ye

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, ge, 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/, [jɪi], [ji(ː)]
• Rhymes: -iː

Pronoun

ye (personal pronoun)

1. (archaic outside Northern England, Cornwall, Ireland, Newfoundland) You (the people being addressed).
2. (archaic) You (the singular person being 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

• Scott Dobson, Dick Irwin “ye”, in Newcastle 1970s: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎^[4], archived from the original on 2024-09-05.

Etymology 2

From Middle English þe. Early press typographies lacked the letter þ (“thorn”), for which the letter y was substituted due to their resemblance in blackletter hand (etymological y was for a while distinguished by a dot, ẏ). Short form yͤ continued long after the digraph th had replaced þ elsewhere.

Alternative forms

• y^e, yͤ

Pronunciation

• Traditionally pronounced the same as the, but now often pronounced with the ordinary sound of ⟨y⟩: IPA^(key): /jiː/

Article

ye

1. (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 y^e ould deluder, Satan, to keepe men from the knowledge of Scriptures, as in form^r times by keeping y^m in an unknowne tongue, so in these latt^r times by perswading from y^e use of tongues, y^t so at least y^e true sence & meaning of y^e originall might be clouded by false glosses of saint seeming deceivers, y^t learning may not be buried in y^e church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting o^r endeavo^rs,—

   Ye Olde Medicine Shoppe (pseudoarchaic)

Derived terms

• ye olde

Etymology 3

Shortened from yes or yeah.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jə/, [jɐ], [jɪ]

Interjection

ye

1. (slang) Yes, yeah.

Etymology 4

From Russian е (je).

Noun

ye (plural yes)

1. The Cyrillic letter Е, е, featured in various Slavic and Turkic languages.

Translations

Anagrams

• -ey, ey

Ainu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [jé]

Verb

ye (Kana spelling イェ)

1. Latin spelling of イェ

Aragonese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝe/
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: ye

Verb

ye

1. third-person singular present indicative of ser

Asturian

Alternative forms

• yía (Western Asturias)
• ya (Western Asturias)
• e (Easternmost Asturias)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝe/, [ˈɟ͡ʝe]

Verb

ye

1. third-person singular present indicative of ser

Azerbaijani

Verb

ye

1. second-person singular imperative positive degree of yemək

Bambara

Etymology 1

Postposition

ye

1. at, towards
2. for

3. with

Etymology 2

Verb

ye (auxiliary)

1. (verbal auxiliary for transitive verbs) marks an action which is accomplished

Etymology 3

Verb

ye

1. (transitive) to see

Derived terms

Catawba

Noun

ye

1. man (adult male human), men
2. person, people
3. 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

1. so, therefore
2. truly
3. 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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /je/

Verb

ye

1. 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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /je/, /jɛ/

Etymology 1

From Esperanto je.

Preposition

ye

1. to, at, by (preposition used when no other fits the meaning)

Etymology 2

From y +‎ -e.

Noun

ye (plural ye-i)

1. 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)}

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• je (1947-1972)

Etymology

From Dutch jee. Doublet of je.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjɛ/, [ˈjɛ]

Noun

yè

1. The name of the Latin-script letter Y/y.

Synonyms

• way (Standard Malay)

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) huruf; a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, je, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, ki, er, es, te, u, ve, we, eks, ye, zet

Further reading

• “ye” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Japanese

Romanization

ye

1. The katakana syllable イェ (ye) in Hepburn-like romanization.
2. (obsolete) Rōmaji transcription of 𛀁
3. (obsolete) Rōmaji transcription of エ
4. (obsolete) Rōmaji transcription of 𛄡 (𛄡)

Kongo

Conjunction

ye

1. and

Mandarin

Romanization

ye

1. Nonstandard spelling of yē.
2. Nonstandard spelling of yé.
3. Nonstandard spelling of yě.
4. Nonstandard spelling of yè.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without 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). Compare the second-person dual pronoun ȝit.

Alternative forms

• yee, ȝe, ȝee, yeȝ, yhe, ȝhe, ge, iye, yie, ȝie, gie, hye, hie, ȝeo, geo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jeː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Pronoun

ye (accusative yow, genitive youres, youren, possessive determiner your)

2. Second-person plural pronoun: ye, you (plural).
3. (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

• English: ye, yee
• Scots: ȝe, ye
• Yola: ye

Verb

ye (present participle yeyn)

1. Address a single person by the use of the pronoun ye instead of thou.
   • 1511, Promptorium Parvulorum (de Worde), sig. M.iiiᵛ/2

See also

References

• “yẹ̄, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 16 May 2018.

Etymology 2

From Old English gēa, from Proto-West Germanic *jā, from Proto-Germanic *ja.

Alternative forms

• yie

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɛː/

Adverb

ye

1. yes, yea

Descendants

• English: yea
• Yola: yee, yea

References

• “yē, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Noun

yë (plural yën)

1. Alternative form of eie

Etymology 4

Article

ye

1. (chiefly Northern) Alternative form of þe (“the”)

Etymology 5

Pronoun

ye

1. (chiefly Northern) Alternative form of þe (“thee”)

Mirandese

Alternative forms

yê (outdated, yet still used)

Etymology

From Old Leonese ye, from Latin est.

Pronunciation

• (Central/Raiano) IPA^(key): /ˈje/
• (Sendinese) IPA^(key): /ˈji/

Verb

ye

1. third-person singular present of ser

Norn

Etymology

From Old Norse eigi.

Adverb

ye

1. (Orkney) not

Pali

Alternative forms

Pronoun

ye

1. masculine nominative/accusative plural of ya (“who (relative)”)

Scots

Etymology

Inherited 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jiː/, /jɪ/

Pronoun

ye

1. you (2nd person singular and plural, nominative and accusative)

See also

References

• “ye, pron., v.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 7 June 2024, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
• “3e, pron.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 7 June 2024, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.

Spanish

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: ye

Noun

ye f (plural yes)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter Y/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

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish ye, the Spanish name of the letter Y/y.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈje/ [ˈjɛ]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: ye

Noun

ye (Baybayin spelling ᜌᜒ) (historical)

1. the name of the Latin-script letter Y/y, in the Abecedario

   Synonyms: (in the Filipino alphabet) way, (in the Abakada alphabet) ya

Anagrams

• ey, -ey

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /je/

Etymology 1

Noun

ye

1. The name of the Latin-script letter Y/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

1. Last letter of the Arabic alphabet: ي
   • Previous: و

Etymology 3

Verb

ye

1. second-person singular imperative of yemek

Uzbek

Verb

ye

1. imperative of yemoq

Volapük

Conjunction

ye

1. however

Ye'kwana

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɟe]

Noun

ye

1. (Caura River dialect) Alternative form of iye (“wood, tree”)

Yola

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jiː/
• Homophones: yee, yie

Etymology 1

From Middle English ye, from Old English ġē, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ.

Pronoun

ye

1. you

Derived terms

• y'art
• y'ast
• y'at

Etymology 2

Contraction

ye

1. Alternative form of yie (“to give”)

Etymology 3

Article

ye

1. Alternative form of a (“the”)

Etymology 4

Determiner

ye

1. Alternative form of yer (“your”)

References

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jè/

Noun

yè

1. (Idanre, Ondo) mother

   Synonyms: ìyá, màmá, mọ́mì, yèyé, iye, èyé, ùyá, abiyamọ

2. (Idanre, Ondo) a term of endearment or respect for an older woman or female relative

   Synonyms: mà, àǹtí, ìyá, màmá, mọ́mì, yèyé, iye, èyé

   A jọ̀ọ́, yè i ― Please, auntie

Usage notes

• (term of endearment): usually used with mi (“third-person singular possessive pronoun”).
• (both senses): follow greetings and pleasantries.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jé/

Verb

yé

1. (transitive) to understand

   Ṣó yé yín? ― Do you understand?

   Kò yé mi ― I don't understand

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jé/

Verb

yé

1. to stop; to cease

   Yé ṣe bẹ́ẹ̀! ― Stop doing that!

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jè/

Verb

yè

1. (intransitive) to survive

   Ògún yè, mo yè ― Ogun survives, I survive

Etymology 5

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jé/

Verb

yé

1. (transitive) to lay (eggs)

   Adìẹ mi ti yé ẹyin ― My hen's laid eggs

Zulu

Pronoun

-ye

1. Combining stem of yena.