ye

ye

ye¹ [thə, thi, thē; ] now often erroneously or facetiously [ yē]

adj., definite article

archaic var. of THE: y was substituted by early printers for the thorn (þ), the Old and Middle English character representing the sound (th) or (th): sometimes written “y^e: ”

ye² [yē]

pron.

[ME < OE ge, ye, nom. pl. corresponding to thu, thou, akin to Goth jus, but with vowel modified after we (see WE): for IE base see YOU]

Archaic YOU: first used only as nominative plural, later as nominative singular, and still later, esp. in dialectal speech, as objective singular and plural