)
- 1942, Frank G. Speck and C. E. Shaeffer, Catawba Kinship and Social Organization
- 1945, Frank T. Siebert, Jr., Linguistic Classification of Catawba (published in the International Journal of American Linguistics)
Haitian Creole
Verb
ye
- Form of se used at the end of a phrase, after the predicate and the subject, in that order; to be.
- Kimoun ou ye? (“Who are you?”, literally “Who you are?”)
Ido
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /je/, /jɛ/
Preposition
ye
- to, at, by (preposition used when no other fits the meaning)
- Lu kaptis la kavalo per lazo ye la kolo.
- He/she captured the horse by a lasso to the neck.
- Ye la angulo di la strado.
- At the corner of the street.
- Ilu prenis elu ye la tayo.
- He took her by the waist.
- Lu kaptis la kavalo per lazo ye la kolo.
Noun
ye (plural ye-i)
See also
- (Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze (Category: io:Latin letter names)
Mandarin
Romanization
ye
- Nonstandard spelling of yē.
- Nonstandard spelling of yé.
- Nonstandard spelling of yě.
- Nonstandard spelling of yè.
Usage notes
- English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
Middle English
Noun
ye (plural)
- eyes
- Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, lines 9–10:
- And smale foweles maken melodye, / That slepen al the nyght with open ye.
- Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, lines 9–10:
Scots
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ji:/, /jɪ/
Pronoun
ye (second person, singular or plural; possessive determiner yer, possessive pronoun yers, singular reflexive yersel, plural reflexive yersel)
Spanish
Noun
ye f (plural yes)
Synonyms
Usage notes
"Ye" was recommended by the Real Academia Española as a simpler name for the more common "i griega" (literally "Greek i"). Adoption of it has been slow.
Turkish
Etymology 1
Noun
ye
See also
- (Latin script letter names) harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze (Category: tr:Latin letter names)
Etymology 2
Borrowing from Persian یه (ye).
Noun
ye
- Last letter of the Arabic alphabet: ي
- Previous: و
Verb
ye
- second-person singular imperative of yemek
Antonyms
Zulu
Pronoun
-ye
- Combining stem of yena.
See also
Full noun prefix: | umu-2, um-, u-3 |
Basic noun prefix: | mu-2, m-, -3 |
Subject concord: | u-, -ka- |
Object concord: | -mu-2, -m- |
Possessive concord: | wa- |
Adjective concord: | omu-1, om- |
Relative concord: | o- |
Pronoun: | yena, -ye, -khe1 |
1 With possessive concords. 2 With single-syllable stems. 3 With class 1a nouns. | |
See Appendix:Zulu concords for a full table. |