ye oldeadj.n.
/jɪ ˈəʊld/, /jɪ ˈəʊldi/, U.S. /ji ˈoʊld/, /ji ˈoʊldi/ A. adj.
1. Used commercially in place of ‘the old’, as a deliberate archaism to suggest antiquity or old tradition. Frequently in conjunction with other words spelt archaistically.
ΘΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [adjective] > olde or suggesting spurious antiquity
olde1850
ye olde1850
pseudo-antique1854
1850 Sunday Times 19 May 1/2 (advt.) Ye Olde Jervsalem Tauerne..ys ye oldest Tauerne in ye Worlde.
1870 Bell's Life in London 15 Oct. 7/2 The members of this club will reassemble at their head-quarters, ‘Ye Olde Elme Tre[e]’, on the south bank of the Serpentine, for their winter practice.
1902 Western Daily Press 10 Jan. 3/3 The Grosvenor Engraving Company..has issued a calendar for 1902... The calendar is entitled ‘Ye Olde Bristowe Almanack’.
1998 L. Fox & B. R. Fox Romantic Weekend Getaways (ed. 3) viii. 194 Seductive desserts at Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe.
2. Old-fashioned, antiquated, historic, esp. in a contrived manner, or so as to be picturesque or appealing; belonging to or characteristic of an earlier time. Chiefly attributive.
Π
1852 Democratic Rev. (U.S.) Mar. 224/2 We shall..show..the character of ‘the old fogy’, or ‘ye olde fogie’, as he at present exists.
1881 Trewman's Exeter Flying Post 9 Nov. 7/2 ‘Young Exeter’ issued his usual proclamation, calling upon his followers to join him in celebrating the Fifth in ‘Ye olde English style’, and to march with him in procession to ‘his own domain’.
1935 D. C. Calthrop My Own Trumpet vii. 123 Pont Aven..has succumbed to being picturesque and to being ye olde to please the increasing crowd of tourists.
1977 New Yorker 16 May 107/1 Quincy Market..basically a suburban shopping mall done up in the instant charm of ye olde exposed brick.
2007 D. Lowe et al. Networking for Dummies (ed. 8) v. 82 In ye olde days, Ethernet had two significant competitors.
B. n.
That which is (esp. contrivedly or picturesquely) old-fashioned, antiquated, or historic.
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1942 C. E. M. Joad Old Countryside for New People 25 They [sc. new houses] should conform to the general design of the houses of the village... There should be no more essays in the style of Ye Olde or the half-timbered Tudor or the Mock-Gothic, or the Jacobethan.
1977 J. Lees-Milne Diary 29 Oct. in Through Wood & Dale (2001) 208 Long Barn..is not at all a covetable house, much bogus half-timbering, low doorways and sloping floors. Curious taste Harold and Vita had for ye olde.
2004 W. Doniger Woman who pretended to be who She Was i. 12 The inhabitants of places known for their ethnic charm..consciously exaggerate their own stereotypes to please the visitors, the British laying on the ye olde with a shovel, the Irish their blarney, the Parisians their disdain for tourists.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2022).
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adj.n.1850