Etymology : Middle English, from Old English gE; akin to Old High German ir you; more at YOU
Pronunciation : 'yE
Function : pronoun
Date : before 12th century
1. ate.
2. pro(Old English) you (often plural). the (Archaic). ye\ye\ (&thlig;ē)], an old method of printing the article the (as. ?e), the "y" being used in place of the anglo-saxon thorn . it is sometimes incorrectly pronounced yē. see:
the, and thorn, n., 4.ye \ye\ (yē), pron. [oe. ye, &yogh;e, nom. pl., as. ge, gī; cf. os. ge, gī, ofries. gī, ī, d. gij, dan. & sw. i, icel. ēr, ohg. ir, g. ihr, goth. jus, lith. jus, gr. "ymei^s, skr. yuyam. ?189.] the plural of the pronoun of the second person in the nominative case. ye ben to me right welcome heartily. but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified. vi.
3. this would cost you your life in case ye were a man.note: in old english ye was used only as a nominative, and you only as a dative or objective. in the 16th century, however, ye and you became confused and were often used interchangeably, both as nominatives and objectives, and you has now superseded ye except in solemn or poetic use. see:
you, and also the first note under thou. vain pomp and glory of this world, i hate ye. i come, kind gentlemen, strange news to tell ye.ye \ye\ (yā), adv. [see:
yea.] yea; yes. [obs.].
4. an old method of printing the article the , the "y" being used in place of the Anglo-Saxon thorn.
5. It is sometimes incorrectly pronounced yē.
6. See The, and Thorn, n., 4.
7. The plural of the pronoun of the second person in the nominative case.
8. Yea; yes.
9. into, to, at. to.
10. into. unto.
11. 1. Ye is an old-fashioned, poetic, or religious word for you when you are talking to more than one person. Abandon hope all ye who enter here.
12. Ye is sometimes used in imitation of an old written form of the word `the'. Ye Olde Tea Shoppe. Yemen (in Internet addresses). In an attempt to seem quaint or old-fashioned, many store signs such as "Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe" use spellings that are no longer current. The word ye in such signs looks identical to the archaic second plural pronoun ye, but it is in fact not the same word. Ye in "Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe" is just an older spelling of the definite article the. The y in this ye was never pronounced (y) but was rather the result of improvisation by early printers. In Old English and early Middle English, the sound (th) was represented by the letter thorn (þ). When printing presses were first set up in England in the 1470s, the type and the typesetters all came from Continental Europe, where this letter was not in use. The letter y was used instead because in the handwriting of the day the thorn was very similar to y. Thus we see:
such spellings as y.