prithee
Elizabethan polite request
Prithee is an archaic expression meaning "please" or "I pray thee," used when making a polite request: Prithee, tell me what troubles you.
The word appears almost exclusively in historical fiction, Shakespeare, and deliberately old-fashioned or theatrical speech.
Modern speakers encounter it mainly when reading older literature.
Archaic second-person pronoun
- thyOld possessive pronoun
- thineYours, archaically
- hastArchaic form of have
- dostArchaic second-person "do"
doth · forsooth · verily · anon · wherefore · whence · hither · thither
Plead urgently with someone
- imploreUrge with desperation
- supplicateBeg earnestly and humbly
- entreatPlead urgently with someone
- appealFormal review request
plea · adjure · importune · invoke · urge · request · petition · solicitation
Formal politeness in conduct
- politenessCourteous, respectful conduct
- mannersCustoms of polite conduct
- deferenceYielding to another's judgment
- etiquetteRules of polite conduct
graciousness · cordiality · gentility · propriety · gallantry · formality · decorum · respectful
Of late 1500s England
- bardPoet of epics
- GlobeFamous Elizabethan theatre
- sonnetFourteen-line metered poem
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
iambic · pentameter · folio · quarto · groundling · thespian · dramaturgy · blank verse
thou
Archaic second-person pronoun
dost · doth · forsooth · verily · anon · wherefore · whence · hither · thither · betwixt
beseech
Plead urgently with someone
- imploreUrge with desperation
- supplicateBeg earnestly and humbly
- entreatPlead urgently with someone
appeal · plea · adjure · importune · invoke · urge · request · petition · solicitation · exhortation
civility
Formal politeness in conduct
- politenessCourteous, respectful conduct
- mannersCustoms of polite conduct
- deferenceYielding to another's judgment
etiquette · graciousness · cordiality · gentility · propriety · gallantry · formality · decorum · respectful · courtly
Elizabethan
Of late 1500s England
soliloquy · iambic · pentameter · folio · quarto · groundling · thespian · dramaturgy · blank verse · couplet