thee

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ðiː/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English the, inherited from Old English þē (“thee”), the accusative and dative singular of þū, thou,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *þeke,^[3][4] source also of German dich, Old Norse þik and Gothic þuk,^[3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *tege-, the accusative of *tu-, the second person singular pronoun,^[3] as also in Latin tē and Ancient Greek σέ (sé).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The objective case of thou: about 825.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the plural forms (see you) began to be used in all cases, at first as a sign of respect to a superior and later of courtesy to an equal.^[3] By the 17th century the singular forms had come to mark familiarity and lack of status, and fell out of use except in dialects,^[3] notably in Yorkshire and northern Lancashire.^[3][6] The Quakers kept them for religious reasons, Christian equality of persons, and the verb thee, to address someone as thee, is by 1662, in connection with Quakerism.^[3][7] Among Friends thee was also used in the nominative.^[8][9]

Timeline

• c. 825 – thee.^[5]
• Middle English – you used for respect.^[3]
• 17th century – thee familiar, falling from use.^[3]
• 1662 – to thee (verb).^[3]

Modern meaning

Pronoun

1. (archaic) The objective case of thou, used as the object of a verb or preposition.
2. Used as the subject by members of the Society of Friends.

Verb

1. To address someone as thee.

Related words

• thou
• thy
• thine
• you
• ye

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins