þeir

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word þeir. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word þeir, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say þeir in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word þeir you have here. The definition of the word þeir will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofþeir, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: their

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse þeir.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

þeir m

  1. (personal pronoun): nominative plural of the word hann meaning "he"; literally meaning "they"
    Hvernig vita þeir þetta?
    How do they know that?
    Strákar; þeir elska stelpur og stelpur elska þá.
    Boys; they love girls and girls love them.
  2. (demonstrative pronoun):, plural of sá

See also

  Icelandic personal pronouns
Icelandic personal pronouns
singular first person second person third person masculine third person feminine third person neuter
nominative ég, eg†, ek† þú hann hún, hon†, hón† það, þat†
accusative mig, mik† þig, þik† hann hana það, þat†
dative mér þér honum, hánum† henni því
genitive mín þín hans hennar þess
plural first person second person third person masculine third person feminine third person neuter
nominative við þið, þit† þeir þær þau
accusative okkur ykkur þá þær þau
dative okkur ykkur þeim þeim þeim
genitive okkar ykkar þeirra þeirra þeirra

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse þeirra.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈθɛi̯r(ə)/, /ˈðɛi̯r(ə)/

Determiner

þeir (nominative pronoun þei)

  1. Third-person plural genitive determiner: their

Pronoun

þeir (nominative pronoun þei)

  1. Third-person plural possessive pronoun: theirs, of them

Descendants

  • English: their
  • Scots: thair

See also

Middle English personal pronouns
nominative accusative dative genitive possessive
singular 1st-person I, ich, ik me min
mi1		 min
2nd-person þou þe þin
þi1		 þin
3rd-person m he him
hine2		 him his his
hisen
f sche, heo hire
heo 		hire hire
hires, hiren
n hit hit
him2		 his, hit —
dual3 1st-person wit unk unker
2nd-person ȝit inc inker
plural 1st-person we us, ous oure oure
oures, ouren
2nd-person4 ye yow your your
youres, youren
3rd-person inh. he hem
he2		 hem here here
heres, heren
bor. þei þem, þeim þeir þeir
þeires, þeiren

1Used preconsonantally or before h.
2Early or dialectal.
3Dual pronouns are only sporadically found in Early Middle English; after that, they are replaced by plural forms. There are no third-person dual forms in Middle English.
4Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

References

  1. ^ Brink, Daniel (1992) “Variation between <þ-> and <t-> in the Ormulum”, in Irmengard Rauch, Gerald F. Carr and Robert L. Kyes, editors, On Germanic Linguistics: Issues and Methods (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs; 68), De Gruyter Mouton, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 21-35.
  2. ^ Thurber, Beverly A. (2011 February 15) “Voicing of Initial Interdental Fricatives in Early Middle English Function Words”, in Journal of Germanic Linguistics, volume 23, number 1, Cambridge University Press, →DOI, pages 65-81.
  3. ^ “their(e,, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 4 June 2018.

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Norse *ᚦᚨᛁᛉ (*þaiʀ), from Proto-Germanic *þai (“they, those”), plural masculine of *sa (“that”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹 (þai).

Pronoun

þeir

  1. those (nominative plural masculine demonstrative pronoun)
  2. they (third-person nominative plural masculine personal pronoun)

Declension

Old Norse personal pronouns
number first person second person reflexive third person
case singular singular masculine singular feminine singular neuter
nominative ek þú hann hón, hǫ́n þat
accusative mik þik sik hann hana, hána þat
dative mér þér sér hánum, hónum, hǫ́num henni því
genitive mín þín sín hans hennar þess
case dual
nominative vit it, þit
accusative okkr ykkr sik
dative okkr ykkr sér
genitive okkar ykkar sín
case plural plural masculine plural feminine plural neuter
nominative vér ér, þér þeir þær þau
accusative oss yðr sik þá þær þau
dative oss yðr sér þeim þeim þeim
genitive vár yðar, yðvar sín þeira, þeirra þeira, þeirra þeira, þeirra


Old Norse demonstrative pronouns
singular masculine feminine neuter
nominative sá sú þat
accusative þann þá þat
dative þeim þeirri því, þí
genitive þess þeirrar þess
plural masculine feminine neuter
nominative þeir þær þau
accusative þá þær þau
dative þeim þeim þeim
genitive þeira, þeirra þeira, þeirra þeira, þeirra


Alternative forms

Nominative

Accusative

Dative

Genitive

Descendants

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia