Adjacent Words

I definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

I is the ninth letter,and the third vowel of the English Alphabet. We receive it through the Latin and Greek from the Shemitic jod,je, or ye, in Greek iwra,whence our English word jot. The vowel in French, and in most European languages, has the long fine sound which we express by e in me, or ee in seen, meek. This sound we retain in some foreign words which are naturalized in our language, as in machine, intrigue. But in most English words this long sound is shortened, as in holiness, pity, gift; in which words the sound of i coincides with that of y in hypocrite,cycle,and at the end of words, in unaccented syllables, as in holy, glory. It is this short sound of the French and Italian i, which we hear in the pronunciation of been, which we pronounce bin. After l, this letter has sometimes the liquid sound of y, as in million, pronounced milyon. This sound corresponds with that of the Hebrews, as in Joseph, which in Syria is pronounced Yoseph,and with the sound of the German j, as in ja, jahr, that is ya, yahr.
The sound of i long, as in fine, kind, arise, is diphthongal; it begins with a sound approaching that of broad a, but it is not exactly the same, as the organs are not opened to the same extent, and therefore the sound begins a little above that of aw. The sound, if continued,closes with one that nearly approaches to that of e long. This sound can be learned only by the ear. This letter enters into several digraphs, as in fail, field,seize, feign, vein, friend; and with o in oil,join, coin,it helps to form a proper diphthong.
No English word ends with i, but when the sound of the letter occurs at the end of a word,it is expressed by y.
As a numeral I signifies one, and stands for as many units as it is repeated in times, as II, two, III, three, etc. When it stands before V or X, it subtracts itself,and the numerals denote one less than the V or the X. Thus IV expresses four, one less than V, five; IX stands for nine, one less than X, ten. But when it is placed after V or X, it denotes the addition of an unit, or as many units as the letter is repeated in times. Thus VI is five and one, or six, and XI is ten and one, or eleven; VIII stands for five and three, or eight, etc.
I, formerly prefixed to some English words, as in ibuilt, is a contraction of the Saxon prefix ge; and more generally this was written y.
I, pron. [L. ego.] The pronoun of the first person; the word which expresses one's self, or that by which a speaker or writer denotes himself. It is only the nominative case of the pronoun; in the other cases we use me. I am attached to study; study delights me. We often hear in popular language the phrase it is me, which is now considered to be ungrammatical, for it is I. But the phrase may have come down to us from the use of the Welsh mi, or from the French use of the phrase, c'est moi.
In the plural, we use we, and us, which appear to be words radically distinct from I.
Johnson observes that Shakespeare uses I for ay or yes. In this he is not followed, and the use is incorrect.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: used of a single unit or thing; not two or more; "`ane' is Scottish" [syn: one, 1, i, ane] n
1: a nonmetallic element belonging to the halogens; used especially in medicine and photography and in dyes; occurs naturally only in combination in small quantities (as in sea water or rocks) [syn: iodine, iodin, I, atomic number 53]
2: the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number; "he has the one but will need a two and three to go with it"; "they had lunch at one" [syn: one, 1, I, ace, single, unity]
3: the 9th letter of the Roman alphabet [syn: I, i]

Merriam Webster's

I. pronoun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English ic; akin to Old High German ih I, Latin ego, Greek eg? Date: before 12th century the one who is speaking or writing <I feel fine> — compare me, mine, my, we Usage: see me II. noun (plural I's or Is) Date: 1539 someone aware of possessing a personal individuality ; self III. abbreviation 1. electric current 2. Indian 3. interstate 4. Israeli IV. symbol iodine

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural i's or is) Usage: often capitalized, often attributive Date: before 12th century 1. a. the 9th letter of the English alphabet b. a graphic representation of this letter c. a speech counterpart of orthographic i 2. one — see number table 3. a graphic device for reproducing the letter i 4. one designated i especially as the ninth in order or class 5. something shaped like the letter I 6. a unit vector parallel to the x-axis 7. [abbreviation for incomplete] a. a grade rating a student's work as incomplete b. one graded or rated with an I 8. I formation II. abbreviation 1. industrial 2. initial 3. intelligence 4. intensity 5. intransitive 6. island; isle III. symbol imaginary unit

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. (also i) (pl. Is or I's) 1 the ninth letter of the alphabet. 2 (as a Roman numeral) 1. Phrases and idioms: I-beam a girder of I-shaped section. 2. pron. & n. --pron. (obj. me; poss. my, mine; pl. we) used by a speaker or writer to refer to himself or herself. --n. (the I) Metaphysics the ego; the subject or object of self-consciousness. Etymology: OE f. Gmc 3. symb. Chem. the element iodine. 4. abbr. (also I.) 1 Island(s). 2 Isle(s).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Personal Per"son*al, a. [L. personalis: cf. F. personnel.] 1. Pertaining to human beings as distinct from things. Every man so termed by way of personal difference. --Hooker. 2. Of or pertaining to a particular person; relating to, or affecting, an individual, or each of many individuals; peculiar or proper to private concerns; not public or general; as, personal comfort; personal desire. The words are conditional, -- If thou doest well, -- and so personal to Cain. --Locke. 3. Pertaining to the external or bodily appearance; corporeal; as, personal charms. --Addison. 4. Done in person; without the intervention of another. ``Personal communication.'' --Fabyan. The immediate and personal speaking of God. --White. 5. Relating to an individual, his character, conduct, motives, or private affairs, in an invidious and offensive manner; as, personal reflections or remarks. 6. (Gram.) Denoting person; as, a personal pronoun. Personal action (Law), a suit or action by which a man claims a debt or personal duty, or damages in lieu of it; or wherein he claims satisfaction in damages for an injury to his person or property, or the specific recovery of goods or chattels; -- opposed to real action. Personal equation. (Astron.) See under Equation. Personal estate or property (Law), movables; chattels; -- opposed to real estate or property. It usually consists of things temporary and movable, including all subjects of property not of a freehold nature. Personal identity (Metaph.), the persistent and continuous unity of the individual person, which is attested by consciousness. Personal pronoun (Gram.), one of the pronouns I, thou, he, she, it, and their plurals. Personal representatives (Law), the executors or administrators of a person deceased. Personal rights, rights appertaining to the person; as, the rights of a personal security, personal liberty, and private property. Personal tithes. See under Tithe. Personal verb (Gram.), a verb which is modified or inflected to correspond with the three persons.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

I I ([imac]). 1. I, the ninth letter of the English alphabet, takes its form from the Ph[oe]nician, through the Latin and the Greek. The Ph[oe]nician letter was probably of Egyptian origin. Its original value was nearly the same as that of the Italian I, or long e as in mete. Etymologically I is most closely related to e, y, j, g; as in dint, dent, beverage, L. bibere; E. kin, AS. cynn; E. thin, AS. [thorn]ynne; E. dominion, donjon, dungeon. In English I has two principal vowel sounds: the long sound, as in p[=i]ne, [=i]ce; and the short sound, as in p[i^]n. It has also three other sounds: (a) That of e in term, as in thirst. (b) That of e in mete (in words of foreign origin), as in machine, pique, regime. (c) That of consonant y (in many words in which it precedes another vowel), as in bunion, million, filial, Christian, etc. It enters into several digraphs, as in fail, field, seize, feign. friend; and with o often forms a proper diphtong, as in oil, join, coin. See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 98-106. Note: The dot which we place over the small or lower case i dates only from the 14th century. The sounds of I and J were originally represented by the same character, and even after the introduction of the form J into English dictionaries, words containing these letters were, till a comparatively recent time, classed together. 2. In our old authors, I was often used for ay (or aye), yes, which is pronounced nearly like it. 3. As a numeral, I stands for 1, II for 2, etc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

I I ([imac]), pron. [poss. My (m[imac]) or Mine (m[imac]n); object. Me (m[=e]). pl. nom. We (w[=e]); poss. Our (our) or Ours (ourz); object. Us ([u^]s).] [OE. i, ich, ic, AS. ic; akin to OS. & D. ik, OHG. ih, G. ich, Icel. ek, Dan. jeg, Sw. jag, Goth. ik, OSlav. az', Russ. ia, W. i, L. ego, Gr. 'egw`, 'egw`n, Skr. aham. [root]179. Cf. Egoism.] The nominative case of the pronoun of the first person; the word with which a speaker or writer denotes himself.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. A speaker or writer uses I to refer to himself or herself. I is a first person singular pronoun. I is used as the subject of a verb. Jim and I are getting married... She liked me, I think. PRON: PRON v

Moby Thesaurus

I myself, ace, alter, alter ego, alterum, anima, anima humana, atman, atom, ba, better self, breath, breath of life, buddhi, divine breath, ego, ethical self, he, heart, her, herself, him, himself, inner man, inner self, it, jiva, jivatma, khu, manes, me, mind, monad, my humble self, myself, nephesh, no other, none else, nothing else, nought beside, number one, one, one and only, oneself, other self, ourselves, pneuma, psyche, purusha, ruach, self, shade, shadow, she, soul, spirit, spiritual being, spiritus, subconscious self, subliminal self, superego, the self, them, themselves, they, unit, you, yours truly, yourself, yourselves