the

the · article¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*só
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*sa
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*siz
4. Old English · inherited fromþē m“the, that”
5. Middle English · inherited fromþe
6. English todaythe

From Middle English þe, from Old English þē m (“the, that”, demonstrative pronoun), a late variant of sē, the s- (which occurred in the masculine and feminine nominative singular only) having been replaced by the þ- from the oblique stem. replaced words, cognates Originally neutral nominative, in Middle English it superseded all previous Old English nominative forms (sē m, sēo f, þæt n, þā pl); sē is from Proto-West Germanic *siz, from Proto-Germanic *sa, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *só. Cognate with Saterland Frisian die (“the”), West Frisian de (“the”), Dutch de (“the”), German Low German de (“the”), German der (“the”), Danish de (“the”), Swedish de (“the”), Icelandic sá (“that”) within Germanic and with Sanskrit स (sá, “the, that”), Ancient Greek ὁ (ho, “the”), Tocharian B se (“this”) among other Indo-European languages.

the · adverb²

1. Old English · inherited fromþē̆
2. Middle English · inherited fromthe
3. English todaythe

From Middle English the, thy, thi, from Old English þē̆, probably a neuter instrumental form ("by that, thereby")—alongside the more common þȳ and þon—of the demonstrative pronoun sē ("that"). Compare Dutch des te ("the, the more"), German desto ("the, all the more"), Norwegian fordi and Norwegian av di ("because"), Icelandic því (“the; because”), Faroese tí, Swedish ty.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 10th c. ...because it has already been mentioned, is to be completely specified in the same sentence, or very shortly thereafter.
• from 10th c. Used before a noun designating something considered to be unique, or of which there is only one at a time.
• from 12th c. Used to indicate a certain example of (a noun) which is usually of most concern or most common or familiar.
• from 12th c. Used before a body part, a family member, a pet (especially of someone previously mentioned), as an alternative to a possessive pronoun.
• from 18th c. When stressed, indicates that it describes something which is considered to be best or exclusively worthy of attention.
• from 9th c. Introducing a singular term to be taken generically: preceding a name of something standing for a whole class.
• from 9th c. Added to a superlative or an ordinal number to make it into a substantive.
• from 9th c. Used before an adjective, indicating all things (especially persons) described by that adjective.