archaic English
Thee and thou
Archaic English refers to vocabulary, grammar, and phrasing from earlier stages of the language—typically pre-twentieth century—that sounds old-fashioned or literary today.
Words like thee, thou, hath, wherefore, and forsooth are archaic.
The style appears in religious texts, Shakespeare, and fantasy fiction aiming for a medieval flavor: Hear ye, hear ye!
- theeSecond-person object, antiquated
- thouArchaic second-person pronoun
- hathArchaic possessive verb
- dothArchaic third-person singular
- whereforeFor what purpose
prithee · pray tell · forsooth · verily · hither · thither · whence · hence · ere · betwixt · nay · yea · oft · methinks · anon · hearken · good morrow · beseech
- Dead LanguagesLatin, Sanskrit, ancient Greek, Hittite, Akkadian
- Dante editionsInferno, Paradiso, bilingual edition, annotated edition, critical edition
archaic Englishcasual speech
Unstudied everyday language
slang · modern slang · internet slang · street language · vernacular
archaic, archaism, archaically, archaize, archaeology, archeology, archaeological, archeological, archaeologist