Part 12

{Ye, Ye ()}, an old method of printing the article the (AS. þe), the "y" being used in place of the Anglo-Saxon thorn (þ). It is sometimes incorrectly pronounced y. See The, and Thorn, n., 4.

Y"ë ("e), n.; pl. Yën ("en). An eye. [Obs.]

From his yën ran the water down.

Chaucer.

Ye (y), pron. [OE. ye, e, nom. pl., AS. ge, g; cf. OS. ge, g, OFries. g, , D. gij, Dan. & Sw. i, Icel. r, OHG. ir, G. ihr, Goth. jus, Lith. jus, Gr. "ymei^s, Skr. yuyam. √189.] The plural of the pronoun of the second person in the nominative case.

Ye ben to me right welcome heartily.

Chaucer.

But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified.

1 Cor. vi. 11.

This would cost you your life in case ye were a man.

Udall.

In Old English ye was used only as a nominative, and you only as a dative or objective. In the 16th century, however, ye and you became confused and were often used interchangeably, both as nominatives and objectives, and you has now superseded ye except in solemn or poetic use. See You, and also the first Note under Thou.

Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye.

Shak.

I come, kind gentlemen, strange news to tell ye.

Dryden.

Ye (y), adv. [See Yea.] Yea; yes. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Yea (y or y; 277), adv. [OE. ye, ya, e, a, AS. geá; akin to OFries. g, i, OS., D., OHG., G., Dan. & Sw. ja, Icel, j, Goth. ja, jai, and probably to Gr. "h^ truly, verily. √188. Cf. Yes.]

1. Yes; ay; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative, or an affirmative answer to a question, now superseded by yes. See Yes.

Let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay.

Matt. v. 37.

2. More than this; not only so, but; -- used to mark the addition of a more specific or more emphatic clause. Cf. Nay, adv., 2.

I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

Phil. i. 18.

Yea sometimes introduces a clause, with the sense of indeed, verily, truly. "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Gen. iii. 1.

Yea, n. An affirmative vote; one who votes in the affirmative; as, a vote by yeas and nays.

In the Scriptures, yea is used as a sign of certainty or stability. "All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen." 2 Cor. i. 20.

Yead (?), v. i. Properly, a variant of the defective imperfect yode, but sometimes mistaken for a present. See the Note under Yede. [Obs.]