ye

ye¹

/yee/, pron.

1. Archaic (except in some elevated or ecclesiastical prose), Literary, or Brit. Dial.

a. (used nominatively as the plural of thou, esp. in rhetorical, didactic, or poetic contexts, in addressing a group of persons or things): O ye of little faith; ye brooks and hills.

b. (used nominatively for the second person singular, esp. in polite address): Do ye not know me?

c. (used objectively in the second person singular or plural): I have something to tell ye. Arise, the enemy is upon ye!

2. (used with mock seriousness in an invocation, mild oath, or the like): Ye gods and little fishes!

[bef. 900; ME; OE ge; c. D gij, G ihr, ON er, Goth jus]

ye²

/dhee/; spelling pron. /yee/, definite article. Archaic.

the¹.

Usage. 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 /dh/ in Modern English; Y was the closest symbol in the Roman alphabet. Originally, the form would have been rendered as y^e. The pronunciation /yee/ today is a spelling pronunciation.

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