thee

From Middle English thee, the, from Middle 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 di (“thee”), German dir (“thee”, dative pron.), Icelandic þér (“thee”). More at thou.

• enPR: thē, IPA^(key): /ðiː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophone: the (when stressed)

thee (second-person singular, objective case, nominative thou, reflexive thyself)

1. (archaic, literary) Objective and reflexive case of thou.
   • 1598, Shakespeare, Henry IV part 1, 1.2.49-50:

     Prince Henry: Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part?

     Falstaff: No; I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all there.

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:

     Michael, this my behest have thou in charge,
     Take to thee from among the Cherubim
     Thy choice of flaming Warriours, least the Fiend

   • 1742, Charles Wesley (music), “Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown”:

     Come, O thou Traveller unknown, / Whom still I hold, but cannot see! / My company before is gone, / And I am left alone with Thee; / With Thee all night I mean to stay, / And wrestle till the break of day.

2. (Quaker, Amish, Pennsylvania Dutch English, West Country) Thou.

   Thee is a little strange, I think.

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

• get thee behind me

thee (third-person singular simple present thees, present participle theeing, simple past and past participle theed)

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- (“to succeed, turn out well”). Cognate with Dutch gedijen (“to flourish, thrive, prosper, succeed”), German gedeihen (“to thrive”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (gaþeihan, “to increase, thrive”).

• enPR: thē, IPA^(key): /θiː/
• Rhymes: -iː

• the (Scotland)

thee (third-person singular simple present thees, present participle theeing, simple past and past participle theed)

1. (intransitive, Britain, obsolete) To thrive; prosper.
   • Spenser

     Well mote thee, as well can wish your thought.

• theedom

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

thee (plural thees)

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

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

• ethe

From Proto-Chamic *thɔw, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan, from Proto-Sunda-Sulawesi, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taqu, from Proto-Austronesian *Caqu.

thee

1. to be informed

Borrowing from Min Nan 茶 (tê) through Malay teh. The "-h-" is a faux-Greek spelling (compare Greek τσάι (tsái)).

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eː
• IPA^(key): /teː/

Gevuld theeglas
Filled tea glass

thee m (plural theeën, diminutive theetje n)

1. tea

• theeglas
• theelepel
• theepauze

• Afrikaans: tee
• → West Frisian: tee
• → Dutch Low Saxon: thee
• → Danish: te
  • → Faroese: te
• → English: tea
  • Gullah: tea
  • Jamaican Creole: tea
  • → Abenaki: ti
  • → Chickasaw: tii'
  • → Cocopa: ṭi·
  • → Cornish: té
  • → Cree:

    Canadian syllabics: ᑎᕀ (tiy)

    Latin: tiy

  • → Irish: tae
  • → Maori: tī
  • → Malecite-Passamaquoddy: ti
  • → Mikasuki: ti'g'tlo'q, ji'gitlo'q (“kettle”) (from "tea kettle")
  • → Panamint: tii
  • → Unami: ti
  • → Welsh: te
• → French: thé
  • Haitian Creole: te
  • Louisiana Creole French: thé
  • → Greek: τέϊον (téïon) (with neuter suffix -ion)
  • → Italian: tè
    • → Romansch: te, té, tè
  • → Norman: thée
  • → Occitan: tè
  • → Old Armenian: թէյ (tʿēy) (post-classical)
    • Armenian: թեյ (tʿey)
  • → Romansch: te, té, tè
  • → Tiri: tee
  • → Walloon: té
• → German: Tee
  • → German Low German: Tee
    • Plautdietsch: Tee
  • → Estonian: tee
  • → Hunsrik: Tee
  • → Lower Sorbian: tej
  • → Romansch: te, té, tè
  • → Saterland Frisian: Tee
  • → Silesian: tyj
    • → Slovene: te (dialectal)
  • → Silesian German: Tee
  • → Vilamovian: tyy
  • → Zipser German: Tee
• → Icelandic: te
• → New Latin: thea
  • ⇒ Latin: herba thea (“herb tea”)
    • → Polish: herbata
      • → Belarusian: гарба́та (harbáta)
      • → Kashubian: arbata
      • → Lithuanian: arbata
      • → Samogitian: erbeta
      • → Ukrainian: герба́та (herbáta), герба́тка (herbátka)
• → Latvian: tēja
• → Norwegian: te
• → Spanish: té
  • → Asturian: té
  • → Basque: te
  • → Catalan: te
  • → Galician: té
  • → Navajo: dééh
  • → Occitan: tè
• → Swedish: te, the, thé
  • → Finnish: tee

• heet, hete

From Old English þĕ.

thee

1. Alternative form of þe

• “the, (pron.2)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 5 May 2018.

From Old English þēon.

thee

1. Alternative form of theen

thee

1. Alternative spelling of thé: lenited form of tee (“hot”).

From Old English þēoh, from Proto-Germanic *þeuhą, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tewk-.

• IPA^(key): /θiː/

thee (plural thees)

1. thigh