ye

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 *yúHs (“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”), Latvian jūs (“ye”), Sanskrit यूयम् (yūyám, “ye”). See also you.

• (UK, US) enPR: yē, IPA^(key): /jiː/, [jɪi], [ji(ː)]
• (Northumbria)
  • (stressed form) IPA^(key): /(j)iː/
  • (unstressed form) IPA^(key): /jɪ/, /jə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

ye (personal pronoun)

1. (archaic outside Northern England, Cornwall, Ireland, Newfoundland, Ottawa Valley) You (the people being addressed).
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 17, page 512:

     My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo, / Whileſt ye in durance dwelt, ye to me gaue / A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho ; / The ſame againe if now ye liſt to haue, / The ſame is yonder Lady, whom high God did ſaue.

   • 1671, Elisha Coles, chapter 6, in ΧΡΙΣΤΟΛΟΓΙΑ: Or, a Metrical Paraphraſe on the Hiſtory of Our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt : Dedicated to His Univerſal Church‎^[5]:

     Queſtion me then no more; whate'er ye want, / Ask in my Name, and God ſhall ſurely grant. / You've asked nothing yet for Jesus sake : / Ask and receive, and of my joyes partake.

   • 1915, Charles L Graves, Humours of Irish life, pages 241-242:

     Was anyone hurted? Sure, they were just trailin' theirselves off the ground. Ye wud have died larfin'. There's Jimmy Hanlon was never his own man since, and I had me nose broke on me—I find it yet—and some says there was a wee girl from Tanderagee got herself killed.

   • 1995, Elizabeth II, “Legal Notice 247 of 1996”, in Hong Kong Government Gazette‎^[6], page B1096:

     Know Ye that We have declared and by these Presents do declare our Will and Pleasure as follows— […]

2. (archaic) You (the singular person being addressed).
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick‎^[7], chapter 23:

     Know ye now, Bulkington? Glimpses do ye seem to see of that mortally intolerable truth; that all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; [...]

   • 1915, Charles L Graves, Humours of Irish life, page 255:

     Maybe they'd get hurted!" said the boys. "Hurted, how-are-ye!" says Hughie; "How could anyone get hurted so simple as that? I'd be the last in the world to speak of such a thing in that case! But if yous are afraid of doing it..."

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).

• (second-person plural): See Thesaurus:y'all

• Scott Dobson, Dick Irwin, “ye”, in Newcastle 1970s: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎^[8], archived from the original on 5 September 2024.

From Middle English þe. Early press typographies in late 15th century 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 (14th c.–15th c.^[1])). Short form yͤ continued long after the digraph th had replaced þ elsewhere.

"Ye" for "þe" continued in manuscripts through the 18th century. The practice was revived in the United Kingdom in the 19th century as a deliberate antiquarianism in shop names, thus the Ye Olde ... Shoppe construction.^[1][2]

• y^e, yͤ

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

ye

1. (archaic, definite) The.

   Ye Olde Medicine Shoppe (pseudo-archaic)

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 1:17, column 2:

     Now vnto yͤ king eternal, immortall, inuiſible, the onely wiſe God, be honour and glory for euer ⁊ euer. Amen.

   • 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

Shortened from yes or yeah.

• IPA^(key): /jə/, [jɐ], [jɪ], [jɛ],

ye

1. (slang) Yes, yeah.

From Russian е (je).

ye (plural yes)

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

• Ye (article) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• -ey, ey

• (Myanmar) /jɛ˧/

ye

1. to be wild

• Inglis, Douglas; Sampu, Nasaw; Jaseng, Wilai; Jana, Thocha (2005), A preliminary Ngochang–Kachin–English Lexicon‎^[9], Payap University, page 143

ye

1. third-person singular form of -e

• IPA^(key): [jé]

ye (Kana spelling イェ)

1. (transitive) to say, to tell

   Aesinap un-ye.

   He told us a secret.

2. (intransitive) to speak
3. Latin spelling of イェ

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

ye

1. third-person singular present indicative of ser

• yía (South-Western Asturias)
• ya (South-Western Asturias)
• ía (South-Western Asturias)
• e (Llanes)
• é (Llanes, obsolete)

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

ye

1. third-person singular present indicative of ser

ye (ye (or -ye), plural yes (or -yes))

1. (Western Asturias) alternative form of y (-y)

ye

1. (obsolete) alternative form of y

ye

1. second-person singular imperative positive degree of yemək

ye

1. at, towards
2. for

   N ye nin kɛ Madu ye

   I did this for Madou

3. with

   N bɛ n ko ni safunɛ ye

   I wash myself with soap

ye (auxiliary)

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

   Ne ye moto san

   I bought a motorbike

ye

1. (transitive) to see

   Ne m'a ye fɔlɔ

   I haven't seen him yet

ye

1. man (adult male human), men
2. person, people
3. Native American Indian(s)

• 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.

• 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)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

ye

1. so, therefore
2. truly
3. not at all

• Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.

From French est (“is”), third person singular of the indicative present of être (“to be”).

• IPA^(key): /je/

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?”)

• IPA^(key): /je/, /jɛ/

From Esperanto je.

ye

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

   Lu kaptis la kavalo per lazo ye la kolo.

   He/she captured the horse by a lasso to the neck.

   Ye la angulo di la strado.

   At the corner of the street.

   Ilu prenis elu ye la tayo.

   He took her by the waist.

From y +‎ -e.

ye (plural ye-i)

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

• Latin script letter names: literi: 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 ^[edit]

• je (1947–1972)

Borrowed from Dutch jee. Doublet of je.

• IPA^(key): /je/, [je]

yé (plural ye-ye)

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

   Synonym: way (Malay)

• (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

• “ye”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

ye

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈje/ [ˈjɛ]
• Hyphenation: ye

ye

1. alternative spelling of yula
2. alternative spelling of yuya
3. alternative spelling of yu

ye

1. and

ye

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

• 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.

From Old English ġē,^[1] from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yúHs. Compare the second-person dual pronoun ȝit.

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

• IPA^(key): /jeː/
• Rhymes: -eː

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

2. Second-person plural pronoun: ye, you (plural).
   • c. 1225, “Introduction”, in Ancrene Ƿiſſe (MS. Corpus Christi 402)‎^[10], Ludlow, Shropshire, published c. 1235, folio 1, verso; republished at Cambridge: Parker Library on the Web, January 2018:

     Ant ȝe mine leoue ſuſtren habbeð moni dei icrauet on me efter riƿle

     And you, my beloved sisters, have asked me for a rule many times.

   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[11], published c. 1410, Matheu 16:15, folio 9, recto, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     iheſus ſeide to hem / but whom ſeyn ȝe me to be .·?

     Jesus said to them, "But who do you say I am?"

3. (formal) second-person singular pronoun: you (singular).
   • a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “Book II”, in Troilus and Criseyde, lines 22–28:

     Ȝe knowe ek that in fourme of ſpeche is chaunge / With-inne a thousand ȝeer, and wordes tho /That hadden pris now wonder nyce and ſtraunge /Us thenketh hem, and ȝet thei ſpake hem so / And ſpedde as wel in loue as men now do / Ek forto wynnen loue in ſondry ages / In ſondry londes, ſondry ben vſages […]

     You also know that the form of language is in flux; / within a thousand years, words / that had currency; really weird and bizarre / they seem to us now, but they still spoke them / and accomplished as much in love as men do now. / As for winning love across ages and / across nations, there are lots of usages […]

• From around 1300, a T–V distinction emerged in Middle English where formal ye was used to address one's superiors, elders or others to whom one might wish to show politeness or respect, while informal þou was used to address inferiors and younger generations.
• When both speakers were of approximately equal status, the rules regarding the use of informal þou and formal ye were relatively fluid: speakers could indiscriminately alternate between them or employ them to provide subtle emotional cues, such as "moments of emotional intensity or intimacy" in courtly relationships or as a demonstration of contempt or disapproval.^[2][3][4]

• English: ye, yee
• Middle Scots: ȝe
  • Scots: ye (archaic)
• Yola: ye

ye (present participle yeyn)

1. Address a single person by the use of the pronoun ye instead of thou.
   • 1511, Geoffrey the Grammarian, Promptorium Parvulorum, England: de Worde, Wynkyn, signature M.iii, verso, column 2:

     Yeyn or sey ye with worshyp, voso.

     To say ye with reverence: voso.

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

• yie

• IPA^(key): /jɛː/

ye

1. yes, yea

• English: yea
• Yola: yee, yea

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈiː(ə)/

yë (plural yën)

1. alternative form of eye (“eye”)
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Prologues”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, lines 9–10:

     And smale foweles maken melodye, / That slepen al the nyght with open yë.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

ye

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

ye

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

• yê (superseded, still in use)

Inherited from Old Leonese ye, from Latin est.

• IPA^(key): /ˈje/ [ˈje] (Central)
• IPA^(key): /ˈji/ [ˈjɨj] (Sendinese)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e (Central)
• Rhymes: -i (Sendinese)
• Syllabification: ye

ye

1. third-person singular present indicative of ser

From Old Norse eigi.

ye

1. (Orkney) not

• ya
• ia
• y
• e
• é
• he
• hie
• hye

ye

1. and
   • 1245, Ordinances made by the city and council of Oviedo:

     podies léér ye connucer

     [so] you may read and know

   • 1255, Letter from San Vicente Monastery (Oviedo):

     Ye a vuestro finamento que nos fique livremente con esti poblo ia decho, bono ye derecho e con semente ye comente assi commo estedier lavrada ye obrada. Ye nos visitarla cada anno por nuestro vigario que nos alleguedes ne la diedes a nenguno en prestamo, ye vos mandarlu bien recibir ya darli de comer ye lo que li for mester.

     And upon your death we get freely this town and [what has been] said, good and right and with seed and say how it would be tilled and worked. And for us to make sure it each year through our vicaliar that you not approach or give it to anyone in loan, and that you guide him well [and] recieve him and feed him and whatever he needs

• hie
• hye

• Asturian: y, ya
• Leonese: y, ya
• Mirandese: i

ye

1. third-person singular present indicative of ser
   • 1017, Fuero de Leóm:

     Si algunno morar en mandacion et dixier que non ye omne forero, nen fijo de omne forero

     If someone lives in [the] jurisdiction and says he is not a foreign man, nor son of a foreign man

• Asturian: ye
• Leonese: yía, ía, ye
• Mirandese: ye

ye

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

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

ye

1. here

• Álvarez, José; Bravo, María (2008), “ye”, in Diccionario básico de la lengua añú [Basic dictionary of the Añú language]‎^[12], Maracaibo, Venezuela: University of Zulia, →ISBN, page 108.

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 *yúHs (“ye”), plural of *túh₂.

• IPA^(key): /jiː/, /jɪ/

ye

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

• “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.

• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: ye

ye f (plural yes)

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

   Synonym: i griega

• "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.

• “ye”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

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

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

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

• ey, -ey

• IPA^(key): /je/

ye

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

• (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

Borrowed from Persian یه (ye).

ye

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

ye

1. second-person singular imperative of yemek

ye

1. imperative of yemoq

ye

1. however
   • 1946, “Nuns”, in Volapükagased pro Nedänapükans, page 34:

     Söl: ‚Tarnow’ äbinom konletan zilik dinas valik teföl valemapükis valasotik. Bukem valemapükik omik, kel äbinon ba gretikün un Deutän, ye pedistukon ti löliko.

     Mr. Tarnow was an industrious collector of all things in the field of world languages of all kinds. His library about world languages, which was perhaps the largest in Germany, has, however, been almost completely destroyed.

• IPA^(key): [ɟe]

ye

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

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

• IPA^(key): /jiː/
• Homophone: yie

ye

1. you^[1]
   • 1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 1, page 94:

     Ye be welcome, hearthilee welcome, mee joees,

     You are welcome, heartily welcome, my joys,

   • 1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 1, page 94:

     Ye be welcome, hearthillee, ivery oan.

     You are heartily welcome, every one.

   • 1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 94:

     Maade a nicest coolecannan that e'er ye did zee.

     Made the nicest coolecannan that ever you did see.

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

     At ye mye ne'er be wooveless ta vill a lear jock an cooan.

     That you may never be unprovided to fill an empty jack and can.

• y'art
• y'ast
• y'at

ye

1. alternative form of yie (“to give”)^[1]

ye

1. alternative form of a (“the”)^[1]
   • 1867, “CASTEALE CUDDE'S LAMENTATION”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 1, page 102:

     Ye nyporès aul, come hark to mee,

     Ye neighbours all, come hark to me,

   • 1867, “Prologue”, in CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 114:

     Ye soumissive Spakeen o'ouz Dwelleres o' Baronie Forthe, Weisforthe.

     The humble Address of the Inhabitants of the Barony of Forth, Wexford.

   • 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 114, lines 6-7:

     wi vengem o' core t'gie oure zense o' ye gradès whilke be ee-dighte wi yer name;

     to pour forth from the strength of our hearts, our sense of the qualities which characterise your name,

   • 1927, “THE FORTH MAN'S GRACE AFTER A SCANTY DINNER”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 137, line 2:

     When ye Lord plaase, He ma mend this,

     [When the Lord please, He may mend this,]

   • 1927, “THE FORTH MAN'S GRACE AFTER A SCANTY DINNER”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 137, line 4:

     God save ye Kinge, hev awaa ye platter."

     [God save the King, heave away the platter.]

   • 1927, “ZONG OF TWI MAARKEET MOANS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 129, lines 14^[2]:

     Thou liest valse co secun that thou an ye thick,

     You lie false, said the second, that you and your kid,

• IPA^(key): /jè/

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

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

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /jé/

yé

1. (transitive) to understand

   Ṣó yé yín? ― Do you understand?

   Kò yé mi ― I don't understand

• IPA^(key): /jé/

yé

1. to stop; to cease

   Yé ṣe bẹ́ẹ̀! ― Stop doing that!

• IPA^(key): /jè/

yè

1. (intransitive) to survive

   Ògún yè, mo yè ― Ogun survives, I survive

• IPA^(key): /jé/

yé

1. (transitive) to lay (eggs)

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

-ye

1. Combining stem of yena.