we

views updated Jun 11 2018

we plural pronoun, especially as used in formal contexts by a sovereign or ruler of a country, or by a writer or editor (as supported by an editorial staff collectively), to refer to himself or herself.
We are not amused a comment attributed to Queen Victoria; recorded in Caroline Holland Notebooks of a Spinster Lady (1919), and popularly regarded as typifying the repression associated with the Victorian age.
we name the guilty men a cliché of investigative journalism; Guilty Men (1940) was the title of a tract by Michael Foot, Frank Owen, and Peter Howard, published under the pseudonym of ‘Cato’, which attacked the supporters of Munich and the appeasement policy of Neville Chamberlain.
we shall not be moved the title of a labour and civil rights song (1931), adapted from an earlier gospel hymn.
we shall overcome the title of a song, originating from before the American Civil War, adapted as a Baptist hymn (‘I'll Overcome Some Day’, 1901) by C. Albert Tindley; revived in 1946 as a protest song by black tobacco workers, and in 1963 during the black Civil Rights Campaign.

we

views updated May 21 2018

we / / • pron. [first person pl.] 1. used by a speaker to refer to himself or herself and one or more other people considered together: shall we have a drink? ∎  used to refer to the speaker together with other people regarded in the same category: nobody knows kids better than we teachers do. ∎  people in general: we should eat as varied and well-balanced a diet as possible.2. used in formal contexts for or by a royal person, or by a writer or editor, to refer to himself or herself: in this section we discuss the reasons.3. used condescendingly to refer to the person being addressed: how are we today?

we

views updated May 23 2018

we 1st pl. pers. pron. OE. , corr. to OS. , (Du. wij), (O)HG. wir, ON. vér, vǽr, Goth. weis. These forms repr. more than one Gmc. type; Goth. weis repr. Gmc. *wīz :- *weis, extension (with pl. -s) of *wei, repr. also by Skr. vayám; other forms may repr. *wīz. For the obl. cases see OUR, US.

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