Etymograph

English

thee

Thee comes from Proto-Indo-European *te ‘second-person singular pronoun’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*te1‘second-person singular pronoun’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þiz1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150þē1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500þe1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1598thee1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English thee
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry IV part 1: “Prince Henry: Did I ever call for thee to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teWiktionary, English thee‘second-person singular pronoun’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þizWiktionary, English theereconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150þēWiktionary, English thee
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500þeWiktionary, English thee
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1598theeWiktionary, English thee. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry IV part 1: “Prince Henry: Did I ever call for thee to…”

Linked words

through Middle English þe

the, ye

Today it means

pron Objective and reflexive case of thou.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “thee”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *te / thee

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