Thee

//ðiː// article, noun, pron, verb

Definitions

Article
  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of the. alt-of, alternative, nonstandard, rare
Noun
  1. 1
    The letter ⟨(⟩, which stands for the th sound /ð/ in Pitman shorthand.
Pronoun
  1. 1
    Objective and reflexive case of thou. archaic, literary, objective, second-person, singular

    "Prince Henry: Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part? Falstaff: No; I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all there."

  2. 2
    Honorific alternative letter-case form of thee, sometimes used when referring to God or another important figure who is understood from context. alt-of, honorific
  3. 3
    Thou. archaic, dialectal, objective, second-person, singular

    "[H]e immediately perceived when I was taken ill, and, after seeing Mama, said to me "I am afraid Thee art not well thyself?""

Verb
  1. 1
    To address (a person) using the pronoun thee. transitive

    "What! doſt thou not believe that God's Thouing and theeing was and is ſound Speech? [...] And theeing & Thouing of one ſingle Perſon was the language of Chriſt Jeſus, and the Holy Prophets and Apoſtles both under the Diſpenſations of Law and Goſpel, [...]"

  2. 2
    To thrive; prosper. UK, intransitive, obsolete

    "Well mote thee, as well can wish your thought."

  3. 3
    To use the word thee. intransitive

    "The hardcore role-players will wake up one day feeling, like a dead weight on their chest, the strain of endless texting in Renaissance Faire English—yet dutifully go on theeing and thouing all the same."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English þe, from Old English þē (“thee”, originally dative, but later also accusative, supplanting accusative þec), from Proto-Germanic *þiz (“thee”), from Proto-Indo-European *te (“second-person singular pronoun”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian die (“thee”), West Frisian dy (“thee”), German Low German di (“thee”), German dir (“thee”, dative pron.), Icelandic þér (“thee”). More at thou.

Etymology 2

From Middle English þe, from Old English þē (“thee”, originally dative, but later also accusative, supplanting accusative þec), from Proto-Germanic *þiz (“thee”), from Proto-Indo-European *te (“second-person singular pronoun”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian die (“thee”), West Frisian dy (“thee”), German Low German di (“thee”), German dir (“thee”, dative pron.), Icelandic þér (“thee”). More at thou.

Etymology 3

From Middle English theen (“to increase, prosper, flourish”), from Old English þēon (“to thrive, prosper, flourish, grow”), from Proto-Germanic *þinhaną (“to thrive, succeed”), from Proto-Indo-European *tenk- (“to succeed, turn out well”). Cognate with Dutch gedijen (“to flourish, thrive, prosper, succeed”), German gedeihen (“to thrive”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (gaþeihan, “to increase, thrive”).

Etymology 4

From Pitman zee, which it is related to phonetically and graphically, and the sound it represents.

Etymology 5

Respelling of the popularized by Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth.

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