I
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: ī
ipa: /aɪ/
ipa: [aɪ]
ipa: [äj]
ipa: /aː/
ipa: [ɑj]
ipa: [ʌj]
ipa: [aj]
ipa: [ɑɪ]
ipa: [aː]
ipa: [ɑe̯]
ipa: /aɪ/
note: Local Dublin
ipa: /əɪ/
note: Local Dublin
ipa: /ɐɪ/
note: Working-class
ipa: /oɪ/
ipa: /ɛɪ/
ipa: [æj]
ipa: [äɪ]
ipa: [ɐɪ]
ipa: [əj]
rhymes: -aɪ
homophone: eye
homophone: aye
homophone: ay
Forms: form: I's
Etymology: From Middle English I (also ik, ich), from Old English ih (also ic), from Proto-West Germanic *ik, from Proto-Germanic *ik, *ek (“I”), from Proto-Indo-European *eǵh₂óm (“I”).
Cognate with Scots I, ik, A (“I”), Saterland Frisian iek (“I”), West Frisian ik (“I”), Dutch ik (“I”), Low German ik (“I”), German ich (“I”), Bavarian i (“I”), Yiddish איך (ikh, “I”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål jeg (“I”), Norwegian Nynorsk eg (“I”), Swedish jag (“I”), Icelandic ég, eg (“I”), Gothic 𐌹𐌺 (ik, “I”), and more remotely with Latin ego (“I”), Ancient Greek ἐγώ (egṓ, “I”), Russian я (ja, “I”), Lithuanian aš (“I”), Armenian ես (es, “I”), Northern Kurdish ez, Sanskrit अहम् (ahám, “I”), Hittite 𒌑𒊌 (ūk, “I”). See also English ich. Doublet of ego and Ich.
Capitalized since 13th century to mark it as a distinct word and prevent misreading and omission (due to cursive writing).
Senses: examples: text: They are called men, becauſe each of them poſſeſſeth the whole man, though not wholly. There are by their means two I’s in every believer, Rom. vii. 15. For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. There is not one part of the man that is in Chriſt, but grace has a part of it, and corruption has a part of it: as in the twilight there is light over all, and darkneſs over all too, the darkneſs being mixed in every part with the light. So my renewed part is I, a man having an underſtanding enlightened, a will renewed, affections ſpiritualized, uſing my body conform: but my unrenewed part is I too, having an underſtanding darkened, a will rebellious, affections corrupted, and uſing my body accordingly.
ref: a. 1733, Thomas Boston, edited by [Thomas Boston the younger], Sermons and Discourses on Several Important Subjects in Divinity. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] William Gray, […], published 1753, page 333:
text: In other words, he said: “I have two natures. I have a flesh nature, an outside nature, and that keeps sinning; and then I have another nature—an inside, a spiritual nature—and that does not like sinning; and with my heart-power, my conscience-power, my love-power, with the power of the divine element that is in me, I look and see what this body outside, which clothes me, is trying to do. And here are two I’s that are fighting. The inside I is arrayed against the outside I; and the outside has the advantage.”
ref: 1873, Henry Ward Beecher, “Paul”, in The Great Bible Renowns, page 45:
text: Am I a double personality? Are there two “I’s” in my anatomy—one a conscious “I,” giving attention to what I am doing, and another unconscious “I,” giving attention to something entirely different?
ref: 1916, S. A. Steel, “Down the James Long Ago—I”, in Christian Advocate, volume 77, page 1094, column 1:
text: B. (smiling): Have you come to examine me? You must say who you are. / D.: However much I may try, I do not seem to catch the ‘I’. It is not even clearly discernible. / B.: Who is it that says that the ‘I’ is not discernible? Are there two ‘I’s in you, that one is not discernible to the other?
ref: 1962, Arthur Osborne, editor, The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in His Own Words, London: Rider & Company, published 1975, page 122:
text: Who is it that says that ‘I’ is not perceptible? Is there an ignorant ‘I’ and an elusive ‘I’? Are there two ‘I’s in the same person? It is the mind that says that ‘I’ is not perceptible. Where is that mind from? Know the mind. You will find it a myth. / We all feel that there is only one I; not two, one ignorant of the other.
ref: 2011, Michael Gluckman, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive: A Guide to the Source of Your Wisdom and Joy, Light Up Your Life, →ISBN:
text: Sucking vomit, acting like its honey
Deprived of I
Falling while thrusting squares through circles
Serving one single new dimension
ref: 2012, “Demiurge”, in Mårten Hagström (lyrics), Koloss, performed by Meshuggah, track 9:
synonyms: me#Noun
qualifier: metaphysics
glosses: The ego.
Derived terms: I-hood
I-ness
I-ship