i
numEtymology From Latin i, minuscule of I.
1
Lowercase, Number The ninth numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called i and written in the Latin script.
i
characteralso spelled I/ə/ · /aɪ/
Etymology From Latin i, minuscule of I.
i
nounEtymology From Latin i, minuscule of I.
1
The name of the Latin script letter I/i.
- the position of an i-dot (the dot of an i)
- i-mutation, i-umlaut
I
pronUK [aɪ] · US [aj]
Etymology
From Middle English a, hi, hich, hij, I, ic, ich, ichc, ichs, ick, ig, ih, ik, j, jch, y, from Old English ic, ich, ih, ᛁᚳ (ic), ᛁᚴ (ik, “I”), from Proto-West Germanic *ik (“I”), from Proto-Germanic *ek, *eka, *ik (“I”), from Proto-Indo-European *eǵh₂óm (“I”). Cognates Cognate with Scots A, I, Ik (“I”), Yola Ich (“I”), North Frisian ick, ik, 'k (“I”), Saterland Frisian iek (“I”), West Frisian ik (“I”), Alemannic German i, ich, ig (“I”), Bavarian and Mòcheno i (“I”), Central Franconian eich, ich (“I”), Cimbrian i, ich (“I”), Dutch ick, ik, ikke (“I”), Low German eck, ick, ik, öck (“I”), German ich (“I”), Limburgish ich, iich (“I”), Luxembourgish ech (“I”), Vilamovian ych (“I”), West Flemish 'k (“I”), Yiddish איך (ikh), יאַך (yakh, “I”), Danish jeg, jæ (“I”), Elfdalian ig (“I”), Faroese eg, jeg (“I”), Icelandic eg, ég, ek, jeg (“I”), Jutish æ (“I”), Norn eg (“I”), Norwegian Bokmål jeg (“I”), Norwegian Nynorsk eg, æg (“I”), Swedish i, jag (“I”), Crimean Gothic ich (“I”), Gothic 𐌹𐌺 (ik, “I”), Vandalic *ic (“I”); also Asturian, Aragonese, and Spanish yo (“I”), Catalan jo (“I”), French je (“I”), Galician and Portuguese eu (“I”), Italian io (“I”), Leonese and Mirandese you (“I”), Latin ego (“I”), Ancient Greek ἐγώ (egṓ, “I”), Latvian es (“I”), Lithuanian aš (“I”), Armenian ես (es, “I”), Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian я (ja, “I”), Bulgarian аз (az, “I”), Czech já (“I”), Macedonian јас (jas, “I”), Polish and Slovak ja (“I”), Serbo-Croatian jȃ (“I”), Slovene jȁz (“I”), Northern Kurdish ez (“I”), Sanskrit अहम् (ahám, “I”), Hittite 𒌑𒊌 (ūk, “I”). See also English ich. Doublet of ego and Ich. Capitalized since the 13th century to mark it as a distinct word and prevent misreading and omission (due to cursive writing).
1
First person, Personal, Pronoun, Subjective The speaker or writer, referred to as the grammatical subject, of a sentence.
- I drove my sister and myself to school.
- […]It ill beſeemes a knight of gentle ſort, / Such as ye haue him boaſted, to beguyle / A ſimple maide, and worke ſo hainous tort, / In ſhame of knighthood, as I largely can report.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 414:
2 more examples
- Here I am, sir.1854, Gustave Chouquet, Easy Conversations in French, page 9:
- I know I have a pen, though…2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
2
First person, Nonstandard, Personal, Pronoun, Subjective The speaker or writer, referred to as the grammatical object, of a sentence.
- Mom drove my sister and I to school.
- Sweet Baſſanio, My ſhips haue all miſcarried, my Creditors grow cruell, my eſtate is very low: my bond to the Iew is forfet, and ſince in paying it, it is impoſſible I ſhould liue, all debts are cleered betweene you and I if I might but ſee you at my death.c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
2 more examples
- 1980, Bob Marley, Redemption Song Old pirates, yes, they rob I Sold I to the merchant ships Minutes after they took I From the bottomless pit.
- Step inside, see the Devil in I You'll realize I'm not your Devil anymore2014, “The Devil in I”, in .5: The Gray Chapter, performed by Slipknot:
- Synonyms
- ich, ch, my ass, m'ass, muggins, yours truly, Ah
- Derived terms
43 terms
and I claim my five pounds, as I live and breathe, can I smoke, could I get the bill, damned if I know, I am inside you, I can't lie, I can't thank you enough, I come in peace, I do not know it, I don't mind, I doubt it, I fear, I fuck you not, I hardly even know her, I hardly know her, I kill you later, I know it, I like to see you try, I like turtles, I'll be, I'll believe it when I see it, I'm in this photo and I don't like it, I never did, I never miss, I-novel, in this essay I will, I's, I shit you not, I swear, I think not, I wouldn't piss on someone if they were on fire, lyrical I, may I pass through, or should I say, if I care, though I say it who should not, though I say it who should not say it, what am I bid, what am I looking at, what can I tell you, what did I tell you, what do I care- Related terms
55 terms
Ime, me, myselfmemysen, mine, mymineme, we, us, ourselvesourselfoursen, oursourn, our, you, yourselfyoursen, yoursyourn, your, thou, thee, thyselftheeselfthysen, thine, thythine, youye, yourselves, you ally'all you guys yous, y'allselves, all yours y'all's you guys' your guys', all your y'all's your all's you guys' your guys', he, him, himselfhisselfhissen, hishisn, his, she, her, herselfhersen, hershern, ithit, itselfhitself, itshis, itshishits, they, them, themself, themselves, theirs, their, one, oneself, –, one's, themhem, 'em, themselvestheirsen, theirstheirn, The following table shows a list of English personal pronoun, including archaic and dialectal forms. Dialectal and obsolete, archaic forms are in italics. 1 See Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for attested neopronoun.
I
nounEtymology
From Middle English a, hi, hich, hij, I, ic, ich, ichc, ichs, ick, ig, ih, ik, j, jch, y, from Old English ic, ich, ih, ᛁᚳ (ic), ᛁᚴ (ik, “I”), from Proto-West Germanic *ik (“I”), from Proto-Germanic *ek, *eka, *ik (“I”), from Proto-Indo-European *eǵh₂óm (“I”). Cognates Cognate with Scots A, I, Ik (“I”), Yola Ich (“I”), North Frisian ick, ik, 'k (“I”), Saterland Frisian iek (“I”), West Frisian ik (“I”), Alemannic German i, ich, ig (“I”), Bavarian and Mòcheno i (“I”), Central Franconian eich, ich (“I”), Cimbrian i, ich (“I”), Dutch ick, ik, ikke (“I”), Low German eck, ick, ik, öck (“I”), German ich (“I”), Limburgish ich, iich (“I”), Luxembourgish ech (“I”), Vilamovian ych (“I”), West Flemish 'k (“I”), Yiddish איך (ikh), יאַך (yakh, “I”), Danish jeg, jæ (“I”), Elfdalian ig (“I”), Faroese eg, jeg (“I”), Icelandic eg, ég, ek, jeg (“I”), Jutish æ (“I”), Norn eg (“I”), Norwegian Bokmål jeg (“I”), Norwegian Nynorsk eg, æg (“I”), Swedish i, jag (“I”), Crimean Gothic ich (“I”), Gothic 𐌹𐌺 (ik, “I”), Vandalic *ic (“I”); also Asturian, Aragonese, and Spanish yo (“I”), Catalan jo (“I”), French je (“I”), Galician and Portuguese eu (“I”), Italian io (“I”), Leonese and Mirandese you (“I”), Latin ego (“I”), Ancient Greek ἐγώ (egṓ, “I”), Latvian es (“I”), Lithuanian aš (“I”), Armenian ես (es, “I”), Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian я (ja, “I”), Bulgarian аз (az, “I”), Czech já (“I”), Macedonian јас (jas, “I”), Polish and Slovak ja (“I”), Serbo-Croatian jȃ (“I”), Slovene jȁz (“I”), Northern Kurdish ez (“I”), Sanskrit अहम् (ahám, “I”), Hittite 𒌑𒊌 (ūk, “I”). See also English ich. Doublet of ego and Ich. Capitalized since the 13th century to mark it as a distinct word and prevent misreading and omission (due to cursive writing).
1
The ego.
- They are called men, becauſe each of them poſſeſſeth the whole man, though not wholly. There are by their means two I’s in every believer, Rom. vii. 15. For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. There is not one part of the man that is in Chriſt, but grace has a part of it, and corruption has a part of it: as in the twilight there is light over all, and darkneſs over all too, the darkneſs being mixed in every part with the light. So my renewed part is I, a man having an underſtanding enlightened, a will renewed, affections ſpiritualized, uſing my body conform: but my unrenewed part is I too, having an underſtanding darkened, a will rebellious, affections corrupted, and uſing my body accordingly.a. 1733, Thomas Boston, edited by [Thomas Boston the younger], Sermons and Discourses on Several Important Subjects in Divinity. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] William Gray, […], published 1753, page 333:
- In other words, he said: “I have two natures. I have a flesh nature, an outside nature, and that keeps sinning; and then I have another nature—an inside, a spiritual nature—and that does not like sinning; and with my heart-power, my conscience-power, my love-power, with the power of the divine element that is in me, I look and see what this body outside, which clothes me, is trying to do. And here are two I’s that are fighting. The inside I is arrayed against the outside I; and the outside has the advantage.”1873, Henry Ward Beecher, “Paul”, in The Great Bible Renowns, page 45:
4 more examples
- Am I a double personality? Are there two “I’s” in my anatomy—one a conscious “I,” giving attention to what I am doing, and another unconscious “I,” giving attention to something entirely different?1916, S. A. Steel, “Down the James Long Ago—I”, in Christian Advocate, volume 77, page 1094, column 1:
- B. (smiling): Have you come to examine me? You must say who you are. / D.: However much I may try, I do not seem to catch the ‘I’. It is not even clearly discernible. / B.: Who is it that says that the ‘I’ is not discernible? Are there two ‘I’s in you, that one is not discernible to the other?1962, Arthur Osborne, editor, The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in His Own Words, London: Rider & Company, published 1975, page 122:
- Who is it that says that ‘I’ is not perceptible? Is there an ignorant ‘I’ and an elusive ‘I’? Are there two ‘I’s in the same person? It is the mind that says that ‘I’ is not perceptible. Where is that mind from? Know the mind. You will find it a myth. / We all feel that there is only one I; not two, one ignorant of the other.2011, Michael Gluckman, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive: A Guide to the Source of Your Wisdom and Joy, Light Up Your Life, →ISBN:
- Sucking vomit, acting like its honey Deprived of I Falling while thrusting squares through circles Serving one single new dimension2012, “Demiurge”, in Mårten Hagström (lyrics), Koloss, performed by Meshuggah, track 9:
I
characterEtymology Old French i, from Latin ī, from Etruscan I (i).
- Derived terms
- I-beam
Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for i and I.