English Online Dictionary. What means ye? What does ye mean?
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English ye, ȝe, from Old English ġē (“ye”), the nominative case of the second-person plural personal pronoun, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, a North-West variant of Proto-Germanic *jūz (“ye”), from Proto-Indo-European *yūs, *yū́ (“ye”), plural of *túh₂. Cognate with Scots ye (“ye”), Saterland Frisian jie, Dutch gij, jij, je (“ye”), Low German ji, jie (“ye”), German ihr (“ye”), Danish and Swedish I (“ye”), Icelandic ér (“ye”). See also you.
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) enPR: yē, IPA(key): /jiː/
- Rhymes: -iː
Pronoun
ye (personal pronoun)
- (archaic outside Northern England, Cornwall, Ireland, Newfoundland) You (the people being addressed).
- (archaic) You, refers to one person addressed.
Usage notes
Ye was originally used only for the nominative case (as the subject), and only for the second-person plural. Later, ye was used as a subject or an object, either singular or plural, which is the way that you is used today. In modern Hiberno-English usage, ye is used as a subject or an object in the plural, to contrast with you (singular).
Synonyms
- (second-person plural): See Thesaurus:y'all
Derived terms
References
- Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [3]
Verb
ye (present participle yeyn)
- (obsolete) Address a single person by the use of the pronoun ye instead of thou.
- 1511, Promptorium Parvulorum (de Worde), sig. M.iiiᵛ/2
- Yeyn or sey ye with worshyp, viso.
- 1511, Promptorium Parvulorum (de Worde), sig. M.iiiᵛ/2
Synonyms
- (address by the pronoun ye): yeet (obsolete)
Antonyms
- (address by the pronoun ye): thou (obsolete)
Etymology 2
From Middle English þe. The letter y was sometimes used for þ (“thorn”), a letter which corresponds to modern th, because þ did not exist in the first press typographies, so was replaced using either "th", which replaced it, or "y", which resembled it in Late Medieval and Early Modern Blackletter. Etymological y was for a time distinguished by a dot, ẏ, but the letters were conflated when that was dropped.
Alternative forms
- ye, yͤ
Pronunciation
- Traditionally pronounced the same as the, but now often mispronounced with the ordinary sound of ⟨y⟩: IPA(key): /jiː/
Article
ye
- (archaic, definite) the
- 1647, The old deluder, Satan, Act. (cited in American Public School Law, K. Alexander, M. Alexander, 1995)
- It being one cheife proiect of ye ould deluder, Satan, to keepe men from the knowledge of Scriptures, as in formr times by keeping ym in an unknowne tongue, so in these lattr times by perswading from ye use of tongues, yt so at least ye true sence & meaning of ye originall might be clouded by false glosses of saint seeming deceivers, yt learning may not be buried in ye church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting or endeavors,—
- Ye Olde Medicine Shoppe
Derived terms
- ye olde
Etymology 3
Shortened from yes or yeah.
Interjection
ye
- (slang) Yes, yeah.
Etymology 4
From Russian е (je).
Noun
ye (plural yes)
- The Cyrillic Russian letter Е, е.
Translations
Anagrams
- -ey, ey
Asturian
Verb
ye
- third-person singular present indicative of ser
Azerbaijani
Verb
ye
- second-person singular imperative positive degree of yemək
Catawba
Noun
ye
- man (adult male human), men
- person, people
- Native American Indian(s)
Usage notes
- Catawba nouns do not inflect for number.
- Many of Catawba's names for tribes incorporate this word, e.g. yę iswa (“the Catawba”, literally “people of the river”), yę manterą (“the Cherokee”, literally “people born in/on the land”).
- The vowel of this word is generally nasalized; this is reflected in different ways or not at all in different transcriptions: ye, yę, yen. Sometimes, an initial i, also nasalized, is found: inyen / įyę.
References
- 1858, Oscar M. Lieber, Vocabulary of the Catawba Language
- 1900, Albert S. Gatschet, Grammatic Sketch of the Catawba Language (published in the American Anthropologist)
- 1942, Frank G. Speck and C. E. Shaeffer, Catawba Kinship and Social Organization
- 1945, Frank T. Siebert, Jr., Linguistic Classification of Catawba (published in the International Journal of American Linguistics)
Fula
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).
Particle
ye
- so, therefore
- truly
- not at all
References
- Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.
Haitian Creole
Etymology
From French est (“is”), third person singular of the indicative present of être (“to be”).
Verb
ye
- Form of se used at the end of a phrase, after the predicate and the subject, in that order; to be.
- Kimoun ou ye? (“Who are you?”, literally “Who you are?”)
Ido
Etymology
From Esperanto je.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /je/, /jɛ/
Preposition
ye
- to, at, by (preposition used when no other fits the meaning)
Noun
ye (plural ye-i)
- The name of the Latin script letter Y/y.
See also
- (Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze (Category: io:Latin letter names)
Japanese
Romanization
ye
- Rōmaji transcription of いぇ
- Rōmaji transcription of イェ
Mandarin
Romanization
ye
- Nonstandard spelling of yē.
- Nonstandard spelling of yé.
- Nonstandard spelling of yě.
- Nonstandard spelling of yè.
Usage notes
- English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English ġē, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́ (with the nominative ending added).
Alternative forms
- yee, ȝe, ȝee, yeȝ, yhe, ȝhe, ge, iye, yie, ȝie, gie, hye, hie, ȝeo, geo
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈjeː/
- Rhymes: -eː
Pronoun
ye (accusative yow, genitive youres, youren, possessive determiner youre)
- Second-person plural pronoun: ye, you (plural).
- (formal) second-person singular pronoun: you (singular).
Usage notes
The formal singular usage, following the T-V distinction, was used to address one's superiors, elders or others to whom one might wish to show politeness or respect.
Descendants
- Scots: ȝe, ye
- English: ye, yee
See also
- ȝit (second-person dual pronoun)
References
- “ye, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 16 May 2018.
Etymology 2
Noun
yë (plural yën)
- Alternative form of eie
-
- And smale foweles maken melodye, / That slepen al the nyght with open yë.
-
Etymology 3
Pronoun
ye
- (chiefly Northern) Alternative form of þe (“thee”)
Norn
Etymology
From Old Norse eigi.
Adverb
ye
- (Orkney) not
Pali
Alternative forms
Pronoun
ye
- masculine nominative/accusative plural of ya (“who (relative)”)
Scots
Alternative forms
- you
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /jiː/, /jɪ/
Pronoun
ye (second person, singular or plural; possessive determiner yer, possessive pronoun yers, singular reflexive yersel, plural reflexive yersel)
- you
See also
Spanish
Pronunciation
Noun
ye f (plural yes)
- The name of the Latin-script letter Y.
- Synonym: i griega
Usage notes
"Ye" was recommended by the Real Academia Española as a simpler name for the more common i griega (literally “Greek i”). Adoption of it has been slow.
Further reading
- “ye” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.
Turkish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /je/
Etymology 1
Noun
ye
- The name of the Latin-script letter Y.
See also
- (Latin-script letter names) harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Persian یه (ye).
Noun
ye
- Last letter of the Arabic alphabet: ي
- Previous: و
Etymology 3
Verb
ye
- second-person singular imperative of yemek
Antonyms
- yeme
Uzbek
Verb
ye
- imperative of yemoq
Volapük
Conjunction
ye
- however
Zulu
Pronoun
-ye
- Combining stem of yena.