thee

See also: Thee, thée, and the'e

English

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.

Pronunciation

• enPR: thē, IPA^(key): /ðiː/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophone: the (when stressed)

Pronoun

thee (second-person singular, objective case, nominative thou, reflexive thyself)

1. (now chiefly archaic, literary) Objective and reflexive case of thou. [from 8th c.]
   • 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry IV part 1, act 1, scene 2, lines 49–50:

     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.

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:

     Michael, this my behest have thou in charge,
     Take to thee from among the Cherubim
     Thy choice of flaming Warriours, least the Fiend

   • 1742, “Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown”, Charles Wesley (music):

     Come, O thou Traveller unknown, / Whom still I hold, but cannot see! / My company before is gone, / And I am left alone with Thee; / With Thee all night I mean to stay, / And wrestle till the break of day.

2. (now chiefly archaic, dialect) Thou. [from 12th c.]
   • 1773, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin 2001, page 23:

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

   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Ship”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 84:

     "He says he's our man, Bildad," said Peleg, "he wants to ship."
     "Dost thee?" said Bildad, in a hollow tone

   • 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin:

     "What does thee want, father?" said Rachel.

Alternative forms

• Thee
• the (obsolete)

Derived terms

• fare thee well
• fuck thee
• get thee behind me
• me and thee
• thee and me
• thee sen
• to a fare-thee-well
• to a fine fare-thee-well

Translations

Objective case of 'thou'

• Arabic: ـكَ (ar) m sg (-ka), ـكِ (ar) f sg (-ki), إِيَّاكَ m sg (ʔiyyāka), إِيَّاكِ f sg (ʔiyyāki)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 你 (zh) (nǐ), 汝 (zh) (rǔ), 尔 (zh) (ěr)

• Czech: tě (cs), tebe (cs), ti (cs), tobě, tebou
• Danish: dig (da)
• French: (informal and addressing one person; used after a preposition) toi (fr), (informal and addressing one person; used before a verb) te (fr)
• German: dich (de), dir (de)
• Hungarian: téged (hu)
• Irish: thú
• Italian: (informal and addressing one person; used after a preposition) te (it), (informal and addressing one person; used before a verb) ti (it)
• Norwegian: deg (no)
• Polish: cię (pl)
• Portuguese: tu (pt), ti (pt)
• Russian: тебя́ (ru) (tebjá) (genitive, accusative), тебе́ (ru) (tebé) (dative, prepositional), тобо́й (ru) (tobój) (instrumental)
• Slovak: ťa, teba, ti (sk), tebe, tebou
• Spanish: te (es), ti (es)
• Swedish: dig (sv)
• Ukrainian: тебе́ (tebé), тобі́ (tobí)

thou — see thou

Verb

thee (third-person singular simple present thees, present participle theeing, simple past and past participle theed)

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

   Synonym: thou

   • 1677, William Gibson, “An Answer to John Cheyney’s Pamphlet Entituled The Shibboleth of Quakerism”, in The Life of God, which is the Light and Salvation of Men, Exalted: […], [London]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 134:

     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. (intransitive) To use the word thee.

   Synonym: thou

   • 2006, Julian Dibbell, chapter 5, in Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot, New York, N.Y.: Basic Books, →ISBN:

     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.

   • 2009, David R. Keeston [pseudonym; Alan D. Jenkins], “Seeing God in the Ordinary”, in The Hitch Hikers’ Guide to the Gospel, [Morrisville, N.C.]: Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 39:

     You want to hear the word of God, and be challenged to go out and change the world. Instead, you are, for the fifth Sunday in a row, mewling on about purple-headed mountains (which is a bit of an imaginative stretch, since you live in East Anglia) and "theeing" and "thouing" all over the place.

See also

English personal pronouns

Dialectal and obsolete or archaic forms are in italics. personal pronoun possessive pronoun possessive determiner subjective objective reflexive first person singular I me (colloquial) me myself me mysen mine my mine (before vowels, archaic) me plural we us ourselves ourself oursen ours our second person singular standard (historically formal) you you yourself yoursen yours yourn (obsolete outside dialects) your archaic (historically informal) thou thee thyself theeself thysen thine thy thine (before vowels) plural standard you ye (archaic) you yourselves yours yourn (obsolete outside dialects) your colloquial you all y'all you guys you all y'all you guys y'allselves y'all's you guys' your guys' (proscribed) y'all's your all's (nonstandard) you guys' your guys' (proscribed) informal / dialectal (see list of dialectal forms at you and inflected forms in those entries) third person singular masculine he him himself hisself (archaic) hissen his hisn (obsolete outside dialects) his feminine she her herself hersen hers hern (obsolete outside dialects) her neuter it hit it hit itself hitself its his (archaic) its his (archaic) hits genderless1 they them themself, themselves theirs their nonspecific (formal) one one oneself – one's plural they them hem, 'em themselves theirsen theirs theirn (obsolete outside dialects) their 1 See Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for attested neopronouns.

Etymology 2

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”).

Alternative forms

• the (Scotland)

Pronunciation

• enPR: thē, IPA^(key): /θiː/
• Rhymes: -iː

Verb

thee (third-person singular simple present thees, present participle theeing, simple past and past participle theed)

1. (intransitive, UK, obsolete) To thrive; prosper.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 33:

     Well mote thee, as well can wish your thought.

Derived terms

• theedom

Etymology 3

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

Noun

thee (plural thees)

1. The letter ⟨(⟩, which stands for the th sound /ð/ in Pitman shorthand.

Related terms

• ith
• eth, the name of the IPA letter for this sound

Etymology 4

Respelling of the popularized by Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth.

Article

thee

1. (very rare, nonstandard) Alternative spelling of the

Anagrams

• ethe

Dutch

Alternative forms

• (obsolete) tee

Etymology

From Hokkien 茶 (tê). The "-h-" is a faux-Greek spelling (compare Greek τσάι (tsái)); the more basal spelling tee was previously common, especially in the early modern period, but is now obsolete.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teː/
  • (Belgium) IPA^(key): [teː]
  • (Netherlands) IPA^(key): [teɪ̯]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: thee
• Rhymes: -eː

Noun

thee m (plural theeën, diminutive theetje n)

Gevuld theeglas
Filled tea glass

1. tea
2. (singular only, with the definite article de)
   1. tea-time, tea break, meeting in which tea is served

      Ik ga mijn nieuwe buren op de thee vragen.

      I’m going to invite my new neighbours for tea.

   2. (sports, figurative) half-time

      Tijdens de thee pepte de trainer de spelers op.

      During the half-time break the coach cheered up the players.

Derived terms

• gemberthee
• groene thee
• ijsthee
• kamillethee
• kruidenthee
• muntthee
• rooibosthee
• rookthee
• theedoos
• theedrinker
• theeglas
• theekop
• theekrans
• theelepel
• theeleut
• theelicht
• theemuts
• theepauze
• theeplant
• theepot
• theeroos
• theezakje
• witte thee
• zwarte thee

Descendants

Descendants

• Afrikaans: tee
• Berbice Creole Dutch: tei
• Negerhollands: thee, tee
• → Caribbean Javanese: teh
• → Dutch Low Saxon: thee
• → Danish: te, the (unofficial since 1872, but still common)
  • → Faroese: te
• → English: tea (see there for further descendants)
• → French: thé (see there for further descendants)
• → German: Tee (see there for further descendants)
• → Icelandic: te
• → Kari'na: te
• → Latin: thea (see there for further descendants)
• → Latvian: tēja
• → Norwegian: te
• → Sinhalese: තේ (tē)
• → Sranan Tongo: te
  • → Aukan: te
  • → Saramaccan: té
• → Swedish: te, the, thé
  • → Finnish: tee
• → West Frisian: tee

Anagrams

• heet, hete

Green Hmong

Etymology

From Thai ถ่าน (tàan) ("charcoal") or Lao ຖ່ານ (thān) ("charcoal"), ultimately from Middle Chinese 炭 (than^H) ("charcoal").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʰẽ˧/

Noun

thee

1. charcoal, coal

Middle English

Etymology 1

Pronoun

thee

1. Alternative form of þe (“thee”)

Etymology 2

Verb

thee

1. Alternative form of theen

Old Irish

Adjective

thee

1. Alternative spelling of thé: lenited form of tee (“hot”).

Scots

Etymology 1

From Old English þēoh, from Proto-Germanic *þeuhą, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tewk-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θi/

Noun

thee (plural thees)

1. thigh

Etymology 2

From Middle English theen, from Old English þēon, from Proto-Germanic *þinhaną.

Verb

thee (third-person singular simple present thees, present participle theein, simple past theet, past participle theet)

1. (archaic, literary) To thrive, prosper

Etymology 3

From Middle English þe, from Old English þē (“thee”, originally dative, but later also accusative), from Proto-Germanic *þiz (“thee”), from Proto-Indo-European *te (“second-person singular pronoun”).

Alternative forms

• dee

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ði/
• (Orkney, Shetland) IPA^(key): /di/

Pronoun

thee (subjective case thou, reflexive thysel, possessive determiner thy)

1. (archaic outside Orkney and Shetland) thee, you (2nd person singular object pronoun, informal)
2. (Orkney, Shetland) thou, you (2nd person singular subject pronoun, informal)

Usage notes

• Regularly used throughout Scotland up until the middle of the 1800s; now only used as an archaism outside Shetland and Orkney.

References

• “thou, pers. pron, v.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

White Hmong

Etymology

From Thai ถ่าน (tàan) ("charcoal") or Lao ຖ່ານ (thān) ("charcoal"), ultimately from Middle Chinese 炭 (than^H) ("charcoal").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʰẽ˧/

Noun

thee

1. charcoal, coal

Yola

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ðiː/

Etymology 1

From Middle English þe, from Old English þē.

Pronoun

thee

1. thee
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 40:

     Fho told thee?

     Who told thee?

   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 78:

     Whileen to thee.

     That you may be upset.

   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 1, page 84:

     Fade teil thee zo lournagh, co Joane, zo knaggee?

     What ails you so melancholy, quoth John, so cross?

   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 84:

     Well, gosp, c'hull be zeid; mot thee fartoo, an fade;

     Well, gossip, it shall be told; you ask what ails me, and for what;

   • 1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 100:

     Craneen t' thee wee aam, thee luggès shell aake.

     Choking to thee with them. Thy ears shall ache.

   • 1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 100:

     Heal, griue, an kin, apaa thee, graacuse Forth,

     Health, wealth, and regard upon thee, gracious Forth,

Etymology 2

From Middle English þi, apocopated variant of þin, from Old English þīn, from Proto-West Germanic *þīn.

Alternative forms

• th'

Determiner

thee

1. thy, your
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 31:

     Coome to thee met; Coome thee wyse.

     Come to thy meat; Come thy ways.

   • 1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 100:

     Craneen t' thee wee aam, thee luggès shell aake.

     Choking to thee with them. Thy ears shall ache.

   • 1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 100:

     Mye thee friend ne're waant welcome, nor straayart comfoort.

     May thy friend ne'er want welcome, nor the stranger comfort.

Derived terms

• o'thie

Etymology 3

Pronoun

thee

1. thou
   • 1927, “LAMENT OF A WIDOW”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 130, lines 4:

     Ochone! Jone, thee yart deed.

     Ochone, John, you are dead.

   • 1927, “YOLA ZONG O BARONY VORTH”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 132, lines 9:

     Co Sooney, "Billeen dowst thee zee faads lewer,

     Says Alice "Billy, do you see what's yonder?"

Derived terms

• yarthe