Forms: 1 (acc.) þec (Northumb. ðeh, ðech); 1–6 (dat. and acc.) þe, 3 (te), þeo, 3–4 þi, 4–5 þee, 4–7 the, 4– thee (7 dial. they). For mod. dialect forms see Eng. Dial. Dict. [(1) Acc. OE. ðec, ðeh, later ðē, þē = OFris. thi, OS. thic, thî (MDu. di, MLG. (dik, dek) dî, LG. dî), OHG. dih (MHG., Ger. dich), ON. þik (Norw. deg, de, MSw. þik, tik, tig, thig, MDa. thek, theg, deg, Sw., Da. dig), Goth. þuk:—OTeut. *þeke, pre-Teut. *tege: cf. L. tē, Gr. σέ, Doric τέ. (2) Dat. (later also acc.) OE. ðē, þē = OFris. thi (NFris. di, WFris. dy), OS. thî (MDu., MLG., LG. dî); (dative only) OHG. (MHG., Ger.) dir, ON. þér (Norw. deg (der), MSw. þær, þir, Sw., Da. dig), Goth. þus:—OTeut. *þez, pre-Teut. *tes. The original OE. acc. ðec still remained in Mercian in the 9th c. and in North Anglian (þec, þeh, þech) late in the 10th; in WSax. it ran together early with the dative ðe, þe, and thenceforth (as in LG. and Scand.) the two cases have had the same form, so that the direct and indirect object are only distinguishable by position or by context. On the original endings of the acc. and dat., cf. ME. The e was orig. short, but was lengthened under stress.]
1. The objective case of the pronoun THOU, representing the OE. accusative and dative.
As to restriction of use see note to THOU pers. pron. 1.
a. Accusative, as direct object of a verb.
c. 825. Lorica Prayer, in O. E. Texts, 174. Ðonne ʓehereð he ðec ðorh hiora ðingunge.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxvii. § 2. Ic asciʓe ðe … hwi þu swa maniʓfeald yfel hæfde?
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Mark v. 31. Ðu ʓesiist ðæt ðreat ðringende ðec.
c. 1160. Hatton Gosp., ibid. Þas meniʓeo … þrungen þe.
c. 1200. Ormin, 670. To beldenn & to frofrenn þe Ȝiff he þe seþ forrgloppnedd.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 98. Hwo haueð ihurt te, mi deore?
c. 1375. Cursor M., 5064 (Fairf.). I saghe þe [Cott. yow] neuer be-for þis day.
1382. Wyclif, Matt. v. 41. Whoeuere constrayneth thee a thousand pacis, go thou with hym other tweyne.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 258. Þe feende schal pursewe þe, & sle þe in soule.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Sam. viii. 7. They haue not refused the, but me.
1548–9. (Mar.) Bk. Comm. Prayer, Communion. We praise thee, we blesse thee, we worship thee, we glorifie thee.
a. 1660. Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.), II. 157. They [= thy] credulitie bringe they [= thee] within distance of his reache.
1784. Cowper, Task, V. 460. Thee I account still happy.
1842. Tennyson, Locksley H., 30. Dost thou love me, cousin?… I have loved thee long.
b. Dative, as indirect object = to thee; also in dependence on certain impersonal verbs.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter, cxix. 3. Hwet bið sald ðe oððe hwet bið toseted ðe?
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John viii. 53. Hwæt þincð þe þæt þu sy?
c. 1200. Ormin, 210. Hiderr amm icc sennd to þe Þiss blisse þe to kiþenn.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 12. Ich chulle scheawe þe soðlice hwat is God.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4424. Ful iuel es yolden þe [Gött. ye] þi mede. Ibid., 20185. I sai it te [v.r. þe].
1423. James I., Kingis Q., cxxix. Gif the ne list on lufe thy vertew set.
c. 1430. Two Cookery-bks., 6. As þe semyth best.
1584. R. W., Three Ladies Lond., in Hazl., Dodsley, VI. 323. What avantageth it thee to win the world, and lose thy soul withal?
1610. Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 248. I haue … Told thee no lyes, made thee no mistakings.
1743. Francis, trans. Hor., Odes, I. xxxviii. 1. I tell thee, boy, that I detest The grandeur of a Persian feast.
1808. Scott, Marmion, VI. xiv. And, Douglas, more I tell thee here … I tell thee, thou ’rt defied!
1864. (dial.) Tennyson, N. Farmer, O. Style, 63. Git ma my aäle I tell tha.
c. As object of a preposition.
In OE. accus. or dative.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Luke i. 35. Gaast haliʓ ofer-cymeð on ðeh [Rushw. ðec].
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John iii. 26. Se ðe mid þe [Lind. ðec] wæs.
a. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 35. Ȝif godd wuneð on ðe.
c. 1275. Passion our Lord, 138, in O. E. Misc., 41. Þeyh alle of-schomed beo Ne schal me neuer schomye louered for þeo.
13[?]. Cursor M., 27483. If þou man gas þin offrand to mak, And þi broþer haf gain þi [v.r. þe] sak.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, I. xxiii. 70. Ther maye no knyght ryde this wey but yf he Iuste wyth the.
1535. Coverdale, Isa. lx. 2. His glory shal be sene in the.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., IV. v. 57. By cruell, cruell thee, quite ouerthrowne.
1656. in Jrnl. Friends’ Hist. Soc. (1911), VIII. 20. To … lay before ye Henry Cromwell: who art Commander in Cheife … the ground of my Sufferings.
1667. Milton, P. L., IV. 35. To thee I call, But with no friendly voice, and add thy name.
1733. Pope, Ess. Man, III. 31. Is it for thee the lark ascends and sings?
1820. Shelley, To Skylark, 1. Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! Bird thou never wert.
2. Reflexive: = thyself. a. Accus., as direct object.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. iv. 6. ʓif sunu godes arð ðu send ðeh [Rushw. þec] ufa hidune.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., ibid. Asend þe þonne nyðer.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 104. Holt te i þine chaumbre.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 529. If þow wil þe vm-think. Ibid. (13[?]), 26575. Sua þou mate noght wasch þi [v.r. þee] wite.
a. 1518. Skelton, Magnyf., 303. Go shake the, dogge.
1560. Bible (Genev.), Matt. xvi. 23. Get thee behinde me, Satan.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., I. iii. 143. High thee to Hell … Thou Cacodemon.
1678. Otway, Friendship in F., 26. Get thee gone for an Arch-wagg.
1887. S. Cheshire Gloss., 69. Get thee dressed wheil I wesh me.
b. Dative, as indirect object; or as object of a preposition.
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Gen., 518 (Gr.). Nim þe þis ofæt on hand.
a. 1100. Leg. Rood, 15. Þu ʓetuʓe to þe ealle þa sawla.
c. 1300. Harrow. Hell (MS. L.), 103. Heouene ant erþe tac to þe.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, I. 395. Thow sall haiff leiff to fysche, and tak the ma.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, II. i. 20. Thou wilt neuer get thee a husband, if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue.
1611. Bible, 1 Kings xx. 25. Number thee an armie like the armie that thou hast lost.
c. After some intr. verbs of motion and posture; esp. sit; see SIT v. 30.
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., III. iii. 16. Be thou still like thy selfe And sit thee by our side. Ibid. (1599), Much Ado, III. i. 1. Good Margaret runne thee to the parlour, There shalt thou finde my Cosin [etc.]. Ibid. (1606), Ant. & Cl., IV. vii. 16. Come thee on.
1867. E. Waugh, Tufts, 252. Sit tho deawn.
1892. Wright, Gram. Windhill, 120. Kum forəd lad ən sit ðe dān.
3. Used as nominative, instead of thou.
Often so used dialectally, and, in recent times, usually by Quakers, esp. with vb. in 3rd pers. sing.; but thĕ or thă unemphatic often represents both thou and thee.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, vi. (Thomas), 617. Þe venys þat my god wrath wil be with me.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, II. 93. Go hens, the Scot, the mekill dewill the speid.
a. 1590. Marr. Wit & Wisd. (1846), 12. Didest the nere se man before?
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., I. ii. 127. How agrees the Diuell and thee about thy Soule? Ibid. (1605), Lear, I. iv. 204. And yet I would not be thee, Nunckle.
1684. Bunyan, Pilgr., II. 83. What canst thee earn a day, quoth he?
1687. W. Hitchcock, in Jrnl. Friends’ Hist. Soc., IV. 74. If thee canst sell 250 acres of it & ye house.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xiii. ‘What does thee want, father?’ said Rachel. Ibid., xvii. ‘Friend, thee isn’t wanted here.’
1861. E. Waugh, Birtle Carter’s T., 15. An’ mind te tells no lies abeawt th’ lad i’ thy talk.
4. As sb. a. The person or ‘self’ of the individual addressed. Cf. THOU pron. 2 a.
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., vi. That’s for thy selfe to breed an other thee.
1831. Carlyle, Sart. Res., I. ix. A warm movable House, a Body round thy Body, wherein that strange Thee of thine sat snug.
1859. E. Fitzgerald, Rubáiyát, xxxiv. Then of the Thee in Me who works behind The Veil, I lifted up my hands to find A Lamp amid the Darkness.
b. The word itself as used in addressing a person; esp. in phr. thee and thou. Also attrib. in thee and thou Quaker.
1694. [see THOU 2 b].
1774. J. Adams, Diary, 7 Sept. This plain Friend and his plain though pretty wife, with her Thees and Thous, had provided us the most costly entertainment.
1847. Longf., Evang., II. v. 13. Her ear was pleased with the Thee and Thou of the Quakers.
1894. Hall Caine, Manxman, 405. When he spoke it was always with the thees and thous and in the high pitch of the preacher.
1896. Peterson Mag., VI. 265/1. He [Robert E. Lee] then entered the Alexandria High School, whose head-master was Benjamin Hallowell, a ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ Quaker of the strictest sect.
