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WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024they /ðeɪ/USA pronunciation pron. pl., poss. their or theirs, obj. them. - (used when the speaker and the listener know the people or things the speaker is referring to) the plural of he, she, and it:Do you see those two girls? They're staring at us.
- (used to refer to people in general):They say he's rich. It's what they call carpal tunnel syndrome: pain from typing at the computer all day.
- (used after a word or phrase like anyone, someone, a person, or whoever to refer back to that singular person without mentioning the sex of the person, in place of he or she):Whoever is of voting age, whether they are interested in politics or not, should vote. Anyone who says they're not afraid of dying is lying.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024they (ᵺā),USA pronunciation pron. pl., poss. their or theirs, obj. them. - nominative plural of he, she, and it.
- people in general:They say he's rich.
- (used with an indefinite singular antecedent in place of the definite masculine he or the definite feminine she):Whoever is of voting age, whether they are interested in politics or not, should vote.
- Old Norse their they (replacing Old English hī(e)); cognate with Old English thā, plural of thæt that
- Middle English 1150–1200
Long before the use of generic he was condemned as sexist, the pronouns they, their, and them were used in educated speech and in all but the most formal writing to refer to indefinite pronouns and to singular nouns of general personal reference, probably because such nouns are often not felt to be exclusively singular:If anyone calls, tell them I'll be back at six.Everyone began looking for their books at once.Such use is not a recent development, nor is it a mark of ignorance. Shakespeare, Swift, Shelley, Scott, and Dickens, as well as many other English and American writers, have used they and its forms to refer to singular antecedents. Already widespread in the language (though still rejected as ungrammatical by some), this use of they, their, and them is increasing in all but the most conservatively edited American English. This increased use is at least partly impelled by the desire to avoid the sexist implications of he as a pronoun of general reference. See also he1. Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: they /ðeɪ/ pron (subjective)- refers to people or things other than the speaker or people addressed: they fight among themselves
- refers to unspecified people or people in general not including the speaker or people addressed: in Australia they have Christmas in the summer
- not standard refers to an indefinite antecedent such as one, whoever, or anybody: if anyone objects, they can go
Etymology: 12th Century: thei from Old Norse their, masculine nominative plural, equivalent to Old English thāUSAGE
It was formerly considered correct to use he, him, or his after pronouns such as everyone, no-one, anyone, or someone as in everyone did his best, but it is now more common to use they, them, or their, and this use has become acceptable in all but the most formal contexts: everyone did their best Y, y /waɪ/USA pronunciation n. [countable], pl. Ys or Y's, ys or y's. - Linguisticsthe 25th letter of the English alphabet, a semivowel.
Y /waɪ/USA pronunciation - Chemistry, Informal Terms, Currencyn. [countable] the Y, [Informal.]the YMCA, YWCA, YMHA, or YWHA.
-y1 ,suffix. - -y is used to form adjectives with the meaning "having, showing, or similar to (the substance or action of the word or stem)'':blood + -y → bloody; sexy;squeaky.
-y2 ,suffix. - -y is used to form nouns
- that bring or add a meaning of dearness or familiarity to the noun or adjective root, as proper names, names of pets, or in baby talk:Bill + -y → Billy; bird + -ie → birdie;sweetie.
- that are informal, new, or intended to be new;
sometimes these have slightly unpleasant meanings or associations:boondocks → boon- + -ies → boonies; Okie (a person from Oklahoma);preemie (= a premature baby);rookie.
- -y is attached to adjectives to form nouns, often with the meaning that the noun is an extreme (good or bad) example of the adjective or quality:bad + -ie → baddie; toughie;sharpie;sickie;
whitey.
Compare -o. -y3 ,suffix. - -y is attached to verbs to form nouns of action, and certain other abstract nouns:inquire + -y → inquiry;in + fame + -y → infamy.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024Y, y (wī),USA pronunciation n., pl. Y's or Ys, y's or ys. - Linguisticsthe 25th letter of the English alphabet, a semivowel.
- Linguisticsany spoken sound represented by the letter Y or y, as in yet, city, or rhythm.
- something having the shape of aY.
- a written or printed representation of the letter Y or y.
- a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter Y or y.
Y (wī),USA pronunciation - Chemistry, Informal Terms, Currency the Y, [Informal.]the YMCA, YWCA, YMHA, or YWHA.
Y ,- yen1 (def. 1).
Y ,[Symbol.]- the 25th in order or in a series, or, when I is omitted, the 24th.
- (sometimes l.c.) the medieval Roman numeral for 150. Cf. Roman numerals.
- (sometimes l.c.) [Elect.]admittance.
- [Chem.]yttrium.
- Biochemistrytyrosine.
y ,[Symbol,][Math.]- an unknown quantity.
- (in Cartesian coordinates) the y-axis.
y- ,- a prefix occurring in certain obsolete words (ywis) and esp. in archaic past participles:yclad.Also, i-.
- Middle English y-, i- (reduced variant a-), Old English ge-, prefix with perfective, intensifying, or collective force; cognate with Old Frisian, Old Saxon ge-, gi-, Gothic ga-, German ge-; compare perh. Latin com- com-
- a native English suffix of adjectives meaning "characterized by or inclined to'' the substance or action of the word or stem to which the suffix is attached:juicy; rumbly;dreamy.
Also, -ey 1. - Old English -ig; cognate with German -ig; compare perh. Latin -icus, Greek -ikos
- a noun-forming suffix with a variety of functions in contemporary English, added to monosyllabic bases to create words that are almost always informal. Its earliest use, probably still productive, was to form endearing or familiar names or common nouns from personal names, other nouns, and adjectives (Billy;
Susie;
birdie;
doggie;
granny;
sweetie;
tummy). The hypocoristic feature is absent in recent coinages, however, which are simply informal and sometimes pejorative (boonies;
cabby;
groupie;
hippy;
looie;
Okie;
preemie;
preppy;
rookie). Another function of -y 2 (-ie) is to form from adjectives nouns that denote exemplary or extreme instances of the quality named by the adjective (baddie;
biggie;
cheapie;
toughie), sometimes focusing on a restricted, usually unfavorable sense of the adjective (sharpie;
sickie;
whitey). A few words in which the informal character of -y 2 (-ie) has been lost are now standard in formal written English (goalie;
movie).
Also, -ie. Cf. -o, -sy. - late Middle English (Scots), origin, originally in names; of uncertain origin, originally; baby and puppy, now felt as having this suffix, may be of different derivation
- a suffix of various origins used in the formation of action nouns from verbs (inquiry), also found in other abstract nouns:carpentry; infamy.
- representing Latin -ia, -ium; Greek -ia, -eia, -ion; French -ie; German -ie
- yard;
yards. - Timeyear;
years.
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