▪ I. the, dem. a. (def. article) and pron.
(bef. cons. ðə; bef. vowel ði; emph. ðiː)
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, s{uacu}, 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. το-, 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 (10th c. in Northumbrian, and at length everywhere) the s- forms were superseded by forms in þ- (OHG.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. s{iacu}o, séo corresponds in form not to Goth. sô, ON. s{uacu}, 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:
Sing.Masc.Fem.Neut.Plural.
Nom.se, later þes{iacu}o, séo, later þ{iacu}o, þ{iacu}uþætþá
Acc.þone, þæneþáþætþá
Dat.þǽm, þámþǽreþǽm, þámþǽm, þám
Gen.þæsþǽreþæsþára (þǽra)
Instr.þ{yacu}, þonþ{yacu}, þon
The variants and later forms were: I. sing.
1. a. nom. masc. α1–3 se (1 sæ, 2 seo) [4 ze antec. pron.].
| 805 Charter of Cuðred in O.E. Texts 442 æðelnoð se ᵹerefa to Eastoreᵹe. 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 ᵹealle byð wexenda on þan innoþe. Ibid., Se blace ᵹealle. a 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1135, On þis ᵹære 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.] |
¶ 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 duᵹeð þæt wæs..mid se cyng. a 1131 Ibid. an. 1123, Ðis wæs eall ear ᵹedon ðurh se biscop of Seresbyriᵹ, & þurh se biscop of Lincolne. Ibid., Hi..brohten him toforen se kyng. Ibid., ᵹebletsod 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 & smyra 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 ᵹær 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 Ȝif þat te on [Iustise] be Clerke. |
b. nom. fem. α1 séo, s{iacu}o, s{iacu}u, (sa), 1–3 se, 2 sie, syo, 2–3 si, [4 zi, zy antec. pron.].
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §5 Sio godcunde ᵹesceadwisnes. c 893 ― Oros. ii. iv. §8 Seo ilce burᵹ 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 ð{iacu}o, ð{iacu}u, 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 ᵹehende 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 acc. neut. 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 ᵹebed is. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 7 Þat ebreisce folc sungen heore leof-song. c 1205 Lay. 297 Þat child was ihaten Brutus. Ibid. 7843 Þæt 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. acc. 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 ᵹemiclað dryhten ðone halᵹan his. c 1121 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1016, Eadric ealdormann ᵹewende þa ðæne cyng onᵹean. a 1131 Ibid. 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, þo.
| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xii. [xiv.] (1890) 196 Se biscop þa ᵹeseah 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. dat. 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. 1131 Ibid., On þa tun þa wæs tenn ploᵹes. 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. gen. 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 daᵹum. 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. pl.
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. dat.. 1 þǽm, þám, 2–3 þam, þon, þan, 3 þen.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §28 Be þæm ᵹesetenum iᵹlandum. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark v. 2 Of þam byrᵹenum. 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. gen. 1–2 þára, þǽra, 2 þera, 2–3 þere, 3 þare, þer.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 35 Ne bið þara fæstendaᵹa na ma þonne syx & þritiᵹ. 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. 129 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⊇). (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. a 1154 Ibid. 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. 9908 (Laud) The man that thedir-ward is fled. Ibid. 10005 Thee iiij⊇ 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{supr} 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 Shakes. 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..ᵹestod ofer ðer (vel hwer) wæs ðe cnæht [Rushw. se cneht]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. ii. 11 And gangende into þam huse hi ᵹemetton þæt cild. Ibid. John ii. 7 Þæt hiᵹ þa fatu mid wætere ᵹefyldon. 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, the day, the hour, the 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 maᵹon 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 n. 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 woeriᵹ 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 ᵹeþwærlæcað 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 worlde. 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. 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. Also forming part of the present and former names of certain countries, as the Argentine, the Congo, The Gambia, the Lebanon, the Sudan, the Yemen; with the names of streets, locally with ellipsis of the word Street.
| 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. 1814 Scott Wav. xxxix, The travellers now..reached the Torwood. 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. 1853, etc. [see high n. 1 c]. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xviii. IV. 119 From the Land's End to the Straits of Dover. 1920 G. Bell Let. 14 Mar. (1927) II. xviii. 484 On my way home I went to see Frank Balfour..and heard from him the afternoon's news which was that Faisal had been crowned King of Syria and Abdullah King of the Iraq. 1951 Duke of Windsor King's Story xii. 209 Britain had an investment of {pstlg}400,000,000 in the Argentine. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 431/2 In internal affairs the Lebanon had to face considerable economic and financial difficulties after the end of the 1939–45 war. Ibid. XIV. 796/1 In March 1958 a federal link was established between the Yemen and the United Arab Republic. 1959 Even. Standard 31 Dec. 8/6, I am home from the Argentine and would like to link up with some of my old friends. 1975 J. I. M. Stewart Gaudy xii. 225 The industrious little whirr of his camera was for a moment the only sound in the Broad. Ibid. 228, I had crossed Broad Street and was walking down the Turl. 1981 Church Times 6 Nov. 14/5 The Hoopoo had nested in his walls when he was in the Yemen. 1984 Times 18 Feb. 1/2 Princess Anne's four-day visit to The Gambia brings an extra air of festivity and importance to a tiny African country. |
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 n. 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. 1791 ― Odyss. ix. 194 The rosy-finger'd daughter of the dawn. |
† d. Formerly sometimes used before abstract ns. See also death n. 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. c 897 ― Gregory's Past. C. iii. 35 On ðære ᵹesundfulnesse mon forᵹiett his selfes. Ibid. xxxiii. 214 Ða ᵹeðylde þe is modur..ealra mæᵹena..[he] forlett. c 1450 tr. 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. a 1154 Ibid. 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 R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 68 Ye great ones in ye Court. 1621 H. 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 n.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. ns. (arch.).
| c 1325 [see chess n.1 1]. 1470–85 Malory Arthur ix. xvii. 363 On a day kynge Mark played at the chesse. 1596 Shakes. 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 Chesterfield 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. Apr. 150/1, I wad 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. Also with names of paintings and sculptures.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 18 Þus doð..et te biginnunge of þe Venite. 1705 Addison Remarks on Several Parts of Italy 349, I have seen on coins..the Hercules Farnese, the Venus of Medicis, the Apollo in the Belvidere, and the famous Marcus Aurelius on Horseback. a 1706 Evelyn Diary an. 1693 (1955) V. 147, I..saw & indeede admired the Venus of Coreggio. 1780 Mirror No. 99 ¶7 The Orestes of the Greek poet. 1810 Scott Let. 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. 1845 Encycl. Metropolitana IX. 408 The Apollo Belvidere, the Venus de Medicis, and the Laocoon, have for ages been regarded as the highest possible models of excellence. a 1912 Mod. The Times has a leading article on the subject. 1984 Times 13 Sept. 13/4 Difficult to think of an art theft with greater sex appeal than that of the Mona Lisa. |
7. Formerly with names of languages; now only in consciously elliptical phrases, as from the German (sc. language or original).
The degree of ellipsis is not easy to determine.
| 1593 Nashe Four Lett. Confut. Wks. (Grosart) II. 263 To borrowe some lesser quarry of elocution from the Latine. 1596 Shakes. 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. 1823 Cobbett Gram. Eng. Lang. xix. 131 It is the same word, you see, in both instances; but you will see it different in the French. a 1912 Mod. A new translation directly from the Hebrew. 1922 Chesterton Eugenics & Other Evils i. i. 11, I am content to answer that ‘chivalrous’ is not the French for ‘horsy’. 1934 Webster p. lxxxii/1, The modern descendants of the Latin are called the Romance languages. They include the Italian, the Spanish, the Portuguese [etc.]. a 1965 B. Higgins Northern Fiddler (1966) 34 ‘I'm corrupt’ he said to me in the French, ‘I think I live in corruption's stench.’ |
8. a. With names of diseases, ailments, etc.
Still in common use side by side with forms without the definite article.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 314 Wið þære ᵹeolwan adle..ᵹenim þæs 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 n. 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 Let. to Landor 23 Apr., in Life (1850) III. 228, I instantly recognised the sound of the croup. 1839 ― Let. to Mrs. Hodson 18 Feb. ibid. VI. 381 A serious attack of the influenza. a 1912 Mod. (familiar) I have the toothache. 1961 I. Fleming Thunderball i. 10 His secretary had gone down with the flu. 1972 Time 17 Apr. 41/2 Shortly before he was scheduled to make his first space flight aboard Apollo 13 two years ago, the longtime bachelor..was accidently exposed to the German measles. |
b. With colloq. or humorous names of afflictions, as the blues, collywobbles, creeps, D.T.'s, habdabs, heebie-jeebies, jitters, etc., q.v. Hence in analogous nonce-expressions.
| 1976 Publishers Weekly 11 Oct. 90/3 The case of the ‘cutes’ infecting text and pictures. 1976 Listener 11 Nov. 626/2 The whole story, like the chateau, has an unmistakable touch of the Enid Blytons. |
9. Elliptically with the names of ships, as the (ship) Nicholas, and of taverns, as the Mermaid (tavern), theatres, and other well-known buildings.
| 1450 Paston Lett. I. 125 He was yn the Nicolas tyl Saturday next folwyng. 1480 J. 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. 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 exc. in formal use 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 Honourable, the Honourable, the Reverend, etc. See further lord, lady, and the other titles.
| c 1121 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1090, Se eorl of Normandiᵹe. 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 Shakes. 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. 1935 C. Hamilton Pillion 25 He was the third son of Colonel the Hon. Almeric Sounds Sharnal Piers Clement Piers, late of the Rifle Brigade. 1939 E. Bax Miss Bax of Embassy xviii. 238 Someone is always dashing in to ask me questions like{ddd}is Lady V. The Lady or only Lady? 1943 H. Saunders Combined Operations vii. 52 Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes was succeeded as Director of Combined Operations by Captain the Lord Louis Mountbatten. 1981 Daily Tel. 5 Nov. 16/2 Her Majesty's Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms under the command of the Lord Denham. |
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 Apr. (MS.), [Sederunt] the Dollace of Cantray. 1562 Ibid. 7 Apr., 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 Shakes. 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. Also slang and sometimes derogatory, with a woman's surname or nickname. Cf. La, la.
| 1730 O. Swiny Let. 29 July in R. B. Peake Mem. Colman Family (1841) I. 18 If he does not, then we must provide a soprano man, and a contr'alto woman (though the Merighi stays). 1786 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? 1922 Dialect Notes V. 143 [At] Somerville..‘The Pen’ is the Lady Principal, Miss Penrose, ‘The Darb’, Miss Derbyshire, etc. 1930 Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves! iv. 96 The Bellinger..had sung us a few songs before digging in at the trough. 1973 ― Bachelors Anonymous xii. 155 The Fitch was at the hair stylist's having a permanent. |
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 (ðiː), 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 Shakes. 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{supc} hert latthe, pris þe hondrid, vij d..ijml traunsum, þe m{supl} 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 Brick⁓layers..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 Shakes. 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. a. 3. The OE. form did not distinguish these: þæt spell may be rendered ‘that story’ or ‘the story’.
| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. Pref. (1890) 2 Ic ðe sende þæt spell, þæt ic niwan awrat be Angel ðeode & Seaxum. 971 Blickl. Hom. 71 Seo meniᵹo þe þær beforan ferde. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Mark ii. 4 Þa bere in ðære þe eorð-crypel læᵹ. 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 Shakes. 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..ᵹehyre þa word þæs halᵹan godspelles. c 1121 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1116, On þisum ylcan ᵹeare bærnde eall þæt mynstre of Burh. 1122 Ibid., 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 Shakes. 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 tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 225 We had the Comfort to be pittied. 1780 Cowper Progress of Error in Wks. (1905) 29 The creature is so sure to kick and bite, A muleteer's the man to set him right. 1813 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. I. xiii. 142, I shall not be the person to discourage him. 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. a 1912 Mod. The book lying on your table. |
16. The stands before a n. defined by another n. (usually a proper name) in apposition, as the poet Virgil.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §8 Se hehsta beorᵹ Olimpus. Ibid. §9 On westende Affrica, neh þam beorᵹe 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 witᵹo [Rushw. tacen Ionas se witᵹa]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. iii. 1 On þam daᵹum 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. |
c. With a n. characterizing the trade or profession of the person whose name precedes. local (esp. in Wales).
| 1894 Somerville & ‘Ross’ Real Charlotte I. iv. 40 Norry the Boat, daughter of Shaunapickeen, the ferry⁓man (whence her title). 1951 W. Morum Gabriel ii. vii. 230 He thought Larry the Groan far worse. The effeminate singer..was positively embarrassing. 1974 Times 27 Apr. 15/8 The Welsh tradition of referring to people by the names of their jobs, as Jones the Post or Davis the Bread. 1980 R. H. Lewis Cracking of Spines vii. 113 ‘The prospective client,’..I assumed a Welsh accent. ‘Matt the Book.’ |
17. The is used with a n. particularized or described by an adjective. The adj. usually precedes, but sometimes follows the n.: in either case the stands first as the good man, the church militant.
(An adj. or pple. with a modifying additon regularly follows the n., 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 n. may then be treated as name of a unique object, as in 3.
| c 860 O.E. Chron. an. 853, Þy ilcan ᵹeare sende æþelwulf cyning ælfred his sunu to Rome. 885 Ibid., 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 halᵹan dæᵹe. 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 ᵹit 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 n. 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 teiᵹða]. 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 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 187 This was the most vnkindest cut of all. 1626 C. Potter tr. Sarpi's Hist. Quarrels 110 The most Potent Princes of Italy. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. l, In terms the most hyperbolical. 1759 S. Fielding C'tess of Dellwyn I. 149 Ready to take fire at every the least Provocation. 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary 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. a 1912 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 Let. 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. a 1912 Mod. The third appears to be the best. |
II. Referring to a term used generically or universally.
* With a singular n.
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'homme.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xli. §6 Ac se mann ana gæþ uprihte. c 893 ― Oros. iii. xi. §3 Þonne seo leo bringð his hungreᵹum 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 Shakes. 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. 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 n. 1, mind n. 17.)
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxiv. §3 Seo fæᵹernes..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 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 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 tr. 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. 30 To think the eye itself a percipient. 1841 Thackeray Men & Pictures 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 J. 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 tr. Bæda's Hist. Pref. ii. (1890) 6 Ðone leornere ic nu..bidde and halsiᵹe. 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. 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. Also forming phrases with the preposition on, as on the cheap, quiet, sly, etc., q.v.
| c 1420 ? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 882 In stede of the bettyr the worse ther they ches. 1596 Shakes. 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. n. used universally.
22. With a n. in the plural, chiefly the name of a nation, class, or group of people, where the = ‘those who are’; ‘the{ddd}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 W. Patten Exped. Scot. 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 tr. 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. 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 dyseᵹan. 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. 1817–18 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 ᵹelaðodan 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. 1817–18 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. 1 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] ᵹecuoeden 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 bihut 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.]. |
D. as n. with pl. thes.
| 1882 ‘Mark Twain’ Stolen White Elephant 269 You [English] say ‘out of window’; we always put in a the. 1907 ― Chr. Sci. ii. viii. 239, I uncover to that imperial word... The rare and..exclusive company of the the's of deathless glory..the Saviour..the Bible. 1959 Amer. Speech XXXIV. 111 The Syrian student tends to put in the's where they are not needed. 1977 Guardian Weekly 4 Dec. 4/1 If you are really serious about something and want to be taken seriously yourself, never, ever, under any circumstances, sully its name by putting a ‘the’ in front of it. |
▪ II. † the, particle (conj., adv.), rel. pron. Obs.
Forms: 1–4 ðe, þe, (2 þæ, 2–3 þa).
[OE. þe, app. an unstresssed or worn-down case or derivative formation from the stem þa- of that dem. and rel. pron. Thought by some to be a worn-down locative case. Cf. Goth. þê-ei, þei, conj., similarly used.]
1. Used as a conjunction introducing clauses of various kinds: = that conj.
| Beowulf 1334 Heo þa fæhðe wræc þe þu ᵹystran niht grendel cwealdest. Ibid. 1436 He on holme wæs sundes þe sænra ðe hyne swylt for-nam. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) cxliii. 4 Hwæt is se manna, mihtiᵹ Drihten, þe þu him cuðlice cyþan woldest? a 1250 Owl & Night. 941 Þe Nihtegale..wiste wel..þe wraþþe binymeþ monnes red. |
b. spec. After comparatives: Than.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xliv. 318 Ne hie selfe ðy betran ne talien þe ða oðre. 971 Blickl. Hom. 215 Ða he þa hæfde twæm læs þe twentiᵹ wintra. c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 154 Þeos woruld..nis..ðe ᵹeliccre ðære ecan worulde, þe is sum cweartern leohtum dæᵹe. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 151 If ȝe beoð strengre þe heo. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 119 Þe holi gost com..and alihte hem of brihtere and of festere bileue þe hie hedden er. a 1250 Owl & Night. 564 Na more þe deþ a wrecche wranne. |
c. As correlative conjunction: ‘hwæþer..þe..’, ‘þe..þe..’, ‘whether..or..’.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §6 Hwæþer þincð þe þonne þæt þa þincg sien, ðe ðara soðena ᵹesælða limu, þe sio ᵹesælð self? 971 Blickl. Hom. 97 Hwyder he ᵹelæded sy, þe to wite, þe to wuldre. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 120 Ða Gregorius befran, hwæðer þæs landes folc cristen wære ðe hæðen. c 1205 Lay. 16812 Do þine iwille Whaðer swa þu wult don, Þa us slan þa us an-hon. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1064 Hweþer þu wilt wif þe meyde. Ibid. 1408 Sei me soþ if þu hit wost Hweþer doþ wurse fleys þe gost. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4507 In woch half turne he nuste, þo weþer est þe west. |
2. Relative particle. a. Appended to adverbs and adverbial expressions of time, place, etc., to make them relative or conjunctive. Cf. that conj. 6. Also in for þan þe because that, ær þan þe before that, and the like.
| 835 Charter of Abba in O.E. Texts 447 Ða hwile ðe hia hit mid clennisse ᵹehaldan wile. c 1160 Hatton Gosp. Mark viii. 24 Þa þæ he hine be-seaᵹ. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 87 Þa þe heo comen on midden þere se. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 35 Þe fiffeald mihten þe god him gef þo þe he him shop. a 1240 Ureisun 36 in Cott. Hom. 193 Þer ðe neure deað ne com. |
b. Hence as a temporal adverb (= þá, þá þe): When.
| c 1205 Lay. 263 Þeos ȝunge wiman iwerd hire mid childe, þe ȝet leouede Asscanius. Ibid. 4150 Þe [c 1275 þo] Dunewale hauede isæd, al his folc luuede þene ræd. a 1300 Harrow. Hell (MS. L.) 42 Þe [MS. E. þan] he com þere þo [MS. E. þan] seyd he asse y shal nouþe telle þe. |
3. As relative pronoun: That, who, which.
In OE. repr. any case or number. Also with ellipsis of antecedent, = he who, that which, what, = that rel. pron. 3.
| 805–31 Charter of Oswulf in O.E. Texts 444 Ic ðe ðas ᵹesettnesse sette. 847 Charter of æðelwulf in O.E. Texts 434 Ðonon to ðæm beorᵹe ðe mon hateð æt ðæm holne. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §3 His sio hea goodnes þe he full is. Ibid. xxxvi. §4 (3) Þæt ðu mæᵹe ðy bet ᵹelefan ðe ic ðe..recce. c 893 ― Oros. ii. i. §4 Þy ilcan ᵹeare þe Romana rice weaxan ongann. a 1000 Boeth. Metr. v. 11 Seo þe ær gladu onsiene wæs. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. vi. 9 Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum. Ibid. John i. 26 Tomiddes eow stod þe [Lindisf. ðone] ᵹe ne cunnon. 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1140, Alle þe men þe mid him heoldon. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 221 ælra þara þinge þe on paradis beoð. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 45 Þe þre kinges þe comen of estriche. c 1205 Lay. 41 Wace wes ihoten Þe wel couþe writen. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1386 (Cott. MS.) For heo beoþ wode, Þe [v.r. þat] bute nest goþ to brode. a 1300 Harrow. Hell (MS. L.) 24 Moyses, þe holy wyht [MS. whyt], Þe heuede þe lawe to ȝeme ryht. 13.. Cursor M. 24317 (Edin.) Wit hard thrauis þe [other MSS. þat] he þrow Þai sau þat he to ded him drew. c 1350 Will. Palerne 4422 Sche..went Into a choys chaumber Þe clerli was peinted. c 1460 Oseney Regr. 166 He Bryngeth also Anoþer charter..the witnyssith [orig. Cartam..que testatur] that the Same Nicoll yafe [etc.]. Ibid. 170 For þe Sowle of my ffadur Robert Doylly þe þat same church foundid. |
b. When the relative was governed by a preposition, the latter followed before the verb.
| a 900 O.E. Chron. an. 885, He sende him..þære rode dæl þe Crist on þrowude. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark ii. 4 Þæt bed þe se lama on læᵹ. |
c. In Old English the relative was also expressed by adding þe to the demonstrative pronoun se, séo, þæt; thus, se-þe, séo-þe, þæt-þe or þætte, þæs-þe, þæm-þe, etc.; but this combination scarcely survived after 1100.
| 835 Charter of Abba in O.E. Texts 448 Swælc monn se ðe to minum ærfe foe. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. ii. iv. §8 Seo ilce burᵹ..seo ðe mæst wæs. c 1000 ælfric Gen. vi. 2 Hiᵹ..namon him wif of eallum þam, þa þe hiᵹ ᵹecuron. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. iii. 3 Dys ys se be ðam ðe ᵹecweden ys. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 227 Se soðe sceppende se þe ane is god. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 5 He is iblesced þe þe her cumet on drihtenes nome. |
d. To express the genitive case whose, of which, þe or se ðe was followed by a possessive pronoun: cf. that rel. pron. 9.
| a 800 Cynewulf Elene 162 Se God..þe þis his beacen wæs. c 850 O.E. Martyrol. 118 Þære fæmnan tid þe hire noma wæs sancta Anatolia. a 900 Psalm xxxii. 11 (Thorpe) Eadiᵹ byþ þæt kynn, þe swylc God byð heora God. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1011, ælmær..þe se arcb. ælfeah ær ᵹenerede his life. |
▪ III. the, adv.
(ðə)
Also 3 þæ.
[OE. þé, originally locative or instrumental case of the demonstrative and relative pron. se, séo, þæt. In OE. interchanging with þ{yacu}: see thy adv.]
1. Preceding an adjective or adverb in the comparative degree, the two words forming an adverbial phrase modifying the predicate.
The radical meaning is ‘in or by that’, ‘in or by so much’, e.g. ‘if you sow them now, they will come up the sooner’; ‘he has had a holiday, and looks the better’, to which the pleonastic ‘for it’ has been added, and the sentence at length turned into ‘he looks the better for his holiday’.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xvii. 122 Oft sio wund bið ðæs þe wierse & ðy mare. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 87 Þa cleopede god þe ner Moyses him to. c 1205 Lay. 30597 Of þere brede he æt sone þer after him wes þæ bet. c 1290 Beket 1252 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 142 He chaungede is name, þe sikerloker forto go. a 1300 Cursor M. 3651 (Cott.) Þat he þe mai þe less mistru, Þou sal sai þou ert esau. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxxviii. (Bodl. MS.), He [the stomach] is rowȝe..to holde þe better þe mete þat he fongiþ. c 1430 How Gd. Wife taught Dau. 191 in Babees Bk. 41 Þe work is þe sonner do þat haþ many handis. 1526 Tindale John xix. 8 When Pilate herde that sayinge, he was the moare afrayde [1388 Wyclif, he dredde the more]. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. ii. 33 That..I may beare armes,..The rather, since that fortune hath this day Given to me the spoile of this dead knight. 1621 Fletcher Wild Goose Chase iv. i, 'Tis not to be help'd now. Lil. The more's my Miserie. 1782 Cowper Mut. Forbearance 24 Your fav'rite horse Will never look one hair the worse. 1838 Ruskin Ess. Painting & Music §24 Wks. 1903 I. 285 And if others do not follow their example,—the more fools they. 1883 Law Times 27 Oct. 425/1 What student is the better for mastering these futile distinctions? |
† b. In phrase the less (the), (= L. quominus), OE. þe-lǽs þe, Early ME. (þe) læste, now lest conj. q.v.
| [c 825 Vesp. Psalter ii. 12 Ðyles hwonne eorsie dryhten.] 971 Blickl. Hom. 65 Þe læs hi us besencean on helle grund. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John v. 14 Ne synga þa, þe-læs þe þe on sumon þingon wyrs ᵹetide. a 1100 in Napier O.E. Glosses i. 3675 Þe læste ᵹehremde. [1175: see lest conj.] |
2. the..the..: by how much..by so much; in what degree..in that degree..[= L. quo..eo.., Gr. ὅσῳ..τοσούτῳ..]: denoting proportional dependence between the notions expressed by two clauses, each having the + a comparative; one the being demonstrative, and the other relative. The relative clause usually comes first, e.g. ‘The more one has, the more one wants’; but the order may be reversed, as ‘One wants the more, the more one has’; and in either order the comparative in the relative clause is sometimes followed by that, e.g. ‘the more that one has’. In OE. commonly þ{yacu}; ME. þi, þe: see thy adv.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. Pref. 5 Ðæt her ðy mara wisdom on londe wære, ðy we ma ᵹeðeoda cuðon. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7547 Þe more þat a mon can, þe more wurþe he is. 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. lv. xii. 95 Þe more we trace þe Trinite, Þe more we falle in fantasye. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) v. 14 Ay þe elder it es, þe whittere it waxes. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 1 Yitt þai er ay þe langer þe wers. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 445 Though the Camomile, the more it is troden, the faster it growes; yet Youth, the more it is wasted, the sooner it weares. 1690 T. Saunders in 11th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. vii. 111 As to our sea affairs..the lesse I say the better. 1771 in J. Watson Jedburgh Abbey (1894) 98 The bells must be removed, and the sooner the better. c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Art i. 208 The smaller a lens is, and the more its convexity, the nearer is its focus, and the more its magnifying power. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! iv, The less said the sooner mended. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 26 The higher the windows are from the ground the better. |
| Proverbial expression. The more, the merrier. |
▪ IV. the
obs. form of thee pers. pron., thee v.1, to prosper, they, thigh, though.
▪ V. the, thé, thea
obs. forms of tea.