THORN

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THORN. The name of a runic LETTER and its manuscript and printed form þ, used in OLD ENGLISH and MIDDLE ENGLISH for voiced and voiceless th. In late medieval times, its form became similar to, and in some handwriting identical with, y, with the result that ye, yis, yat, etc., were used (well into modern times) as variants of the, this, that, etc.: the origin of ye for the in such phrases and names as Ye Olde Englishe Tea Shoppe (often facetiously pronounced ‘ye oldy Englishy tea shoppy’). See ETH, RUNE, T.

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