† ˈine, prep. Obs.
[An early ME. formation found in southern dialects from 1175 to 1340, when still in regular use in Kentish. Of uncertain formation: see below.]
= in prep., in its various uses.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 49 Alse þeos men doð þe liggeð inne eubruche and ine glutenerie and ine manaðas. Ibid. 73 Of ileue spek ure drihten ine þe hali godspel. Ibid. 75 His halie fif wunden þa he þolede for us ine þe halie rode. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 185 Ine þe lond of ierusalem. a 1225 Ancr. R. 20 Hwen ȝe vesteð ine winter..& ine sumer. Ibid. 54 Þer heo lei ine prisune. Ibid. 64 Spellunge and smecchunge beoð ine muðe boðe, ase sihðe is iðen eien. a 1225 Juliana 12 As þeo þet ine godd hire hope hefde. a 1250 Owl & Night. 962 Theȝ hit bo ful ine nest þine. c 1250 Meid. Maregrete xlix, Hef up þi fot a littel, þat ine myn necke stond. c 1315 Shoreham 7 Godes body ine forme of bred. Ibid. 146 Foȝeles, fisches ine the depe. 1340 Ayenb. 7 Þe ilke þet dispendeþ þane zonday..ine zenne and ine hordom and in oþre zennes aye God. Ibid. 167 Þe salamandre þet leueþ ine þe uere. Ibid. 220 Þet child lyerneþ ine his yeȝeþe, he hit wyle healde ine his elde. Ibid. 262 Yblissed þou ine wymen. |
b. In sense ‘into’.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 143 Þe heðene, þe erites..sculen beon iwarpen ine eche pine. c 1315 Shoreham 6 That man ne falle ine wanhope. c 1340 Ayenb. 25 Þis hire todelþ ine þry. Ibid. 185 Þe angel..þet com ine erþe, þe uor to rede. |
¶ In northern dialects, and in later use, ine, yne appear to be only scribal variants of in, yn, prep. or adv.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 941 (Gött.) Yon tre þat lijf was ine [Cott. þat lijf es in]. Ibid. 9674 (Gött.) Noe..in þat schipp allone was ine. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 760 A pot with riche wine, And a pece to fil it yne. |
[Note. In the dialects in which it occurs, ine is the regular word for in preposition. The 12–13th c. documents in which it is used have also i in the connexions i þe, i þen, i þis, i þet, i þine, etc.; but these do not appear in the Ayenbite 14th c. Ine has been viewed as an extension of the prep. in with an inorganic e, and as a weakened or simplified form of inne; there are difficulties, historical or phonetic, in either view, though the latter is perhaps the less objectionable. Inne and ine are found side by side in the Lambeth Homilies.]