my, poss. a.
(maɪ, unstressed mɪ)
Also 2–6 mi, (4 mii, 6 mye), 9 dial. moy, etc. β. (unstressed forms) 3–6 (also 9 in representations of Irish speech) me, 8 m', 9 dial. ma, etc.
[early ME. mī, reduced form of mīn (see mine poss. pron.), used orig. before consonants except h, but occurring before vowels in northern texts as early as the beginning of the 14th c. and ultimately becoming the universal possessive adj. of the 1st pers. sing. in prose use.]
1. Of or belonging to me; that I have, hold, or possess. The possessive genitive of I pron.
For the functions of the possessive see his poss. pron. B. 2.
| α a 1175 Cott. Hom. 225, Ic wille settan mi wed betwuxe me and eow. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 157 Wa is mine saule þet mi lif þus longe ilest. a 1240 Lofsong in O.E. Hom. I. 213 Mi leofmonnes luft erm halt up min heaued. c 1290 St. Cristopher 40 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 272, Ich am a man opon mi seruiz and noman serui i-nelle Bote my louerd. a 1300 Cursor M. 4487 Me-thoght i bare A lepe..Wit bred þat i bar on mi heued [Gött. mj, Fairf. my, Trin. myn heued]. a 1300–1400 Ibid. 13568 (Gött.) Mi eien tua [other texts min, myne]. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2997 Mi wille ȝif y miȝt gete, Þat leuedi wold y se. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. cxv, How long think thay to stand in my disdeyne. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iv. xv. 139 And lete hym wete I can doo more whan I see my tyme. 1516 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 1 To pray for my soull and myn ancestres. c 1550 Cheke Mark i. 7 Mi stronger commeth after me, y⊇ latchet of whoos schoo J am not worthi to bow down and louse. 1592 R. Greene Blacke Bookes Messenger Wks. (Grosart) XI. 34 Euery one..almost disdained my companie. 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. i. 264 A Ministring Angell shall my Sister be. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. 280 That they might conferre it on a Gentlemans sonne of good ranke..but my Iunior. 1721 Strype Eccl. Mem. II. i. xxiii. 188 Yet can I not, without some touch of my estimation,..satisfy the result herein presently. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 156 It is my aversion, it fills my..soul with horror. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. IV. Pref. p. vi, My time will now be my own. 1855 M. Arnold Balder Dead i. 106 Who will bear my hateful sight in Heaven? 1864 Tennyson North. Farmer i. xiv, I done my duty by Squoire an' I done my duty by all [ed. 1875 has moy]. 1888 Stevenson Black Arrow ii. iii, It is my murderer in the secret passage. 1895 Kekewich in Law Times Rep. LXIII. 663/2, I do not think I am precluded..from forming my own conclusion on this point. |
| β a 1250 Owl & Night. 869 (Cott.) For al me song is of longinge. 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 2583 And ȝhe wile, for me sake, Cristendome at þe take. c 1400 Cursor M. 20704 (Brit. Mus. Add. MS.) Ther on schal ligge me modre deere. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (1902) xv. 22 Now lat me lady do quhat evir scho will. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull ii. xviii, J. Bull. I shall have it to m'own self? L. Baboon. To thy n'own self. 1832 W. Stephenson Gateshead Local Poems 37 He'll end ma days as sure as death. 1888 H. Smart Master of Rathkelly I. xv. 223 I'll just keep me oiye on that Cassidy. |
¶ Down to the 16th c. my often resulted from the transference of the n of mine to the accompanying n. or adj. (See N 3 b, nain, naunt, nown, nuncle.)
| 1535 in Lett. Suppress. Monasteries (Camden) 51 A pore pryery, a fundacion off my nawynsetres. |
b. Prefixed to lord, lady (see lady n. 6 a, lord n. 15); hence my lady, my lord vbs., to address as ‘my lady’, ‘my lord’. So my nabs.
| c 1330 Amis & Amil. 1228 Mi lord the duke, he seyd anon, For schame lete tho leuedis gon. 1395 E.E. Wills (1882) 7 To praye diuine seruice for my lordes soule Sir Thomas West. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1381 Men mote hir clepe ‘my lady chaungeabil’. 1470 Paston Lett. II. 412 He sente to my Lady of Norff. by John Bernard only for my mater. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. 149 To the Lord Treasurer. My singular good Lord [etc.]. 1684 Lady R. Russell Lett. 20 Apr. (1807) 28, I hear my Lord Gainsborough and my Lady will be shortly at Chilten. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. Let. to Sir W. Phillips 8 Aug., Ma lords and gentlemen. 1831 [see lord n. 15 c]. 1834 Marryat P. Simple xiv, To find myself..my lorded this and my lorded that, every minute. 1849 ― Valerie vii, ‘Don't flare up, my lady.’ ‘Don't my lady me.’ 1886 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 223 To make the grievous mistake of ‘my-ludding’ the counsel. 1887 W. S. Gilbert Ruddigore 11, Whose middle-class lives are embarrassed by wives Who long to parade as ‘My Lady’. |
c. Used with vague application (cf. his poss. pron. B. 2 b, our B. 1 d). Also with ethical force in certain playful or ironical idiomatic collocations.
| 1592 Moryson Let. in Itin. (1617) i. 37, I knew where my Gentlemans shooe wrung him. 1653 H. More Antid. Ath. ii. i. (1712) 37, I would have my Atheist to take Shipping with me. 1667 Dryden & Dk. Newcastle Sir M. Mar-all ii. 20 Sir John. Dost thou not know the Contents on't? Landl. Yes, as well as I do my Pater noster. 1755 Smollett tr. Gil Blas vii. i, I lay in ambush..and, sure enough, perceived my man enter. 1799 H. K. White Let. to bro. Neville, I leave [the office] at eight in the evening; then attend my Latin until nine. 1808 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 13, I brought down my bird every shot. 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. x. (1907) I. 116 My taper man of lights listened with..praise-worthy patience. |
2. Used vocatively. a. Prefixed affectionately to terms of relationship or endearment; also, affectionately or compassionately, or in a jocular or merely familiar tone, to certain designations which are otherwise rarely used vocatively, as in my man, my boy, my good fellow, my poor man. (See also dear a.1 2 b, c, for the use as prefixed to that adj.)
In modern English it is not (as in some languages) the rule of ordinary speech to prefix my to terms of relationship (father, mother, brother, etc.) used vocatively; the use belongs to impassioned literary language. Son and daughter, however, are exceptions; and the omission of my before the vocative friend is somewhat arch. or rhetorical.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 98 Cum to me, mi leofmon, mi kulure, mi schene, mi veire spuse. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 513 My faire brid, my swete cinamome, Awaketh, lemman myn. 1388 Wyclif Prov. i. 10 Mi sone, if synneris flateren thee, assente thou not to hem. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 86 Take, myeboy, theese tokens by myn owne hands finnished holye. 1767 S. Paterson Another Trav. I. 425 My good gentlemen and lady-connoisseurs. 1816 Scott Antiq. viii, ‘Farewell, my father!’ murmured Isabella. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 26 But consider how monstrous this is, my friend. |
b. esp. in my dear (dearest), my love, etc. (see these words); hence my dear vb., to address as ‘my dear’; etc.
| 1807–8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 96 Mrs. Cockloft began ‘my dearing’ it as fast as tongue could move. 1830 Miss Mitford Village Ser. iv. 93 All through her childhood, the tiny heiress..was my-deared, petted, fondled. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xlv, They my-loved and my-deared each other assiduously. 1855 ― Newcomes lix, Miss Ethel and my wife..‘my-dearesting’ each other with that female fervour [etc.]. |
c. Prefixed (without intervening adj.) to the name of the person addressed: (a) poet. as a latinism, expressing intimate friendship (obs. or arch.); (b) in the language of fervid affection.
| 1732 Pope Ess. Man i. 1 Awake, my St. John! 1793 Cowper To Mary 16 Thy sight now seconds not thy will, My Mary! |
3. In ejaculations, as my eye! my God! my gracious! my stars! my word! etc. (see these words); whence (elliptically) my! or oh, my!, which is common (esp. U.S.) as a mild exclamation of surprise; also oh-my vb., to say ‘oh, my!’
| 1707 J. Stevens Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 350 Such Words and Sayings are a Discredit to your self..: As for Instance,..my Whither d'ye go. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., My, interj. Denoting great surprise, Roxb. 1840 Mrs. Trollope Widow Married xi, What a bonnet!—my! 1849 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 69 When she did take in the immense fact, oh, my! if she didn't show feeling enough. 1883 ‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi xvii, My, what a race I've had! 1893 Baring-Gould Cheap Jack Zita i. 10 The servant maids..were listening and..oh-mying over the bargains. |
† 4. a. my (un)witting: with (without) my knowledge. (Cf. F. à mon escient.) Obs.
| c 1450 Merlin 12 Yef euer man, my witynge, hadde to do with me. 1470 Paston Lett. II. 412 He sente to my Lady of Norff{ddd}my onwetyng. |
b. my lane (see lone a. 6 b): by myself. Sc.
| 1724 Ramsay Vision i, Mylane I wandert waif and wae. 1818 Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck I. xi. 219 Ony thing but a bogle face to face at midnight, an' me a' my lane. |
5. In names of games.
| 1621 J. Taylor (Water P.) Motto D 4, At Primefisto..at My-sow-pigg'd, and..Looke about ye. 1732 Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. (1861) I. 385 Played at my lady's hole, supped, and went early to bed. 1770 F. Burney Early Diary 20 Apr., Mr. Seton and myself declined playing—I never do but at Pope Joan, Commerce, or My Sow's Pig'd! |