I


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I 1

 (ī)
pron.
Used to refer to oneself as speaker or writer.
n. pl. I's
The self; the ego.

[Middle English, from Old English ic; see eg in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: Traditional grammar requires the nominative form of the pronoun following the verb be: It is I (not me), That must be they (not them), and so forth. Nearly everyone finds this rule difficult to follow. Even if everyone could follow it, in informal contexts the nominative pronoun often sounds pompous and even ridiculous, especially when the verb is contracted. Would anyone ever say It's we? But constructions like It is me have been condemned in the classroom and in writing handbooks for so long that there seems little likelihood that they will ever be entirely acceptable in formal writing. · The traditional rule creates additional problems when the pronoun following be also functions as the object of a verb or preposition in a relative clause, as in It is not (them/they) that we have in mind, where the plural pronoun serves as both the predicate of is and the object of have. Adherence to this rule is waning. In our 1988 survey, 67 percent of the Usage Panel preferred the nominative they in the previous example. This percentage fell to 45 just five years later. In our 2009 survey, just 37 percent found they to be acceptable in this sentence. Meanwhile, the percent that accepted objective them rose steadily from 33 in 1988 to 39 1993 to 55 in 2009. Writers who dislike the construction can easily avoid it by saying They are not the ones we have in mind, We have someone else in mind, and so on. · When pronouns joined by a conjunction occur as the object of a preposition such as between, according to, or like, many people use the nominative form where the traditional grammatical rule would require the objective; they say between you and I rather than between you and me, and so forth. Some language commentators see this construction as a hypercorrection, in which speakers who have been taught to say It is I instead of It is me assume that correctness also requires between you and I in place of between you and me. This explanation of the tendency cannot be the whole story, since the phrase between you and I occurs in Shakespeare, roughly three centuries before the prescriptive rule condemning this practice was written. But the between you and I construction is nonetheless widely regarded as a mark of ignorance and is best avoided in formal contexts. · There is also a widespread tendency to use the objective form when a pronoun is used as a subject together with a noun in apposition, as in Us engineers were left without technical support. In formal speech or writing the nominative we would be preferable here. But when the pronoun itself appears in apposition to a subject noun phrase, the use of the nominative form may sound pedantic in a sentence such as The remaining members of the admissions committee, namely we, will have to meet next week. Writers who are uncomfortable about using the objective us here should rewrite the sentence to avoid the difficulty. See Usage Notes at be, but, we.

I 2

1. The symbol for iodine.
2. Electricity The symbol for current.
3. also i The symbol for the Roman numeral 1.

I 3

abbr.
1. incomplete
2. Independent
3. inside
4. interstate
5. isospin

i 1

or I  (ī)
n. pl. i's or I's also is or Is
1. The ninth letter of the modern English alphabet.
2. Any of the speech sounds represented by the letter i.
3. The ninth in a series.
4. Something shaped like the letter I.

i 2

The symbol for imaginary unit.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

i

() or

I

n, pl i's, I's or Is
1. (Linguistics) the ninth letter and third vowel of the modern English alphabet
2. (Phonetics & Phonology) any of several speech sounds represented by this letter, in English as in bite or hit
3.
a. something shaped like an I
b. (in combination): an I-beam.
4. dot the i's and cross the t's to pay meticulous attention to detail

i

symbol for
(Mathematics) the imaginary number √–1. Also called: j

I

()
pron
(Grammar) (subjective) refers to the speaker or writer
[C12: reduced form of Old English ic; compare Old Saxon ik, Old High German ih, Sanskrit ahám]

I

symbol for
1. (Chemistry) chem iodine
2. (General Physics) physics current
3. (General Physics) physics isospin
4. (Logic) logic a particular affirmative categorial statement, such as some men are married, often symbolized as SiP. Compare A, E, O1
5. (Roman numeral)one. See Roman numerals
abbreviation for
Italy (international car registration)
[(for sense 4) from Latin (aff)i(rmo) I affirm]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

I, i

(aɪ)

n., pl. I's Is, i's is.
1. the ninth letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
2. any spoken sound represented by this letter.
3. something shaped like an I.
4. a written or printed representation of the letter I or
i.

I

(aɪ)

pron. nom. I, poss. my mine, obj. me; pron.
1. the nominative singular pronoun used by a speaker or writer in referring to himself or herself.
n.
2. (used to denote the narrator of a literary work written in the first person singular.)
3. the ego; the self.
[before 900; Middle English ik, ich, i; Old English ic, ih; c. Old High German ih, Old Norse ek, Latin ego, Greek egṓ, Skt ahám]
usage: See me.

I

interstate (used with a number to designate an interstate highway): I-95.

I


Symbol.
1. the ninth in order or in a series.
2. (sometimes l.c.) the Roman numeral for 1. Compare Roman numerals.
3. Chem. iodine.
4. Biochem. isoleucine.
5. Elect. current.

I

Physics Symbol. isotopic spin.

i

1. Math Symbol. the imaginary number (-1)^(1/2).
2. a unit vector on the x-axis of a coordinate system.

i-

var. of y-.

-i-

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.

1. Independent.
2. International.
3. Island.
4. Isle.

i.

1. imperator.
2. incisor.
3. interest.
4. intransitive.
5. island.
6. isle.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

i

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

I

The symbol for iodine.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

I

A speaker or writer uses I to refer to himself or herself. I is the subject of a verb. It is always written as a capital letter.

I will be leaving soon.
I like your dress.

You can also use I as part of the subject of a verb, along with another person or other people. You mention the other person first. Say 'My friend and I', not 'I and my friend'.

My mother and I stood beside the road and waited.
My brothers and I go to the same school.

Be Careful!
Don't use 'I' after is. Say 'It's me', not 'It's I'.

See me
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.I - a nonmetallic element belonging to the halogensI - a nonmetallic element belonging to the halogens; used especially in medicine and photography and in dyes; occurs naturally only in combination in small quantities (as in sea water or rocks)
chemical element, element - any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter
iodine-131 - heavy radioactive isotope of iodine with a half-life of 8 days; used in a sodium salt to diagnose thyroid disease and to treat goiter
iodine-125 - light radioactive isotope of iodine with a half-life of 60 days; used as a tracer in thyroid studies and as a treatment for hyperthyroidism
halogen - any of five related nonmetallic elements (fluorine or chlorine or bromine or iodine or astatine) that are all monovalent and readily form negative ions
brine, saltwater, seawater - water containing salts; "the water in the ocean is all saltwater"
2.I - the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this numberI - the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number; "he has the one but will need a two and three to go with it"; "they had lunch at one"
digit, figure - one of the elements that collectively form a system of numeration; "0 and 1 are digits"
monas, monad - a singular metaphysical entity from which material properties are said to derive
singleton - a single object (as distinguished from a pair)
3.i - the 9th letter of the Roman alphabet
Latin alphabet, Roman alphabet - the alphabet evolved by the ancient Romans which serves for writing most of the languages of western Europe
alphabetic character, letter of the alphabet, letter - the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech; "his grandmother taught him his letters"
Adj.1.I - used of a single unit or thingi - used of a single unit or thing; not two or more; "`ane' is Scottish"
cardinal - being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order; "cardinal numbers"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

I

i1 [aɪ] N (= letter) → I, i f
I for IsabelI de Isabel
to dot the i's and cross the t'sponer los puntos sobre las íes

I

2 [aɪ] PERS PRON (emphatic, to avoid ambiguity) → yo
I'm not one to exaggerateyo no soy de los que exageran
it is I whosoy yo quien ...
he was frightened but I wasn'tél estaba asustado pero yo no
if I were youyo que tú
Ann and IAnn y yo
he is taller than I ames más alto que yo
Don't translate the subject pronoun when not emphasizing or clarifying:
I've got an ideatengo una idea
I'll go and seevoy a ver
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

I

i [ˈaɪ] n (= letter) → I, i m
I for Isaac, I for India (US)I comme Irma

I

[ˈaɪ]
pronje; (before vowel)j'
I speak French → Je parle français.
I love cats → J'aime les chats.
(stressed)moi
Ann and I → Ann et moi
Well, I liked him anyway → Eh bien moi, je l'aimais bien.
abbr (=island, isle) → I
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

I

1, i
nI nt, → i nt ? dot

I

3
pers pronich; it is I (form)ich bin es
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

I

i [aɪ] n (letter) → I, i f or m inv
I for Isaac (Am) I for Item → I come Imola

I

[aɪ] pers pronio
I'll do it → lo faccio io
he and I were at school together → io e lui eravamo a scuola insieme
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

I

(ai) pronoun
(only as the subject of a verb) the word used by a speaker or writer in talking about himself or herself. I can't find my book; John and I have always been friends.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

I

أَنَا jeg ich εγώ yo minä je ja io 私は ik jeg ja eu я jag ฉัน ben tôi
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
Collins Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009