Thee

Pronunciation

• enPR: thÄ“, IPA: /ðiː/
• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophones: the (when stressed)

From Middle English thee, the, 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"). Cognate with German Low German du ("thee"), German dir ("thee", dative pron..), Icelandic þér ("thee"). More at thou.

Full definition of thee

Pronoun

1. (archaic, literary) objective case
• Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz, History of Louisiana (PG), page 40:When our Chiefs command us, we never require the reasons: I can say nothing else to thee.
2. (Quaker, Amish, Pennsylvania Dutch English) Thou.
• Thee is a little strange, I think.

Usage notes

When used in place of the nominative thou, thee uses the third-person singular form of verbs (see example at "quotations").

Verb

1. (transitive) To address (somebody) as "thee"; to thou.

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-, *tenkh- ("to succeed, turn out well"). Cognate with Dutch gedijen ("to flourish, thrive, prosper, succeed"), German gedeihen ("to thrive"), Gothic (gaþeihan, "to increase, thrive").

Alternative forms

• the Scotland

Verb

1. (intransitive, archaic, literary, UK dialectal) To thrive; prosper.
• SpenserWell mote thee, as well can wish your thought.

Derived terms

• theedom

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

Noun

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

Related terms

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

Anagrams

• ethe