The dem. adj. (‘def. article’) and pron.

Forms: see below. [The reduced and flexionless stem of the OE. demonstrative se, séo (later þe, þéo), þæt, the neuter sing. of which has come down as the dem. pron. and adj. THAT. Com. Teut. and Indo-Eur.: = OFris. thi, thiu, thet, OS. (se), th(i)e, thiu (the), that (the), (MLG., MDu. de (die), dat, LG., Du. de, dat), OHG. der (de), diu, daz (mod. Ger. der, die, das), ON. sá, sú, þat, Goth. sa, sô, þata, also Gr. ὁ, ἡ, τό, Zend ho, hā, tat, Skr. sa, sā, tat; all the inflexional parts exc. the nom. sing. m. and f. having the stem þa-, Lith., Slav, to-, Gr. τό., Zend, Skr. ta-, Indo-Eur. to-, found also in L. in tam, tum, tunc, is-te, is-tud, etc. The nom. sing. m. and f. in OTeut., as in Skr., Zend, Gr., belong to another demonst. stem sa-, I.-Eur. so-, found also in Ir., Gael., Gaulish so this, L. -se in ip-se. But in OHG., OS. (in most dialects), and in late OE. (10th c. in Northumbrian, and at length everywhere) the s- forms were superseded by forms in þ- (OHG. d-), from the same stem as the neuter þæt and the oblique cases, as well as the pl. þá, later þō, THO. After the middle of the 13th c. the s- forms are no longer found, exc. as a belated survival (ze m., zy f.) in the Kentish dial. of the Ayenbite (1340). The only surviving reprs. of the OE. forms are the and that, Du. and LG. de, dat; but while LG. dat (besides its other uses) is still the neuter article, the Eng. that has ceased to be any part of the article. In the following illustration of Forms all the inflexions are illustrated, but the special history of þæt and þá pl. will be found under THAT, THO.

  (The nom. fem. sío, séo corresponds in form not to Goth. sô, ON. sú, I.-Eur. *sā, but to OS., OHG. siu ‘she.’ Some identify it with Skt. syā fem. of the ‘extended’ demonstrative sya, syā, tyat; others regard it as a special WGer. formation related to Goth. sī ‘she.’)]

  A.  Illustration of Forms.

  The OE. demonstrative and definite article was thus inflected:

  The variants and later forms were:

  I.  Sing. 1. a. Nom. masc. α. 1–3 se (1 sæ, 2 seo) [4 ze antec. pron.].

805.  Charter of Cuðred, in O. E. Texts, 442. Æðelnoð se ʓerefa to Eastoreʓe.

c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, ix. 25. Bismerað dryhten se synfulla.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Mark x. 24. Sæ [Rushw. ðe] hælend … cuoeð.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., III. 84. Sa ruwa ʓealle byð wexenda on þan innoþe. Ibid. Se blace ʓealle.

a. 1154.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1135. On þis ʓære for se king Henri ouer sæ.

a. 1175.  Cotton Hom., 235. Þis is seo king.

c. 1250.  O. Kent. Serm., in O. E. Misc., 26. Se king of gyus.

[1340.  Ayenb., 117. Ze þet ne heþ þise uondinges.]

  ǁ Abnormal uses of se in oblique cases, and of sa pl., ses gen. sing. (In some of these, s may be a scribal error for þ.)

c. 1121.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1114. Þæt duʓeð þæt wæs … mid se cyng. Ibid. (a. 1131), an. 1123. Ðis wæs eall ear ʓedon ðurh se biscop of Seresbyriʓ, & þurh se biscop of Lincolne. Ibid. Hi … brohten him toforen se kyng. Ibid. ʓebletsod to biscop fram se biscop of Lundene.

a. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 235. Ures hlafordes to-cyme ses helendes ihesu cristes.

1200–25.  Peri Didaxeon, in Sax. Leechd., III. 94. To ðan sare þe abutan sa earan wycst. Ibid., 112. Wurm þanna sa handa & smyr þar mið.

  β.  1–2 ðe (ðy), 1–4 þe (2–4 te); 2–3 þa, 3–5 þo.

  The O. E. Chron., 1122–31, has for the nom. masc. se, the section 1132–54 has (exc. once, anno 1135) þe (and te).

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. ii. 3. Herodes ðe cynig. Ibid., ix. 15. Cueð to him ðe hælend.

a. 1154.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1132. Was it noht suithe lang þer efter þat te king sende efter him. Ibid., an. 1135. Þat ilc ʓær warth þe king ded.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 3. Hu þe helend nehlechede toward ierusalem.

c. 1205.  Lay., 1327. Ne beo þa dai na swa long.

a. 1240.  Sawles Warde, in Cott. Hom., 267. Þe feder an te sune an te hali gast.

a. 1300.  Floriz & Bl., 739. Þe Admiral … chaungede his chere.

13[?].  Cursor M., 6282 (Cott.). Þe lauerd o might. Ibid., 20185. Þan said te angel.

a. 1325.  MS. Rawl. B., 520, lf. 31. Ȝir þat te on [Iustise] be Clerke.

  b.  Nom. fem. α. 1 séo, sío, síu, (sa), 1–3 se, 2 sie, syo, 2–3 si, [4 zi, zy antec. pron.].

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxix. § 5. Sio godcunde ʓesceadwisnes. Ibid. (c. 893), Oros., II. iv. § 8. Seo ilce burʓ Babylonia, seo ðe mæst wæs … seo is nu læst.

c. 975.  Rushw. Gosp., Matt. xii. 13. Swa siu oþeru [hond].

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Mark xv. 40. Seo [c. 1160 Hatton G., sie] magdalenisce maria.

a. 1131.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1122. On þone lenten tyde … forbearn se burch.

c. 1160.  Hatton Gosp., John xii. 17. Syo menio þe wæs mid him.

a. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 233. Hwat deð si moder hire bearn?

c. 1250.  O. Kent. Serm., in O. E. Misc., 28. Si Mirre signefiet uastinge.

[1340.  Ayenb., 102. Zy þet ne serueþ bote to onlepy manne.]

  β.  1 ðío, ðíu, 1–3 ðéo, þéo, (3 þæ, 2–3 þa, 2–4 þo).

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., John ii. 1. Uæs ðiu [Rushw. ðio] moder and ðe hælend ðer. Ibid., v. 25. Cymmes ðio tid & nu is.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 65. Þeo deaþ-berende uncyst us is eallum to onscunienne.

c. 975.  Rushw. Gosp., John xix. 20. Neh ðær cæstre wæs ðio stow.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., ibid. Þeo stow wæs ʓehende þære ceastre.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 15. Hit wes þa laȝe. Ibid., 87. Þo tid to estertide.

c. 1205.  Lay., 4010. Þeo uniseli moder. Ibid., 9815. Þæ quene spac wið him þus.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 282. Þeo heorte ne ethalt none wete of Godes grace.

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 26. Þo vle song hire tide.

  c.  Nom. and accus. neuter. 1 ðæt, 1–3 þæt, 2–4 þet, 2–5 þat, that, (3 þut): see also THAT.

c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 8. Þæt land Cilia. Ibid. Irnende on þæt sond, & þonne besince eft on þæt sand.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., I. 264. Þæt ðridde ʓebed is.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 7. Þat ebreisce folc sungen heore leof-song.

c. 1205.  Lay., 297. Þat child was ihaten Brutus. Ibid., 7843. Þet weder heom strongliche drof.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 186. Nis þet child fulitowen þet schrepeð aȝean?

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 1259. Þah ic hi warny al þat yer.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 12014. Þo was þut lond in pes.

c. 1320.  Cast. Love, 139. To delen þat vuel from þe good.

1340.  Ayenb., 2. Þet oþer heaued of þe beste of helle.

  2.  Accus. a. masc. 1–2 þone, (1 þæne), 2 þana, 2–3 þene, 2–4 þane, þan, þen, (3 þun), 3–4 þon, 4 þanne.

c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, iv. 4. ʓemiclað dryhten ðone halʓan his.

c. 1121.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1016. Eadric ealdormann ʓewende þa ðæne cyng onʓean. Ibid. (a. 1131), an. 1122. Þa com se fir on ufen weard þone stepel.

a. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 223. He worhte þa þane man mid his handen.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 7. Þurh þene halie gast. Ibid., 99. Crist ableow þana halȝa gast ofer þa apostlas.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 53. Ure helende … makede þen heuenliche fader sehte mid mankin.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2184. To rere þon stronge wal. Ibid., 7954. He … þen castel bisette.

1340.  Ayenb., 187. He ne may naȝt þolye þane guode smel … namore þanne þe boterel þanne smel of þe vine.

c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 2419. Ate laste þan gurdel he fond.

c. 1400.  Sowdone Bab., 108. To Egremoure þon riche Cite.

  b.  fem. 1–3 þá, 2–3 þeo, 3 þie, o.

a. 900.  trans. Bæda’s Hist., III. xii. [xiv.] (1890), 196. Se biscop þa ʓeseah þa eaðmodnesse þæs cyninges.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., John xix. 17. On þa stowe.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 9. On þa ealde laȝe. Ibid., 49. [Þes put] bitacneð þeo deopnesse of sunne.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 107. Þie giue god giueð ech man. Ibid. Þeo giue he giueð mid þe holi husel.

c. 1205.  Lay., 31. He nom þa Englisca boc Þa makede seint Beda.

c. 1250.  O. Kent. Serm., in O. E. Misc., 29. We mowe habbe þo blisce of heueriche.

  3.  Dative. a. masc. and neut. 1 þǽm, 1–2 þám, (2 þa), 2–4 þen, þon, thon, þan, than, (3 þæn), 3–4 þo (ten).

Beowulf, 143. Se þæm feonde æt-wand.

c. 975.  Rushw. Gosp., Matt. viii. 24. On þæm sæ.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Gen. vi. 16. Binnan þam arce.

c. 1121.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1087. Innan þam castele. Ibid. (1131), On þa tun þa wæs tenn ploʓes.

a. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 227. Mid þan hefonlice feder.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 41. On þon deie. Ibid., 121. Ibuhsum þan heuenliche federe to þa deðe.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 25. For þo þe he us shop.

c. 1205.  Lay., 8157. Þu me smiten bi þon rugge. Ibid., 127. On þan londe. Ibid., 9266. He redde al þæn kæisere.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 66. Al þat lescun … of þen epple.

c. 1250.  O. Kent. Serm., in O. E. Misc., 26. To-janes þo sunne risindde. Ibid. Bi þo sterre.

c. 1315.  Shoreham, v. 184. Fram þan tyme he was ybore.

1340.  Ayenb., 12. At þo daye.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Friar’s T., 51. To … make hym grete feestes atte nale [= at ten ale].

  b.  fem. 1–3 þǽre (2 þara), 2–3 þere, þer, 2–4 þare, þar.

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xli. § 3. Mid þære ilcan spræce.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., John xvii. 11. On ðære tide.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., III. 86. Byd hy to þare wunda.

a. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 225. Binnan þara birie. Ibid., 235. To þar sawle.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 3. He com to þere dune. Ibid., 31. Cume þenne to þer ilke chirche.

c. 1205.  Lay., 1233. Mid þære sæ. Ibid., 4528. To þere sæ.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 36. Ualleð to ðer eorðe.

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 31. Þe Nightegale … þuhte wel ful of þare vle.

c. 1315.  Shoreham, ii. 118. Þe sonne dym By-come in þare tyde.

  4.  Genitive. a. masc. and neut. 1–3 ðæs, þæs, 3 þeos, Orm. þess, 2–4 þes, þas. See also THES adv.

c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., I. iv. § 2. On þæs cyninges daʓum.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., I. 240. For ðæs folces hreddinge.

a. 1131.  O. E. Chron., an. 1122. Þet wes þes dæies viii idus Mr.

c. 1160.  Hatton Gosp., Luke i. 10. Eall wered þas folkes.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 23. He sit on rihthalf þes almihtie faderes.

c. 1205.  Lay., 713. To þas [c. 1275 þis] kinges ferde. Ibid., 806. To telde þæs [c. 1275 þis] kinges. Ibid., 7560. Þurh þeos [c. 1275 þes] sweordes wunde.

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 338. Þu adunest Þas monnes eren þar þu wunest.

  b.  fem. 1–2 þǽre, 2–3 þere, þare, 2–4 þer.

c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 14. On oþre healfe þære eas.

c. 1205.  Lay., 331. Þere quene cun Heleine.

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 28. Hit wes þare vle erdingstowe.

c. 1315.  Shoreham, i. 79. Mannys blod Hys [= ys] ryȝt þer saule ȝiste.

  5.  Instrumental: see THE adv., THON, THY adv.

  II.  Plural. 6. Nom. and acc. 1–4 þá, (2–3 ta), (3 þea), 3–5 þo (to); 3 þeo, 4 theo. (See also THO adj.)

a. 700.  Epinal Gl. (O.E.T.), 439. Funestissima, tha deat[h]licostan.

c. 725.  Corpus Gl., 942. Ða deadlicustan.

c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, v. 6. Ða unrehtwisan.

a. 1200.  Moral Ode, 103. Þa swicen and ta forsworene.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 35. On þa wurhliche weden.

c. 1205.  Lay., 2020. He … scæwede þea [c. 1275 þe] leoden. Ibid., 2326. Þa hehste of þan hirde. Ibid., 5654. Þeo [c. 1275 þe] cnihtes weoren vnwepned.

12[?].  Moral Ode (Egert. MS.), 192. He scal deme þo quike & to dede.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 861. Amang þa trees.

a. 1400.  K. Alis., 4108. Theo maydenes lokyn in the glas.

  7.  Dative. 1 þǽm, þám, 2–3 þam, þon, þan, 3 þen.

c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 28. Be þæm ʓesetenum iʓlandum.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Mark v. 2. Of þam byrʓenum.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 27. For þan deoflan. Ibid., 139. To alle ðon monnen.

c. 1205.  Lay., 714. To þon cnihten. Ibid., 747. Cuð he wes þen cnihten.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 50. Þe blake cloð … deð lesse eile to þen eien.

  8.  Genitive. 1–2 þára, þǽra, 2 þera, 2–3 þere, 3 þare, þer.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 35. Ne bið þara fæstendaʓa na ma þonne syx & þritiʓ.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., I. 12. Ealra þæra þinga [a. 1175 Cott. Hom., 221. þara þinge].

a. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 229. An þera twelf Christes þeiȝne.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 133. Þurh ðere clerkene muðe.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 121. Þer apostlene lore. Ibid., 139. Nan þere prophete þe ȝe wenen.

  III.  9. General uninflected form, as definite article in all cases, genders, and numbers.

  This had come to be þe, the by c. 1150 in the East Midland dialect, and may have been so even earlier in the Northern dial., where þe was the nom. masc. for se a. 950. The nom. masc. and fem. had become þe almost everywhere by 1300, but the neuter þat, þet remained longer before a vowel (see 1 c); and inflected forms of some oblique cases survived in some southern dialects till 1400 (cf. 2 a and 3 above).

  2–5 þe, 2, 4– the (also written 5–8 ye, y^e). (Also 2–3 þa, 2–4 te (see T 8), 3–5 þo, 4 þi, 4 thee, 4–5 þeo, theo, 5 þey, 6 they, 8–9 dial. ta, te, da, de, ’ee; abbrev. 2 þ-, 5–6 th-, 7–9 (now dial. and poet.) th’; 5–6 (8–9 dial.) t’ (see T’ 2), 8–9 dial. d’.

a. 1131.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1122. Þa com se fir … and forbearnde ealle þe minstre. Ibid., Se fir weax … up to þe heouene. Ibid., an. 1123. He com æfter þe Rome scot. Ibid. In þe lenten ferde se ærcebiscop to Rome. Ibid. (a. 1154), an. 1132. To þe king … þe muneces … þurh þe biscop of Seresberi & te b’ of Lincoln and te oþre ricemen. Ibid., an. 1137. Þe land was al fordon … In the hus … on þe circe … alle þe landes. Ibid., an. 1140. Þe kynges dohter Henries … Wyd þemperice. Ibid. And te cuen of France to dælde fra þe king, and scæ com to þe iunge eorl Henri.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 1485. & gaddresst swa þe clene corn All fra þe chaff togeddre.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 2949. But if it were in ðe lond gersen, ðor-inne woren ðe ebrisse men. Ibid., 2962. For to bi-tournen ðe kinges ðoȝt.

13[?].  Cursor M., 6859 (Cott.). Suilk was þi lessun and þi lare [v.r. þe … þe].

c. 1400.  Rule St. Benet, 12. Sua sais te prophete.

c. 1420.  Chron. Vilod., 1910. In þe whyche water hurre to wasshe.

a. 1425.  Cursor M., 9008 (Laud). The man that thedir-ward is fled. Ibid., 10005. Thee iiij^e turret þer e-sette.

1436.  Coventry Leet Bk., 185. Þat þey prior be not suffered to make no more off þe Stan wall vndur þey priory.

1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, II. xiii. 91. No thyng but thold custome.

1496.  Plumpton Corr., p. ci. The said lands … & t’ofice of the Steward.

1529.  Cromwell, in Merriman, Life & Lett. (1902), I. 58. Kept to thuse of my saide Soonne.

1529.  in Vicary’s Anat. (1888), App. II. 100. M^r Whittington, scolmaster to thenxmen.

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Huon, vi. 13. Out of temperours fauore. Ibid., lxxxviii. 278. His vncle themperour of Almayne.

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Rich. III., 27 b. Lo ye honorable courage of a kyng.

1603.  Shaks., Meas. for M., V. iii. 241. Come, come, to’ th purpose.

1632.  Milton, Penseroso, 60. Gently o’re th’ accustom’d Oke.

1742.  Young, Nt. Th., VI. 465. Th’ Almighty Fiat, and the Trumpet’s Sound.

  dial.  c. 1746.  Collier (Tim Bobbin), View Lanc. Dial., Wks (1862), p. xxxix. By th’ Miss, th’ owd story ogen.

1884.  J. C. Egerton, Sussex Folks & Ways, iii. 34. I can’t swallow it nohows in de wurreld.

1888.  Addy, Sheffield Gloss., 13. T’ beeas has got into t’ corn.

1890.  Bickley, Surrey Hills, xxix. Let ’ee words as did vor vather do vor son.

1892.  M. C. Morris, Yorks. Folk-talk, ii. 19. Gan inti d’ hoos.

  B.  Signification.

  I.  Referring to an individual object (or objects).

  *  Marking an object as before mentioned or already known, or contextually particularized (e.g., ‘We keep a dog. We are all fond of the dog’).

  1.  The ordinary use.

805–a. 1154.  [see A. I. 1 a α].

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. ii. 9. Stearra … ʓestod ofer ðer (vel hwer) wæs de cnæht [Rushw. se cneht].

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. ii. 11. And gangende into þam huse hi ʓemetton þæt cild. Ibid., John ii. 7. Þæt hiʓ þa fatu mid wætere ʓefyldon.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 133. Sum of þe sede feol an uppe þe stane … sum bi þe weie.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 1082. He toc þe recless & te blod & ȝede upp to þatt allterr.

13[?].  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 405. Quod þe gome in þe grene to Gawan þe hende.

1340.  Ayenb., 186. Wel ssolle we habbe reuþe … þe on of þe oþre.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 845 (Corp.). Þe soþ is þis, þe Cut fel to þe knight.

c. 1425.  Seven Sag. (P.), 10. The emperour and is wif Loveden the child as hare lyf.

1530.  Palsgr., 45. Where they saye in frenche le maistre, la dame, we saye in our tonge the mayster, the lady; so that this word the, with us, counter vayleth bothe le and la.

1695.  Congreve, Love for Love, IV. iv. What’s the matter now?

1818.  Cruise, Digest, V. 494. That the recovery enured to the uses of the settlement, and therefore that the purchaser had no title.

1902.  Gairdner, Hist. Eng. Ch. 16th Cent., viii. (1903), 149. He re-considered the matter.

  b.  Placed before the relative pron. which (whilk) (arch.): see WHICH. The one, the other: see ONE, OTHER, TONE, TOTHER.

  2.  Used before a word denoting time, as the time, day, hour, moment: the time (etc.) in question, or under consideration; the time (now or then) present. The while: see WHILE.

[c. 897.  K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., xlvi. 348. Hie nanwuht godes ne maʓon ða hwile Gode brengan to ðances.]

a. 1425.  Cursor M., 3889 (Trin.). Þe while holde lya in bedde Þenne shal þou rachel wedde.

1533.  Bellenden, Livy, V. xxiii. (S.T.S.), II. 227. Þe said voce was contempnit and necleckit in þe tyme.

1616.  J. Lane, Cont. Sqr.’s T., viii. 213. And, iust at thinstant, all the canons plaien From towne to Campe, from Camp to towne againe.

1780.  Mirror, No. 76, ¶ 3. He comes there only as he does to the coffee-house, to enquire after the news of the day.

1848.  Dickens, Dombey, liv. At the moment, the bell rang loudly in the hall.

1864.  Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 194. A tongue that ruled the hour.

1866.  Newman, Gerontius, ad fin. And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.

  b.  Used before numerals denoting years.

  Now only with abbreviation, either in reference to certain historical events (see FIFTEEN A. 2, FORTY-FIVE), or in expressions denoting a particular decade of a century or of a person’s life (see EIGHTY 2 b, FIFTY B. 2 b, etc.).

1724.  R. Wodrow, Life J. Wodrow (1828), 60. Elizabeth died … about the 1684 of a consumption.

a. 1776.  Ld. Auchinleck, in Scotch Acts (1844), I. Pref. 188. I take this Manuscript to have been wrote before the 1500, and it is clear it was not wrote before the 1455.

a. 1797, 1814.  [see FIFTEEN A. 2].

1824.  Scott, Redgauntlet, ch. xi. Ye have heard of a year they call the Forty-five.

1862.  Burton, Bk. Hunter, III. 261. Dispersed over the Highlands to keep them in order after the ’45.

1880, 1889.  [see FIFTY B. 2].

Mod.  I think it was in the early eighties.

  c.  The day, the morn, the night, in Sc. and north. dial. = to-day, to-morrow, to-night.

a. 1300.  [see MORN 3 c, d].

13[?].  Cursor M. (Cott.), 702. Þe sun was þat time … Seuen sith brighter þen þe dai [so Fairf.; Gött. to-day].

c. 1475.  Rauf Coilȝear, 301. Cum the morne to the Court.

a. 1692.  in ‘J. Curate,’ Sc. Presb. Eloq., iii. 106. I have brought him to you the day.

a. 1800.  in Burns’ Wks. (1800), I. 363. For he’s far aboon Dunkel the night.

1814.  [see DAY sb. 13 b (b)].

  3.  Before the name of a unique object or one so considered, or of which there is only one at a time; e.g., the sun, the earth, the sea, the sky, the air, the world, the universe, the Almighty, the Lord, the Messiah, the Saviour, the Gospel, the Bible, the abyss, the pit, the Devil, the Emperor, the Pope, the Kaiser, the Sultan, the Shah, etc.

c. 975.  Rushw. Gosp., John iv. 6. Ðe hælend forðon woeriʓ wæs of gonge.

a. 1000.  Boeth. Metr., xxvi. 6. Aulixes under hæfde þæm casere cynericu twa.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., III. 254. Seo eorðe stent on ælemiddan. Ibid., 268. Seo sæ and se mona ʓeþwærlæcað him betweonan. Ibid., 274. Seo lyft, þonne heo astyred is, byð wind.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 82. Þe deouel … is leas, and leasunges feder.

a. 1240.  Ureisun, in Cott. Hom., 185. Iwend me from the world.

c. 1400.  Brut, xxxvi. 33. Þe Emperoure … he … ordeynede a stronge power.

c. 1400.  Apol. Loll., 28. Bi lawe … of þe kirk,… ilk prest haþ þe same power to vse þe key in to ani man in þo poynt of deþ, as þe pope.

1580.  in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ., I. 69. To the Tuission of Thallmightie.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 32. The Sunne, that measures heaven all day long.

1611.  Bible, Ps. xxiv. 1. The earth is the Lords, and the fulnesse thereof.

1745.  Law, Consid. State World, I. 68. The Unity of God and his Dominion over the Evil one.

1748.  Chesterfield, Lett., 31 May. Sixtus the Vth … raised himself to the Popedom by his abilities.

1842.  Tennyson, Beggar Maid, ii. As shines the moon in clouded skies.

  b.  With names of rivers, as the Amazon, the Thames; of mountains, groups of islands, or regions, in the plural, as the Alps, the Azores, the Indies; of places or mountains, in the sing., now only when felt to be descriptive, as the Land’s End, the Lizard, the High Street, the Oxford Road, the Jungfrau, the Matterhorn, or when the has come down traditionally, as the Lennox, the Merse; exceptionally in the Tyrol. Formerly often used more widely.

c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Orosius, I. i. § 21. Seo Wisle is swyðe mycel ea…. Seo Wisle lið ut of Weonodlande, and lið in Estmere.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 164. Þat oþer wonder is Vpe þe hul of þe pek. Ibid., 4740. Wippe was king of þe march, & adelfred of humberlond.

1632.  Massinger & Field, Fatal Dowry, II. i. I would they were at the Bermudas!

1653.  Holcroft, Procopius, Goth. Wars, II. 43. When the Vesuvius casts out cynders.

1761.  Char., in Ann. Reg., 52/1. The Devizes.

1784.  Cowper, Task, III. 583. Th’ Azores send Their jessamine.

1802.  J. D. M‘Kinnon, The Mohawk, 11, in Poems of N. Y., 17.

1814.  Scott, Wav., xxxix. The travellers now … reached the Torwood. Ibid. (1822), Nigel, x. I should like to see the broad Tay once more before I die; not even the Thames can match it, in my mind.

1842.  Prichard, Nat. Hist. Man (ed. 2), 467. The Tupi, or native inhabitants of the Brazils.

1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xviii. IV. 119. From the Land’s End to the Straits of Dover.

  c.  With names of natural phenomena, seasons, etc., as the spring, the summer, the autumn, the winter, the day, the night; the wind, the cold, the clouds, etc.; of the points of the compass, as the north, the east (in OE. usually without article).

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., III. 274. Se wind hæfð mistlice naman on bocum.

a. 1300.  [see EAST sb. 2].

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., B. 953. Þe rayn rueled adoun, ridlande þikke.

1382.  Wyclif, Matt. ii. 2. We han seyn his sterre in the este.

c. 1440.  Alphabet of Tales, 106. Vppon a fayr day, whar þe wynde blew.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 378. They That wing the liquid Air, or swim the Sea, Or haunt the Desart.

1784.  Cowper, Task, I. 749. God made the country, and man made the town. Ibid. (1791), Odyss., IX. 194. The rosy-finger’d daughter of the dawn.

  † d.  Formerly sometimes used before abstract sbs. See also DEATH 2, 12, LIFE 7, 7 b. Obs.

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., iii. § 3. Þa se Wisdom þa and seo Gesceadwisnes þis leoð asungen hæfdon. Ibid. (c. 897), Gregory’s Past. C., iii. 35. On ðære ʓesundfulnesse mon forʓiett his selfes. Ibid., xxxiii. 214. Ða ʓeðylde þe is modur … ealra mæʓena … [he] forlett.

c. 1450.  trans. De Imitatione, III. lxiii. 146. Þe pes stondiþ more in very mekenes þan in propre exaltacion.

14[?].  Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903), 257. Ase … roust on þe knife, and ase deþ to þe life.

c. 1489.  Caxton, Blanchardyn, xxi. 70. The prouost … cam sone toward the proude mayden in amours, and made to her the reuerence. Ibid., xxiii. 74. So cam he toward blanchardyn … And gaff hym the goode nyght.

1525.  Ld. Berners, Froiss., II. ccxxiii. [ccxix.] 695. If Lamorabaquy wolde gyue them the herynge.

1588.  Allen, Admon., 11. A verie fable to the posterite.

  4.  With a class-name, to indicate the individual example most familiar to one, or with which one is primarily or locally concerned, e.g., the King, the Emperor (in mod. use), the Lord Mayor, the Town, the House, the Court, the Tower, the Abbey, the River, the Channel, the Flood, the Reformation, the Revolution; the Gospel, the Epistle (for the day).

c. 1121.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1106. To Eastran wæs se cyng æt Baðan. Ibid., an. 1120. An se arcebiscop Turstein … wearð þurh þone papan wið þone cyng acordad. Ibid. (a. 1154), an. 1140. Sume helden mid te king and sume mid þemperice.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 3. Seggeð þet þe lauerd haued þar-of neode. Ibid., 5. Ȝe iherden er on þe godspel hu ure drihten sende his .ii. apostles.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 20502. Þan spac þat leuedi … to þapostlis euerilkan.

a. 1568.  Ascham, Scholem., I. (Arb.), 68. Ye great ones in ye Court.

1621.  Elsing, Debates Ho. Lords (Camden), 16. To make his answere here at the barre.

1666.  Evelyn, Diary, 13 Sept. The Queene was … in her cavalier riding habite.

1689.  Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), I. 557. The house of commons … ordered that the then judges should attend the house.

1837.  Sir F. Palgrave, Merch. & Friar, Ded. (1844), 1. Any bibliopolist, in or out of the Row.

1845.  [see HOUSE sb.¹ 4 d].

1875.  Tennyson, Q. Mary, I. i. He swears by the Rood.

  5.  Formerly with names of branches of learning, arts, crafts, games, and pursuits. Now chiefly dial. Also generally with gerundial vbl. sbs. (arch.).

c. 1325.  [see CHESS sb.¹ 1].

1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, IX. xvii. 363. On a day kynge Mark played at the chesse.

1596.  Shaks., Tam. Shr., I. i. 37. The Mathematickes, and the Metaphysickes Fall to them.

c. 1643.  Ld. Herbert, Autobiog. (1824), 89. Any man thought worth the looking on.

1739.  Chesterf., Lett. (1774), I. 122. As you are now reading the Roman History.

1768.  H. St. John, in Jesse, Selwyn & Contemp. (1843), II. 309. I regret the badness of our climate, and the being obliged to pass the remainder of my life in [it].

1824.  Mrs. Cameron, Pink Tippet, IV. 22. What was the use of my getting you taught the dress-making?

1887.  Wellington Weekly News, 3 Feb. (E.D.D.). Apprentices and improvers wanted to the millinery, to the dressmaking, to the currying.

1901.  Union Mag., April, 150/1. I was raither hae seen ye at the joinerin’ like masel’.

  6.  With names of literary or musical compositions, as plays, poems, anthems, etc.; also of newspapers and periodicals.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 18. Þus doð … et te biginnunge of þe Venite.

1780.  Mirror, No. 99, ¶ 7. The Orestes of the Greek poet.

1810.  Scott, Lett., in Smiles, Mem. J. Murray (1891), I. 190. ‘Kehama’ … will get it roundly in the Edinburgh Review.

1845.  Gosse, Ocean, iv. (1849), 159. Plato, in the Timæus, gives the fullest account.

Mod.  The Times has a leading article on the subject.

  7.  Formerly with names of languages; now only in consciously elliptical phrases, as from the German (sc. language or original).

1593.  Nashe, Four Lett. Confut., Wks. (Grosart), II. 263. To borrowe some lesser quarry of elocution from the Latine.

1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., I. ii. 77. You will … sweare that I haue a poore pennie-worth in the English.

1760.  Portia, Polite Lady, xi. 28. Let not your studying the French make you neglect the English.

1795.  Southey, Lett. fr. Spain, xxii. (1799), 294. Every advantage that … a complete knowledge of the Arabic could afford.

Mod.  A new translation directly from the Hebrew.

  8.  With names of diseases, ailments, etc. Now more often omitted.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., II. 314. Wið þære ʓeolwan adle … ʓenim þas scearpan þistles moran and betonican.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 11819. In his heued he has þe scall Þe scab ouer-gas his bodi all. Ibid., 11825. Þe gutte þe potagre.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XIII. 325. I cacche þe crompe, þe cardiacle.

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 281. It is myn entencioun to speke of þe dropesie. Ibid., 293. Of þe cancre and þe mormole.

1480, 1500–20.  [see POCK sb. 2 a].

1660.  Gauden, Brownrig, 225. Sharp fits of the stone.

1671.  C’tess Warwick, Autobiog. (Percy Soc.), 9. I … fell … ill of the measles.

1743–1831.  [see INFLUENZA].

1787.  [J. Beattie], Scoticisms, 91. He has got the cold, the fever.

1809.  Southey, Lett. to Landor, 23 April, in Life (1850), III. 228. I instantly recognised the sound of the croup. Ibid. (1839), Lett. to Mrs. Hodson, 18 Feb., ibid., VI. 381. A serious attack of the influenza.

Mod.  (familiar) I have the toothache.

  9.  Elliptically with the names of ships, as the (ship) Nicholas, and of taverns, as the Mermaid (tavern), theaters, and other well-known buildings.

1450.  Paston Lett., I. 125. He was yn the Nicolas tyl Saturday next folwyng.

1480.  Warkworth, Chron. (Camden), 13. Casten in presone in the Marchalse at London.

1521.  in Essex Rev., XIII. 221. Out of the Barbara and the Mayflower, if God send them well home.

a. 1616.  Beaumont, To Ben Jonson. What things have we seen Done at the Mermaid!

1710.  Swift, Jrnl. to Stella, 15 Oct. Prior and I … sat at the Smyrna till eleven.

1779.  Mirror, No. 32, ¶ 5. Stopping at the George on his way home.

1898.  R. H. Savage, In the Swim, v. 95. The society racket, the dress parade of the Waldorf and the clubs, was one phase of his [Harold Vreeland’s] busy existence.

1905.  Daily Chron., 24 Oct., 3/4, heading. Playlet at the Coliseum.

Mod.  The Mauretania has made a record passage.

  10.  Before higher titles of rank, as the Emperor, King, Prince, Grand Duke, Marquess, Earl, Count (but not now when followed by the name, as King George, Prince Edward, Duke Humphrey, Earl Grey, Earl Simon), and with the corresponding female titles Queen, Duchess, etc.; also with some courtesy titles, as the Right Honorable, the Honorable, the Reverend, etc. See further LORD, LADY, and the other titles.

c. 1121.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1090. Se eorl of Normandiʓe. Ibid., an. 1117. Se cyng of France and se eorl of Flandra.

1340.  Ayenb., 76. Þe leuedy fortune went hare hueȝel eche daye.

1472.  Sir J. Paston, in P. Lett., III. 39. Robert of Racclyff weddyd the lady Dymmok.

1553.  in Rutland Papers (Camden), 119. Therle of Oxford claymeth thoffice of great chamberlayne of England.

1603.  Sir R. Wilbraham, Diary (Camden), 60. The lord Thomas Howard made erle of Suffolk.

1613.  Shaks., Hen. VIII., II. iii. 94. The Marchionesse of Pembrooke.

1707.  E. Chamberlayne, Pres. St. Eng., II. xv. (ed. 22), 188. The Lord Chief Justice.

1794.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, l. ‘The Chevalier Valancourt!’ said Emily, trembling extremely.

1827.  Edin. Weekly Jrnl., 28 Feb. The absence of the Right Hon. the Lord Provost.

  b.  With the surnames of some Irish and Scottish chiefs of clans, as the O’Gorman Mahon, the Chisholm, the MacNab.

1561.  Inverness Sheriff Crt. Records, II. 15 April (MS.). [Sederunt] the Dollace of Cantray. Ibid. (1562), 7 April. The jugis hes consignit hir to produce the samyn and to wairne the Dollace upon ane xv dayis warning.

1847.  Thackeray, Mrs. Perkins’s Ball, i. 4. I became acquainted with the Mulligan through a distinguished countryman … who … did not know the chieftain himself.

1880.  A. M. Shaw, Mackintoshes, p. xxvii. Moy Hall, the residence of The Mackintosh.

1910.  Daily Chron., 1 Feb., 4/6. Three ‘Thes’ have sat in the House of Commons in our time—The O’Conor Don, The O’Donoghue of the Glens, and The O’Gorman Mahon. The MacDermott, K.C.,… was an Irish law officer in Liberal Governments.

  c.  Before names and titles of men, often in ME. a corruption of F. de, as in Robert the Bruce, Sir Simon the Montfort, the Mortimer, etc. arch.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 11134. Sir Roger þe Mortimer.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, I. 67. That … Robert the brwys, Erle of carryk Aucht to succeid to the kynryk. Ibid., 435. The Clyffurd sall thaim haiff.

c. 1450.  Brut, 427. The Erle of Somersette and his brothir, and the Fytz-Watir.

1591.  Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., III. iii. 37. Charles. A Parley with the Duke of Burgonie. Burg. Who craues a Parley with the Burgonie?

1814.  Scott, Ld. of Isles, III. xxvii. As heroes think, so thought the Bruce.

  d.  Before the names of well-known singers, actresses, etc., in imitation of French and Italian usage.

1786.  Mrs. A. M. Bennett, Juvenile Indiscretions, V. 32. The Siddons.

1796.  Publ. Advert., 18 Nov., in T. Campbell, Life Mrs. Siddons, II. viii. 201. Last night the Siddons and the Kemble, at Drury Lane, acted to vacancy.

1822.  in Byron’s Wks. (1846), 585/1. The Guiccioli was present.

1845.  Disraeli, Sybil, V. vii. Well, what do you think of the Dashville, Fitz?

  11.  spec. Used emphatically, in the sense of ‘the pre-eminent,’ ‘the typical,’ or ‘the only … worth mentioning’; as ‘Cæsar was the general of Rome,’ i.e., the general par excellence; the being often stressed in speech (ðī), and printed in italics.

1824.  L. Murray, Eng. Gram. (ed. 5), I. 257. In the history of Henry the fourth, by Father Daniel, we are surprised at not finding him the great man.

1829.  Carlyle, Misc., Germ. Playwr. (1872), II. 97. Dr. Klingemann … so superlative is his vigour … we might even designate him the Playwright.

1863.  R. B. Kimball, Was he Successful? vi. (Cent.). Joel Burns was a rich man, as well as the man of the place.

1865.  Lubbock, Preh. Times, 131. The axe was pre-eminently the implement of antiquity.

1904.  S. G. Tallentyre, Life Voltaire, II. xxxv. 144. His Commentary remains unrivalled, and is still the text-book on Corneille.

  12.  With any part of the body of a person previously named or indicated, instead of the corresponding possessive pronoun; as ‘he took him by the hand,’ i.e., his hand. So with heart, soul, used fig.; also with parts of personal attire.

1154.  O. E. Chron., an. 1137. Me henged [heom] up bi the fet … bi the þumbes, other bi the hefed.

13[?].  K. Alis. (Bodl. MS.), 2276. Fulbor he smoot vpon þe rygge.

1390.  Gower, Conf., II., 213. That love … Ne schal noght take hem by the slieve.

c. 1460.  Towneley Myst., xxiv. 115. I shall knap hym on the crowne That standys in my gate.

1583–93.  Greene, Mamillia, II. Wks. (Grosart), II. 220. Ruffes of a Syse, stiffe starcht to the necke.

1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., II. ii. 206. To put the finger in the eie and weepe.

1789.  Mrs. Piozzi, Journ. France, I. 306. Heavy lace robbins ending at the elbow.

1838.  Dickens, O. Twist, lii. To be hanged by the neck, till he was dead.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, vii. 209–12. Pale was the perfect face … And the voice trembled and the hand.

  b.  Used colloquially with names of relatives, as the wife, the mother = my (your) wife, mother.

1838.  J. M. Wilson, Tales Borders, No. 210 (1839), V. 9/1. What shall I say to the wife?

1853.  ‘C. Bede,’ Verdant Green, I. vii. ‘It’s a long while since the governor was here,’ remarked Mr. Charles Larkyns, very unfilially.

1888.  The Mater [see MATER 3].

1891.  Duncan, Amer. Girl in Lond., 82. The mother and sisters would like to call upon you.

1900.  The pater … the mater [see PATER 3].

1901.  W. Churchill, R. Carvell, xliv. [I] sent off an express to Patty and the Mother last night.

  c.  Before OWN (a. 2 b) and SELF (C. 1 c), q.v.

  13.  Used before names of weights and measures, in stating a rate: as (so much) the pound, gallon, yard, day, etc. Cf. A adj.² 4, PER III. 2.

1426–7.  Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 65. iiij^c hert latthe, pris þe hondrid, vij d … ij^ml traunsum, þe m^l x d.

1488–9.  Act 4 Hen. VII., c. 22. Sold for iij li. sterling the pack.

1551–2.  Act 5 & 6 Edw. VI., c. 6 § 1. That all colored Clothes … shall waye fourscore pounde the pece at the lest.

1596–7.  S. Finche, in Hist. Croydon, App. (1783), 153. Bricklayers … have xv d. apeece the day.

1631.  Weever, Anc. Fun. Mon., 418. Appointing them xii d. the weeke to each person.

1796.  Southey, Lett. fr. Spain (1799), 118. They are very dear, ten reales the couple.

1851.  Mayhew, Lond. Labour, II. 284/2. The sherds run about 250 pieces to the bushel.

  b.  So with prepositions by, in, † on..., chiefly with reference to time, as (so much) by the day = (so much) each day.

1477–8.  Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 79. Paid to Sir Iohn Colyns … at viij s. iiij d. by the quarter.

1530.  Tindale, Answ. More, III. i. Wks. (1572), 304/2. I finde in all ages that men … haue suffred death by the hundred thousandes in resisting their doctrine.

1533.  Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., VI. 151. To Thomas Scott passing in Ingland with writtingis and credence to the King … to him on the day iij li.

1613.  Shaks., Hen. VIII., V. iv. 33. What should you doe, But knock ’em downe by th’ dozens?

1632.  Lithgow, Trav., VI. 298. The Dromidory … will ride aboue 80 miles in the day.

1727.  Pope, etc., Art Sinking, xiii. 116. It may be … let out by the day.

1848.  Dickens, Dombey, xxxix. He would sit and avail himself of its accommodations … by the half-hour together.

1883.  Sir J. C. Day, in Law Rep. 12 Q. B. Div. 206. Etymologically considered, a journeyman is one who is employed by the day.

  ** Marking an object not before mentioned, but now identified by a clause, phrase, or word.

  14.  Where the object is defined by a relative clause, the stands before the object. (The relative pronoun may be suppressed: cf. THAT rel. pron. 10.)

  In mod. Eng. more emphatically expressed by that: see THAT dem. adj. 3. The OE. form did not distinguish these: þæt spell may be rendered ‘that story’ or ‘the story.’

a. 900.  trans. Bæda’s Hist., Pref. (1890), 2. Ic ðe sende pæt spell, þæt ic niwan awrat be Angel ðeode & Seaxum.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 71. Seo meniʓo þe þær beforan ferde.

c. 975.  Rushw. Gosp., Mark ii. 4. Þa bere in ðære þe eorð-crypel læʓ.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., III. 104. Þæt sindon þe teþ þe þane mete brecaþ.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 3. Þe holie tid þat me clepeð aduent.

c. 1250.  O. Kent. Serm., in O. E. Misc., 26. Te dai ase ure louerd … i-bore was.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 14705. Þe werckes þat i werc in his nam.

1382.  Wyclif, Matt. ii. 9. Loo! the sterre, the whiche thei sayen in este, wente bifore hem.

1472.  J. Paston, in P. Lett., III. 75. I am not the man I was.

1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., V. i. 83. The man that hath no musicke in himselfe … Is fit for treasons [etc.].

1697.  T. Brown, Dispens., I. Wks. 1709, III. III. 67. I have known the Time, when I could go out and pick up 10 or 12 l. in a Morning.

1715–20.  Pope, Iliad, XXIV. 256. Let us give To grief the wretched days we have to live.

1784.  Cowper, Task, III. 141. The man, of whom His own coevals took but little note.

1805.  Wordsw., On Peele Castle. The light that never was, on sea or land.

1850.  J. H. Newman, Diffic. Anglic., I. ii. (1891), I. 48. But the passage I have quoted suggests a second observation.

  15.  Where the object is defined by a following phrase with prep. (esp. of, repr. an OE. genitive).

971.  Blickl. Hom., 55. Þeh he … ʓehyre þa word þæs halʓan godspelles.

c. 1121.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1116. On þisum ylcan ʓeare bærnde eall þæt mynstre of Burh. Ibid. (1122). Se burch on Gleaweceastre.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 53. Heo habbeð þe nome of cristene.

c. 1290.  Edmund Conf., 387, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 442. In þe toun of wyricestre bi-tidde þat selue cas.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 41. Tweie perilous places in þe see of myddel erþe.

1426–7.  Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 65. Also þe thorisday in þe Whitson weke.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, IX. Prol. 7. Honeste is the way to worthynes.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., I. vii. 45. Like the poore Cat i’ th’ Addage.

a. 1734.  North, Exam., I. i. § 23 (1740), 26. In the telling of this story.

1764.  Gray, Candidate, 12. Just like the picture in Rochester’s book.

1824.  Bentham, Bk. Fallacies, Introd. vii. The Sir Charles Sedley of political morality.

1870.  Morris, Earthly Par., Jan., 42. Midmost the time ’twixt noon and dusk.

1908.  R. Bridges, Sel. Poems R. W. Dixon (1909), p. xii. The Oxford of 1850 was singularly unsympathetic.

  b.  With an object defined by an infinitive phrase with to (where the may sometimes be rendered ‘that … needed or proper…’).

c. 1384.  Chaucer, H. Fame, III. 966. Alle the folke that ys a lyve Ne han the kunnynge to discryve The thinges that I herde there.

1642.  Milton, Sonn., viii. 13. The power To save th’ Athenian Walls from ruine bare.

1687.  A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., I. 225. We had the Comfort to be pittied.

1850.  J. H. Newman, Diffic. Anglic., I. iii. (1891), I. 80. I am not the person to be jealous of such facts.

  c.  With an object particularized by a pple.

1658.  Phillips, Salii, the 12 Priests of Mars instituted by Numa Pompilius.

1876.  Rogers, Pol. Econ. (ed. 3), ix. 81. The privileges accorded … to the merchants of the Hanse Towns.

Mod.  The book lying on your table.

  16.  The stands before a sb. defined by another sb. (usually a proper name) in apposition, as the poet Virgil.

c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 8. Sc hehsta beorʓ Olimpus. Ibid., § 9. On westende Affrica, neh þam beorʓe Athlans.

1070.  O. E. Chron. Toforan þam papan Alexandre.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 73. Of clene liflade spec þe prophete isaias.

c. 1200.  Ormin, Ded. 257. Þatt … boc … Apokalypsis … Uss wrat te posstell Sannt Johan.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7956. Þe king … made … þe bissop ode … vorsuerie engelond.

1529.  Cromwell, in Merriman, Life & Lett. (1902), I. 325. The Jentylwoman your wyff.

1634.  Milton, Comus, 442. The huntress Dian.

  b.  More usually the proper name precedes. (Regularly so when the whole phrase becomes a recognized appellation, as William the Conqueror.)

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xii. 39. Becon iones ðæs wilʓo [Rushw. tacen Ionas se witʓa].

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. iii. 1. On þam daʓum com iohannes se fulluhtere.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 73. And dauid þe prophete spekeð in an salm.

13[?].  Stac. Rome (Vernon MS.), 238. Seint Ion þe Ewangelist.

c. 1400.  Brut, 299. About seint Lukes day þe euangglist.

1599.  Nashe, Lenten Stuffe (1871), 23. Their barony by William the Conqueror, conveyed over to them.

1906.  Edin. Rev., Oct., 334. Bourdalone the physician was another favourite.

  17.  The is used with a sb. particularized or described by an adjective. The adj. usually precedes, but sometimes follows the sb.: in either case the stands first as the good man, the church militant.

  (An adj. or pple. with a modifying addition regularly follows the sb., as ‘the grass wet with dew,’ ‘the tools needed for the work’: cf. 15 c.)

  A particularizing adj. often becomes a permanent epithet, as in the Black Prince, the Lesser Bear, the Red Campion, the Great Exhibition, the Green Park, the Yellow Sea, the Count or County Palatine, the Prince Imperial; the adj. and sb. may then be treated as name of a unique object, as in 3.

c. 860.  O. E. Chron., an. 853. Þy ilcan ʓeare sende Æþelwulf cyning Ælfred his sunu to Rome. Ibid. (885). Se fore sprecena here.

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xl. § 4. Her endað sio fiorðe boc … and onginð sio fifte.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 5. Se heofonlica cyning.

1008–11.  Laws of Æthelred, VI. c. 22 § 1. On þam halʓan dæʓe.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 5. Þa oðre men … stiȝen uppeon þe godes cunnes treowe.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1491. Among the goddes hye it is affermed … Thou shalt [etc.].

c. 1400.  Brut, 26. She was þe ryȝt heire of þis lande.

1413.  Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), V. vi. (1859), 76. The chirche militant, that laboureth here in erthe.

a. 1536.  Calisto & Melibæa, in Hazl., Dodsley, I. 64. The mighty and perdurable God be his guide.

1575.  Gascoigne, Making of Verse, in Steele Gl., etc. (Arb.), 37. Vse your verse after thenglishe phrase.

1662.  Pepys, Diary, 20 Oct. Saw the so much desired by me picture of my Lady Castlemaine.

1710.  Steele, Tatler, No. 208, ¶ 1. They had the quite contrary Effect.

1750.  Gray, Elegy, xiv. The dark unfathom’d caves of ocean.

1819.  Shelley, Prometh. Unb., III. iii. The progeny immortal Of Painting, Sculpture, and rapt Poesy.

1863.  H. Cox, Instit., I. xi. 262. The Long or Pensionary Parliament of Charles II.

1866.  S. J. Stone, Hymn, ‘The Church’s one Foundation,’ iv. And the great Church victorious Shall be the Church at rest.

  b.  So with proper names of persons or places: e.g., the judicious Hooker. c. But when the adj. becomes a permanent epithet, the and the adj. usually follow: e.g., Alfred the Great; so with ordinal numerals following names of sovereigns or popes, as Edward the Seventh.

  b.  c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 8. Þæt land þe mon hætt seo læsse Asia.

c. 1420.  ? Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 269. Sate the good Iupyter.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, X. i. 39. The fresch goldyn Venus.

1632.  Milton, L’Allegro, 86. Their savory dinner … Which the neat-handed Phillis dresses.

1743.  Emerson, Fluxions, Pref. 13 The divine Newton (whose Works will last as long as the Sun and Moon).

1906.  F. Thompson, To Eng. Martyrs, 163. That utterance … Of the doomed Leonidas.

  c.  c. 897.  K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., iv. 36. Be ðæm cwæð Salomon se snottra.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 15. Hit is Hælend se Nazarenisca.

a. 1000.  Byrhtnoth, 273 (Gr.). Þa ʓit on orde stod Eadweard se langa.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 1861. Seint eleyne þe gode.

c. 1400.  Gower, In Praise of Peace, 1. O worthi noble kyng, Henry the ferthe.

1484.  Caxton, Curial, 5. For to them whom fortune the variable hath most hyely lyfte up.

1558.  Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889), 475. Patrick Fitz Symon, theldor, and William Byrsall, the yonger.

1686.  [Allix], Dissert., i., in W. Hopkins, Ratramnus’ Body & Bl. (1688), 8. Charles the bald chose to consult him.

Mod.  George the Fourth’s Bridge in Edinburgh.

  18.  spec. When a sb. is particularized by a superlative, or by an ordinal number (see also 17 c), the latter is regularly preceded by the.

c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 22. Se man se þæt swiftoste hors hafað.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 5. Deofol … beswac þone ærestan wifmon.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., John i. 39. Hit wæs þa seo teoðe tid [Lindisf. ðio teiʓða].

c. 1000–a. 1225.  [see FIFTH].

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 60. Eien beoð.. te ereste armes of lecheries pricches.

c. 1300.  Havelok, 9. He was þe wic[h]teste man at nede.

1601.  Shaks., Jul. C., III. ii. 187. This was the most vnkindest cut of all.

1626.  C. Potter, trans. Sarpi’s Hist. Quarrels, 110. The most Potent Princes of Italy.

1748.  Smollett, Rod. Rand., l. In terms the most hyperbolical.

1759.  Sarah Fielding, C’tess of Dellwyn, I. 149. Ready to take fire at every the least Provocation.

1848.  Mrs. Gaskell, M. Barton, ix. Th’longest lane will have a turning.

1890 Ld. Esher, in Law Times Rep., LXIII. 692/1. The case … is of the greatest possible weight.

Mod.  The first Consul; the hundredth time.

  b.  The also stands before the same adjs. when used absolutely.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Gram., xlix. (Z.), 282. Sextus, se sixta.

c. 1175.  Pater Noster, in Lamb. Hom., 69. Þet ðridde is þes monnes wil.

1340.  Ayenb., 33–4. Þer byeþ zix poyns [of sloth] … þe uerste is onboȝsamnesse … þe þridde is grochynge.

1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, XX. viii. 811. Amonge the thyckest of the prees.

1526.  Tindale, Matt. xviii. 1. Who is the greatest in the kyngdom of heven?

1622.  in Seton, Life Earl of Dunfermline, vi. (1882), 141, note. [He] took sickness the first of June 1622.

1779.  Mirror, No. 27, ¶ 1. With the best and most affectionate of husbands.

1779.  Warner, in Jesse, Selwyn & Contemp. (1844), IV. 14. Your letter of Tuesday the 19th, was brought to me on Monday.

1799.  Southey, Lett. to T. Southey, 5 Jan., in Life (1850), II. 3. These vile taxes will take twenty pounds from me, at the least.

1852.  M. Arnold, Youth of Nat., 71. Too deep for the most to discern.

Mod.  The third appears to be the best.

  II.  Referring to a term used generically or universally. * With a singular sb.

  19.  Before the name of an animal, plant, or precious stone, used generically.

  Not now used with man or woman, exc. as opposed to child, boy, girl, or the like: cf. the dog is the friend of man, man has tamed the dog; the child is father of the man; you can see the woman in the little girl. Formerly se man, séo fǽmne: cf. Ger. der mensch, F. l’hommme.

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xli. § 6. Ac se mann ana gæþ uprihte. Ibid (c. 893), Oros., III. xi. § 3. Þonne seo leo bringð his hungreʓum hwelpum hwæt to etanne.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 53. Þe tadde … ne mei itimien to eten hire fulle.

a. 1225.  Juliana, 20. Hire leofliche leor … rudi as þe rose.

13[?].  K. Alis. (Bodl. MS.), 1819. Men dreden hym … So chalf þe bere, & shep þe wolf.

c. 1440.  Lydg., Hors, Shepe, & G., 344. The Goos may gagle, the hors may prike & praunce … A-geyn the lamb.

1553.  Eden, Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.), 14. The Diamande is engendred in the mynes of India, Ethiopia,… and Cyprus.

a. 1584.  Montgomerie, Cherrie & Slae, 21. The hart, the hynd, the dae, the rae, The fowmart, and the foxe.

1622.  Drayton, Poly-olb., xx. 45. The Colewort, Colifloure, and Cabidge in their season.

1727–46.  Thomson, Summer, 147. At thee the ruby lights its deepening glow.

1797.  Holcroft, Stolberg’s Trav. (ed. 2), II. xliv. 93. They sell the heifer to the butcher.

1832.  Macaulay, Ess., Burghley (1887), 236. Burleigh … was of the willow, and not of the oak.

1854.  Bushnan, in Circ. Sc., I. 290/2. It purrs like the Cat.

  b.  Generally, with the name of anything used as the type of its class; e.g., with the names of musical instruments, tools, etc.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. iii. 10. Ys seo [Hatton syo] æx to ðæra treowa wurtrumum asett.

c. 1300.  Havelok, 2329. Þer mouhte men here … Þe gleymen on þe tabour dinge.

c. 1450.  Holland, Howlat, 759. The rote, and the recordour,… The trumpe, and the talburn.

1589.  Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, I. xix. (Arb.), 57. To be … song to the harpe.

1592.  Shaks., Ven. & Ad., 454. A red morne that … betokend, Wracke to the sea-man, tempest to the field.

1614.  B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, III. ii. A notable hot Baker ’twas when hee ply’d the peele.

1655.  Edmonds, trans. Ovid Met., in Observ. Cæsar’s Comm., 78.

1711.  Steele, Spect., No. 52, ¶ 3. The renowned British Hippocrates of the pestle and mortar.

1746.  Francis, Horace, Epist., I. x. 7. You keep the Nest, I love the rural Mead, The Brook, the mossy Rock and woody Glade.

1784.  Cowper, Task, II. 629. The rout is folly’s circle.

1814.  Scott, Ld. of Isles, III. xxiii. The lad can deftly touch the lute, And on the rote and viol play.

1839.  Lytton, Richelieu, II. ii. 308. The pen is mightier than the sword.

1906.  Edin. Rev., Oct., 448. Zola has democratised the novel in another fashion.

  c.  Before body, mind, soul, or parts, functions, and attributes of these. (See also BODY sb. 1, MIND sb. 17.)

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxiv. § 3. Seo fæʓernes … þæs lichoman.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. vi. 25. Hu nys seo sawl selre þonne mete.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 153. Ine þe eren.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 4. Þe oðer riwle is al wiðuten, & riwleð þe licome.

13[?].  K. Alis. (Bodl. MS.), 6245. A folk … rouȝ as bere to þe honde.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. I. 103. Rychesse … ryven þe soule.

c. 1400.  trans. Secreta Secret. Gov. Londsh., 85. His effect is properly to comforte þe brayn, þe herte, and þe stomak.

1500–20.  Dunbar, Poems, xlvii. 6. Trew luve rysis fro the splene.

1594.  R. Ashley, trans. Loys le Roy, 24. Nothing offending, or displeasing the eare.

1692.  South, Serm. (1697), I. 361. How accidentally oftentimes does the thing … offer it self to the mind.

1736.  Butler, Anal., I. i. 20. To think the Eye itself a Percipient.

1841.  Thackeray, Men & Pict., 109. [They] pall on the palate.

  d.  With names of days of the week, as on the Monday, i.e., on Monday of any or every week, on Mondays generally.

1340.  Ayenb., 213. Þe zonday is more holy þanne þe zeterday.

c. 1450.  Capgrave, Life St. Augustine, 16. Þat sche used to fast þe Satirday.

c. 1500–1671.  [see SATURDAY 1].

1854.  Macaulay, Speeches, 409. On the Sunday he goes perhaps to Church. Ibid., 553. He returns to his labours on the Monday.

  20.  Before a word of individual meaning used as the type of a class of persons.

c. 897.  K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., xii. 74. Ðæs biscepes weorc … ðæs hierdes life. Ibid., xiii. (heading). Hu se lareow sceal beon clæne on his mode.

a. 900.  trans. Bæda’s Hist., Pref. ii. (1890), 6. Ðone leornere ic nu … bidde and halsiʓe.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 27. Ah þenne þe preost hit deð in his muþe.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 84. Þe vikelare ablent þene mon.

1388.  Wyclif, Ps. xxxi[i.] 10. Many betyngis ben of the synnere.

1535.  Coverdale, Isa. xliv. 13. The carpenter (or ymage caruer) taketh me the tymbre, and spredeth forth his lyne.

1600.  W. Watson, Decacordon (1602), 334. I … craue patience of the catholike Reader.

1660.  Hexham, Eng. Dutch Dict. (title-p.). A compendious Grammar for the Instruction of the Learner.

1681.  Dryden, Abs. & Achit., 655. But where the witness failed, the prophet spoke.

1720.  Watts, Mor. Songs, I. i. ’Tis the voice of the Sluggard.

1787.  ‘G. Gambado,’ Acad. Horsemen (1809), 35. To ride with a lash whip; it shews the sportsman.

1843.  Macaulay, Ess., Addison (1887), 791. Steele … was much of the rake and a little of the swindler.

1859.  Tennyson, Enid, 1280. As careful robins eye the delver’s toil.

  b.  esp. in phr. To act, be, play the man, the soldier, etc. = to sustain the character of a man, a soldier, etc.; to do that which is manly, soldier-like, etc.: see PLAY v. 34.

1426.  Audelay, Poems (Percy Soc.), 29. Thai play not the fole.

c. 1530.  H. Rhodes, Bk. Nurture, in Babees Bk., 84. Saue thy selfe, play the man, being compelde.

1642.  W. Price, Serm., 40. Playing the drugsters or hucksters with it for gaine.

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe (1840), I. iii. 47. To act the rebel.

1748.  Richardson, Clarissa, Wks. 1883, VII. 486. I will contrive to be the man.

1758.  M. Byles, Serm., in M. C. Tyler, Hist. Amer. Lit., II. 195. The study of the minister is the field of battle. Here he plays the hero, tries the dangers of war, and repeats the toils of combat.

1809–10.  Coleridge, Friend, iv. (1865), 93. To act the knave is but a round-about way of playing the fool.

  21.  With an adjective used absolutely, usually denoting an abstract notion: e.g., the beautiful, that which is beautiful.

c. 1420.  ? Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 882. In stede of the bettyr the worse ther they ches.

1596.  Shaks., Tam. Shr., IV. iii. 80. I will be free, Euen to the vttermost.

1748.  Smollett, Rod. Rand., xxii. A nose inclining to the aquiline.

1756.  Burke (title), Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., cvi. 8. Ring out the false, ring in the true.

1878.  T. Hardy, Ret. Native, VI. iii. There is too much reason why we should do the little we can to respect it now.

  ** With a pl. sb. used universally.

  22.  With a sb. in the plural, chiefly the name of a nation, class, or group of people, where the = ‘those who are’; ‘the … taken as a whole.’ Also with family surnames, as ‘the Joneses are of Welsh origin.’

c. 1200.  Ormin, 188. He shall turrnenn þurrh hiss spell þe trowwþelæse leode.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 87. Þe saxons … Seve kynges made in engelond.

1548.  Patten, Exped. Scotl., Pref. c ij b. Neyther the Grekes [nor] the Ruthens.

1613.  Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 246. The bodie … was afflicted on the East by the Persians, on the West by the Gothes.

1783.  Justamond, trans. Raynal’s Hist. Indies, III. 380. The Rima … is not yet well know’n to the botanists.

1816.  Crabb, Eng. Synonymes, 139/2. The Tarquins were banished from Rome; Coriolanus was exiled.

1906.  Edin. Rev., Oct., 429. These laws of sight the Greeks made it their business to analyse.

  23.  Before an adjective or participle having a plural application (usually of persons), as the poor, those who or such as are poor.

c. 897.  K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., xxiii. 175. Ða worold-wisan … ða dyseʓan.

a. 1300.  Prayer, 26 in O. E. Misc., 193. Ȝieue þe hungrie mete and te nakede iwede.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. Prol. 18. Alle maner of men þe mene and þe riche.

1426.  Audelay, Poems, 7. Vysyte the seke.

1526.  Tindale, John xii. 8. The povre all wayes shall ye have with you.

1671.  Milton, P. R., IV. 157. Nothing will please the difficult and nice.

1742.  Gray, Ode Spring, ii. How low, how little are the Proud, How indigent the Great!

1812.  Byron, Ch. Har., I. xxxiv. Here ceased the swift their race, here sunk the strong.

1817–8.  Shelley, Rosalind & Helen, 254–5. He was a coward to the strong: He was a tyrant to the weak.

  b.  A pa. pple. so used may retain its verbal construction or complement. (In this case those is now more used than the.)

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxii. 3. He … clypode þa ʓelaðodan to þam gyftum.

1600.  W. Watson, Decacordon (1602), 49. Dignities which intitle the inuested with them, with a preheminence aboue all other persons.

1728.  Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Jesuit, The professed of this order renounce … all preferment, and especially prelacy.

1817–8.  Shelley, Rosalind & Helen, 474. Thou knowest what a thing is Poverty Among the fallen on evil days.

  C.  as Demonstrative (or quasi-personal) pronoun. In late OE. and early ME., when þe was substituted for the earlier masc. se, and subsequently became the general form of the definite article (see A. I a β and 9), it was also used for some time as demonstrative pronoun, = the (man), that, he, esp. as antecedent to a relative; thus early ME. þe þe or þe þet for OE. se þe, = that (man) that, he that. The fem. was þéo þe (for OE. séo þe) she that; the pl. þá þe those that, they that. (The neuter was commonly þet þe or þette.)

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. iii. 3. Ðes is forðon ðe ðe [Rushw. seþe] ʓecuoeden wæs ðerh esaias. Ibid., xv. 24. Ðe vel he [L. ipse] soðlice onduearde.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 95. Þe ðet bið mid þen halia gast itend. Ibid., 109. Þe ðe deleð elmessan for his drihtnes luuan, þe bibut his gold hord on heouene riche.

a. 1200.  Moral Ode, 217 (MS. Eg.). Þe ðe [MS. J. þe þat] godes milce sechð, iwis he mai is [v.rr. ha, hi] finde. Ibid., 219. Þe ðe [v.rr. Se þet, Þe þat] deð his wille mest, he haueð wurst mede.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 52. Mesire, þeo deð also þeo is betere þen ich am. Ibid., 86. Ase þe þe seið to þe knihte þet robbeð [etc.].