þy

Middle English

Alternative forms

thy

Etymology 1

Determiner

þy

Alternative form of þi (“thy”)

Etymology 2

Determiner

þy

(Northern) Alternative form of þe (“the”)

Etymology 3

Pronoun

þy

Alternative form of þe (“thee”)

Etymology 4

Pronoun

þy

Alternative form of þei (“they”)

Etymology 5

Adverb

þy

Alternative form of þe (“the”)

Etymology 6

Noun

þy (plural þyes)

Alternative form of þigh (“thigh”)

Old English

Alternative forms

þī, þē

Etymology

From an earlier *þiu, apparently formed from the demonstrative base *þi- with the nominal instrumental ending -ō. Cognate with Old Frisian þiu, Old Saxon þiu, Old High German diu, Old Norse því, Gothic 𐌸𐌴 (þē).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /θyː/

Article

þȳ

instrumental masculine/neuter singular of sē

Determiner

þȳ

instrumental masculine/neuter singular of sē

Pronoun

þȳ

instrumental masculine/neuter singular of sē

Adverb

þȳ

therefore, for this reason, on that account; because, since; then
- And þȳ is nū geworden wīde and sīde tō ful yfelan gewunan ― and therefore it has now become an evil custom far and wide. (Sermo Lupi)
(used with comparative) the
- late 9th c., King Alfred, Gregory's Pastoral (Cotton MSS.) :
  […] ; for ðære wilnunga hi hit forleton, & woldon ðæt her þy mara wisdom on londe wære ðy we ma geðioda cuðon.
  […] , for that desire, they abandoned it, and wished that, here, the more wisdom there would be in the land the more languages we knew.
- hȳ beoð þȳ gesundran ond þȳ sīgefæstran ― they will be the safer and the more confident of victory. (Anglo-Saxon Riddles)

Conjunction

þȳ

for the reason that, by reason of; because, since; then

Descendants

Middle English: þi, the
- English: the
- Scots: the

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse því, possibly from the instrumental interrogative Proto-Germanic *hwī (“how, with what”), with the initial h- replaced by the þ- from the forms of *sa.

Adverb

þy

therefore, for that reason

Descendants

Swedish: ty