The Definition | Definition of The at Dictionary.com

the

1 [stressed th

ee; unstressed before a consonant th

uh; unstressed before a vowel th

ee]

Use the in a Sentence

–definite article

1.	(used, esp. before a noun, with a specifying or particularizing effect, as opposed to the indefinite or generalizing force of the indefinite article a or an): the book you gave me; Come into the house.

2.	(used to mark a proper noun, natural phenomenon, ship, building, time, point of the compass, branch of endeavor, or field of study as something well-known or unique): the sun; the Alps; the Queen Elizabeth; the past; the West.

3.	(used with or as part of a title): the Duke of Wellington; the Reverend John Smith.

4.	(used to mark a noun as indicating the best-known, most approved, most important, most satisfying, etc.): the skiing center of the U.S.; If you're going to work hard, now is the time.

5.	(used to mark a noun as being used generically): The dog is a quadruped.

6.	(used in place of a possessive pronoun, to note a part of the body or a personal belonging): He won't be able to play football until the leg mends.

7.	(used before adjectives that are used substantively, to note an individual, a class or number of individuals, or an abstract idea): to visit the sick; from the sublime to the ridiculous.

8.	(used before a modifying adjective to specify or limit its modifying effect): He took the wrong road and drove miles out of his way.

9.	(used to indicate one particular decade of a lifetime or of a century): the sixties; the gay nineties.

10.	(one of many of a class or type, as of a manufactured item, as opposed to an individual one): Did you listen to the radio last night?

11.	enough: He saved until he had the money for a new car. She didn't have the courage to leave.

12.	(used distributively, to note any one separately) for, to, or in each; a or an: at one dollar the pound.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME, OE, uninflected s. of the demonstrative pronoun. See that

Pronunciation note:
As shown above, the pronunciation of the definite article the changes, primarily depending on whether the following sound is a consonant or a vowel. Before a consonant sound the pronunciation is [th

uh]

: the book, the mountain [th

uh-book, th

uh-moun-tn]. Before a vowel sound it is usually [th

ee], sometimes [th

i]: the apple, the end [th

ee or

i-ap-uh

l, th

ee or

i-end]. As an emphatic form (“I didn't say a book—I said the book.”) or a citation form (“The word the is a definite article.”), the usual pronunciation is [th

ee], although in both of these uses of the stressed form, [th

ee] is often replaced by [th

uh], especially among younger speakers.

the

2 [before a consonant th

uh; before a vowel th

ee]

–adverb

1.	(used to modify an adjective or adverb in the comparative degree and to signify “in or by that,” “on that account,” “in or by so much,” or “in some or any degree”): He's been on vacation and looks the better for it.

(used in correlative constructions to modify an adjective or adverb in the comparative degree, in one instance with relative force and in the other with demonstrative force, and signifying “by how much … by so much” or “in what degree … in that degree”): the more the merrier; The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE thē, thȳ, instrumental case of demonstrative pronoun. See that, lest

the-

var. of theo- before a vowel: thearchy.

theo-

a combining form meaning “god,” used in the formation of compound words: theocrat.

Also, especially before a vowel, the-.

Origin:
< Gk, comb. form of theós

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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the¹ (thē before a vowel; thə before a consonant)

def.art.

1. Used before singular or plural nouns and noun phrases that denote particular, specified persons or things: the baby; the dress I wore.
2. Used before a noun, and generally stressed, to emphasize one of a group or type as the most outstanding or prominent: considered Lake Shore Drive to be the neighborhood to live in these days.
3. Used to indicate uniqueness: the Prince of Wales; the moon.
4. Used before nouns that designate natural phenomena or points of the compass: the weather; a wind from the south.
5. Used as the equivalent of a possessive adjective before names of some parts of the body: grab him by the neck; an infection of the hand.
6. Used before a noun specifying a field of endeavor: the law; the film industry; the stage.
7. Used before a proper name, as of a monument or ship: the Alamo; the Titanic.
8. Used before the plural form of a numeral denoting a specific decade of a century or of a life span: rural life in the Thirties.
9. Used before an adjective extending it to signify a class and giving it the function of a noun: the rich; the dead; the homeless.
10. Used before an absolute adjective: the best we can offer.
Used before a singular noun indicating that the noun is generic: The wolf is an endangered species.
1. Used before an adjective extending it to signify a class and giving it the function of a noun: the rich; the dead; the homeless.
2. Used before an absolute adjective: the best we can offer.
Used before a present participle, signifying the action in the abstract: the weaving of rugs.
Used before a noun with the force of per: cherries at $1.50 the box.

[Middle English, from Old English the, alteration (influenced by , th-, oblique case stem of demonstrative pron.) of se, masculine demonstrative pron.; see so- in Indo-European roots.]

the² (thē before a vowel; thə before a consonant)

adv.

Because of that. Used before a comparative: thinks the worse of you after this mistake.
To that extent; by that much: the sooner the better.
Beyond any other: enjoyed reading the most.

[Middle English, from Old English thȳ, thē, instrumental of thæt, neuter demonstrative pron.; see to- in Indo-European roots.]

The

The\, v. i. See Thee. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Milton.

The

The\ ([th][=e], when emphatic or alone; [th][-e], obscure before a vowel; [th]e, obscure before a consonant; 37), definite article. [AS. [eth]e, a later form for earlier nom. sing. masc. s[=e], formed under the influence of the oblique cases. See That, pron.] A word placed before nouns to limit or individualize their meaning.

Note: The was originally a demonstrative pronoun, being a weakened form of that. When placed before adjectives and participles, it converts them into abstract nouns; as, the sublime and the beautiful. --Burke. The is used regularly before many proper names, as of rivers, oceans, ships, etc.; as, the Nile, the Atlantic, the Great Eastern, the West Indies, The Hague. The with an epithet or ordinal number often follows a proper name; as, Alexander the Great; Napoleon the Third. The may be employed to individualize a particular kind or species; as, the grasshopper shall be a burden. --Eccl. xii. 5.

The

The\, adv. [AS. [eth][=e], [eth][=y], instrumental case of s[=e], se['o], [eth][ae]t, the definite article. See 2d The.] By that; by how much; by so much; on that account; -- used before comparatives; as, the longer we continue in sin, the more difficult it is to reform. "Yet not the more cease I." --Milton.

So much the rather thou, Celestial Light, Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers Irradiate. --Milton.

Language Translation for : the

Spanish: el, la, los, lasel, la, los, lasel, la, los, las,

German: der, *die, *dasder, *die, *das,

Japanese: そのその

More Translations »

the

late O.E. þe, nom. masc. form of the demonstrative pronoun and adj. After c.950, it replaced earlier se (masc.), seo (fem.), þæt (neut.), and probably represents se altered by the þ- form which was used in all the masc. oblique cases (see below). O.E. se is from PIE base *so- "this, that" (cf. Skt. sa, Avestan ha, Gk. ho, he "the," Ir., Gael. so "this"). For the þ- forms, see that. The s- forms were entirely superseded in Eng. by c.1250, excepting dial. survival slightly longer in Kent. O.E. used 10 different words for "the" (see table, below), but did not distinguish "the" from "that." That survived for a time as a definite article before vowels (cf. that one or that other). Adv. use in the more the merrier, the sooner the better, etc. is a relic of O.E. þy, originally the instrumentive case of the neuter demonstrative þæt (see that).

	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Plural
Nom.	se	seo	þæt	þa
Acc.	þone	þa	þæt	þa
Gen.	þæs	þære	þæs	þara
Dat.	þæm	þære	þæm	þæm
Inst.	þy, þon	--	þy, þon	--

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