English

Pronoun

Thee

1. Alternative letter-case form of thee often used when referring to God or another important figure who is understood from context.

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: thē, IPA^(key): /ðiː/
• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophone: the (when stressed)

Pronoun

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

1. (archaic, literary) Objective 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.

   • 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) 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 above).

Derived terms

• get thee behind me

Translations

Verb

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.

See also

Statistics

Etymology 2

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 𐌲𐌰𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 ‎(gaþeihan, “to increase, thrive”).

Pronunciation

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

Alternative forms

• the (Scotland)

Verb

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

1. (intransitive, archaic, literary, Britain dialectal) To thrive; prosper.
   • Spenser

     Well mote thee, as well can wish your thought.

Derived terms

• theedom

Etymology 3

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

Noun

thee ‎(plural thees)

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

Related terms

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

Anagrams

• ethe

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eː
• IPA^(key): /teː/

Etymology

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

Noun

Gevuld theeglas
Filled tea glass

thee m ‎(plural theeën, diminutive theetje n)

1. tea

Derived terms

• theeglas
• theelepel
• theepauze

Anagrams

• heet, hete

Old Irish

Adjective

thee

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

Scots

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θiː/

Noun

thee ‎(plural thees)

1. thigh