I

¹

or i

[ ahy ]

noun

, plural I's or Is, i's or is.

1. the ninth letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
2. any spoken sound represented by the letter I or i, as in big, nice, or ski.
3. something having the shape of an I.
4. a written or printed representation of the letter I or i.
5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter I or i.

I

²

[ ahy ]

pronoun

possessive: our or oursobjective: meobjective: usplural nominative: wenominative: Ipossessive: my or mine

1. the nominative singular pronoun, used in referring to oneself, the person speaking, writing, or otherwise communicating.

noun

, plural I's.

1. (used to denote the narrator of a literary work written in the first person singular.)
2. Metaphysics. the ego.

I

³

abbreviation for

1. interstate (used with a number to designate an interstate highway):

   I-95.

I

⁴

Symbol.

1. the ninth in order or in a series.
2. (sometimes lowercase) the Roman numeral for 1. Compare Roman numerals.
3. Chemistry. iodine ( def ).
4. Biochemistry. isoleucine ( def ).
5. Electricity. current ( def 13 ).
6. Logic. particular affirmative.
7. (italics) Physics. isotopic spin ( def ).

i

⁵

Mathematics.

1. Also called imaginary unit. the imaginary number .
2. a unit vector on the x -axis of a coordinate system.

i-

⁶

1. variant of y-.

i.

⁷

abbreviation for

1. imperator.
2. incisor.
3. interest.
4. intransitive.
5. island.
6. isle; isles.

-i-

⁸

1. the typical ending of the first element of compounds of Latin words, as -o- is of Greek words, but often used in English with a first element of any origin, if the second element is of Latin origin:

   cuneiform; Frenchify.

I.

⁹

abbreviation for

1. Independent.
2. Island; Islands.
3. Isle; Isles.

I

¹

/ aɪ /

pronoun

1. subjective refers to the speaker or writer

I.

²

abbreviation for

1. International
2. Island or Isle

-i-

³

connective vowel

1. used between elements in a compound word Compare -o-

   coniferous

   cuneiform

i

⁴

/ aɪ /

noun

1. the ninth letter and third vowel of the modern English alphabet
2. any of several speech sounds represented by this letter, in English as in bite or hit
3. 1. something shaped like an I
   2. ( in combination )

      an I-beam

4. dot the i's and cross the t's
   to pay meticulous attention to detail

-i

⁵

suffix forming adjectives

1. of or relating to a region or people, esp of the Middle East

   Iraqi

   Bangladeshi

i

⁶

symbol for

1. the imaginary number √–1 Also calledj

I

⁷

symbol for

1. chem iodine
2. physics current
3. physics isospin
4. logic a particular affirmative categorial statement, such as some men are married, often symbolized as SiP Compare A E O 1
5. Roman numeral one See Roman numerals

abbreviation for

1. Italy (international car registration)

i

/ ī /

1. The number whose square is equal to −1. Numbers expressed in terms of i are called imaginary or complex numbers.

Grammar Note

See me.

Word History and Origins

Origin of I¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English ik, ich, i, Old English ic, ih; cognate with Gothic ik, German ich, Old Norse ek, Latin ego, Greek egṓ, Old Church Slavonic azŭ, Lithuanian aš, Sanskrit ahám

Word History and Origins

Origin of I¹

C12: reduced form of Old English ic; compare Old Saxon ik, Old High German ih, Sanskrit ahám

Origin of I²

from Latin, stem vowel of nouns and adjectives in combination

Origin of I³

from an adjectival suffix in Semitic and in Indo-Iranian languages

Origin of I⁴

(for sense 4) from Latin ( aff ) i ( rmo ) I affirm

Idioms and Phrases

see dot the i's and cross the t's .

Example Sentences

“I cannot say that this discovery is directly connected to the discovery of the new medication,” Han says.

From Los Angeles Times

“But I can say it’s a stepping stone. We now know the pathway. That’s exciting. That is the first step.”

From Los Angeles Times

Nearly two decades ago, in Bakersfield‘s Central Valley, Garcia, then 20, spotted a photo of Vasquez in a friend’s work locker and was instantly smitten. It took him a month to finally spot Vasquez’s contact information on a friend’s phone at a party. “I have a really bad memory, but that day, I remember it,” Garcia says.

From Los Angeles Times

“I told him, ‘I can’t go inside,’” Vasquez says.

From Los Angeles Times

“So he took me back to my place. I went beneath the table and made myself feel better.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• he
• it
• she
• sie
• they
• ve
• xe
• you
• ze
• zie