^S^i '' !iii^9BS%Sl!^-^-.? ! i?it"'< \;'\ i! fl '''wi v V.^,ii*''il!SS'fmm' l ''i'i'fe?5S 
1. The ninth letter and 
third vowel in the English 
alphabet. The character comes, 
like most of its predecessors (see 
A, etc.), through the Latin and 
Greek from the Fhenician, and ul- 
timately perhaps from the Egyp- 
tian. The correspondences are as 
follows : 
Egyptian. Pheni- 
Hicroglyphic. Hieratic. cian. 
Early 
Greek and Latin. 
The Phenician character represented rather a consonant 
a y,. than a vowel, but it was converted to vowel value 
by the Greeks, and has continued to bear that value since 
(though in Latin used as consonant also). Our "short i" 
of it, etc., is not far from the original sound; yet nearer is 
the sound which we perversely call "long e" (of mete, 
meet, meat, etc.X or the t of machine, pique., etc. Because 
the words which anciently showed this latter sound have 
in great measure changed it to a diphthongal utterance 
(nearly a + i, or the ai of ai*le\ we have come to call the 
altered sound " long i. " The true t-sounds (in pick, pique) 
are close vowels, made with as near an approximation of 
the organs as is possible without giving rise to a fricative 
utterance. The approximation is made by the upper flat 
surface of the tongue to the palate, at or near the point 
where a complete closure makes a it-sound. Hence the 
t-sound has palatal affinities, and it (as also in less de- 
gree the e) is widely active in palatalizing a consonant : 
for example, in converting in modern English a t to eft, a 
d to j, an s to eh, a z to zh ; having in older English, and in 
other languages, a like influence on a k or g. Hence, also, 
it is a vowel close to a consonant, and very nearly identical 
with the consonantal y, into which it passes freely. (See 
Y.) 1 has also gained in many words before r the same 
sound that e and u have in the same situation : for exam- 
ple, fir, first. It enters into various digraphs, as ai, ei, ie, 
01, ui. 
2. As a symbol: (a) The number one in the 
Roman notation. It is repeated for subsequent num- 
bers up to three (formerly to four) (II, III, IIII). These 
numerals placed after symbols of higher numbers increase 
their value : as, VI, six ; VII, seven, etc. ; XII, twelve ; 
LIII, fifty-three; formerly CIIII one hundred and four. 
Instead of the old IIII and VIIII for four and nine, an I 
is now prefixed to V or X to decrease the value by one : 
thus, IV, four; IX, nine. 
Thider come the kynge Vrien of gorre, that was a yonge 
knyght, and moche preised in armes, and with hyrn iiij 
C (four hundred] knyghtes. Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), L 108. 
(6) In logic, a symbol of the particular affir- 
mative proposition: derived from the second 
vowel of the Latin word affirmo, I assert. See 
Al, 2 (6). 
A doeth afttrme, E doeth denigh, which are bothe uni- 
versall : 
/ doeth afllrme, doeth denigh, which we particular call. 
Sir T. M'ttson, Rule of Beason (1551). 
(c) In chem., the symbol for iodine. 3. An ab- 
breviation (a) In dental formulae, in zool., for 
incisor, (fcf) Same as i. e. (c) See i. e., i. q. 
I 2 (i), pron. and n. ; poss. my or mine, obj. (dat. 
and ace.) me, pi. uom. we, poss. our or ours, obj. 
(dat. and ace.) us. [Also dial. 7 (pron. e), a, 
ich; < ME. i, reduced form of (Northern) ik, as- 
sibilated (Southern) ich, uch, < AS. ic = OS. ic, 
ik, ec = OFries. ik = D. ik = MLG. LG. ik, ek 
= OHG. ih, MHG. G. ich = Icel. efc = Sw.jag = 
D&n.jeg = Goth, ik = W. i = L. ego (> It. io = 
Pg. eu = Sp. yo = Pr. eu, ieu = OF. eo, jeo, jo, 
mod. F. je = E. ego as a philosophical term: 
see ego) =Gr. h/&, iybv = Lith. asz = Lett, es = 
OBulg. azu,jazii = Russ. Pol. Bohem. ja = Skt. 
aham, prob. standing for *agam, I, conjectured 
to be compounded of a pronominal base a, 
with an enclitic particle "-gam, *-ga, Skt. -ha, 
Vedio -gha = Gr. -ye = Goth, -k in mi-k = AS. 
me-c, E. me, Goth, thu-k = AS. thc-c, E. thee, 
Goth, si-k, oneself. The first personal pronoun 
was declined in AS. as follows : sing. nom. ic, 
gen. min, dat. and instr. me, ace. me, older mec; 
pi. we, gen. user, ure, dat. and instr. us, ace. us, 
older usic; dual nom. wit (we two), gen. uncer, 
dat. and instr. unc, older uncit; with similar 
forms in the other Teut. tongues. There are in 
AS. and E. four apparent stems, represented by 
7, me, we, and us : see me, we, our, us.] I. pron. 
The nominative case of the pronoun of the first 
person ; the word by which a speaker or writer 
denotes himself. 
Mow i geten a grece that i gaynli knowe. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 630. 
But ik am oold: me list not pley for age. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Reeve's Tale, 1. 13. 
So pray 1 to my lordes all. 
Now in min age, how so befalle, 
Thot / mot stonden in their grace. 
Goiver, Conf. Amant., viii. 
But here's the joy ; my friend and I are one. 
Shak., Sonnets, xlii. 
But as he grows he gathers much, 
And learns the use of /, and me, 
And finds "/ am not what / see, 
And other than the things / touch." 
Tennyson, In llemoriam, xlv. 
[The pronoun may take (rarely) a qualifying adjective. 
Poor 7 was slain when Bassianus died. 
Shak., Tit. And., ii. 3.] 
I AM, a title of Jehovah (Ex. iii. 14). The Hebrew word 
here rendered / AM is equivalent in meaning to Jehomh, 
and differs from it very slightly in form. In the margin 
of the revised version it is rendered "I will be," and some 
make it " I shall be." The word expresses absolute, and 
therefore unchanging and eternal, being. 
II. n. 1. The pronoun / used as a substan- 
tive. 2. In metaph., the object of self-con- 
sciousness ; that which is conscious of itself as 
thinking, feeling, and willing; the ego. 
It is I that perceive, I that imagine, I that remember, 
I that attend, I that compare, I that feel, I that desire, I 
that will, I that am conscious. The /, indeed, is only 
manifested in one or other of these special modes ; but it 
is manifested in them all ; they are only the phenomena 
of the /, and, therefore, the science conversant about the 
phenomena of mind is, most simply and unambiguously, 
said to be conversant about the phenomena of the / or the 
Ego. Sir W. Hamilton, Metaph. , ix. 
I 3 t (I), interj. An obsolete form of aye s . 
Bayes. They do me the right, Sir, to approve of what I 
do. 
Johns. I, I, they will clap, I warrant you. 
Buckingham,, The Rehearsal, i. 
i*t, n. An occasional obsolete spelling of eye. 
Skelton. 
i5, i'. [< ME. i = Icel. *, reduced form of in: 
see in 1 , and cf. a 3 , reduced form of an, on, and 
a 2 , reduced form of an 1 .] A light form of in 1 : 
as, "a worm i' the bud," Shak. 
1-1. [ME. i-, y-, sometimes e-, a-, early ge-, < 
AS. ge- = OS. gi- = OFries. gi-, ge-, ie- = D. 
ge- = MLG. LG. ge- = OHG. go-, gi-, ge- (ka-, 
ke-), MHG. gi-, ge-, G. ge- (extremely com- 
mon) = Icel. g- (scarcely found except in glikr, 
mod. likr = AS. gelic, E. like 2 , a.) = Goth, ga-: 
a general Teut. prefix, in some uses equiv. 
to L. con- (com-, co-, etc.) = Gr. fw-, aw-, to- 
gether, with (see con-, syn-), but hardly of the 
same origin.] A prefix (often spelled y-, and 
sometimes e- and a-) common in Middle English, 
as in i-blent, i-cast, i-don, i-take, i-cleped, i-wis, 
etc. (also spelled y-blent, y-cast, y-don, etc.), 
but entirely lost in modern English, except as 
traces remain in y-wis, adv. (sometimes erro- 
neously written I wis), and in y-clept and a few 
other archaic perfect-participle forms affected 
by Spenser and other poets, and in alike, 
along?, among, enough, everywhere, handiwork, 
and a few other common words in which the 
syllable concerned is not now recognized as a 
prefix. This prefix was extremely common in Anglo- 
Saxon, being used with nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and 
adverbs (having with these a collective or generalizing 
force, often so indefinite as not to be felt), but especially 
with verbs(having with these a collective force often trans- 
latable by together or with, or a completive or transitive 
force, and hence much used in the formation of transitive 
from intransitive verbs) ; in many instances it added no- 
thing to the force of the verb to which it was prefixed. In 
Anglo-Saxon many verbs, as in German all verbs, without 
this or another prefix in the finite forms, take it in the 
past participle. 
i- 2 . A form of the negative prefix -8 before 
g>i- in some words of Latin origin, as in ignoble, 
ignore, ignorant, etc. 
-i- 1 . [See i- 1 .] An apparent connective, but 
properly a prefix, in hand-i-work and hand-i- 
craft (altered from hand-craft in imitation of 
handiwork), and (now spelled -y-) in ever-y- 
where. See these words, and compare i- 1 . 
-i- 2 . [L. -i-, being the stem-vowel, original, con- 
formed, or supplied as a connective, of the first 
element in the compound; = Gr. -o-, rarely -t-\ 
see -o-.] The usual 'connecting vowel,' prop- 
erly the stem-vowel of the first element, of com- 
pound words taken or formed from the Latin, 
as in mult-i-form, cent-i-ped, ens-i-form, omn-i- 
potent, aur-i-feroiis, bell-i-gerent, etc. In forming 
New Latin compounds, the vowel is regularly -t-, as scut-i- 
fera [< L. Kcutum (xcuto-) + -Sera], even when the second 
element is Greek, as scut-i-phora [< L. scutum (iscuto~), 4- 
Gr. .,v>f)<] ; but in the latter case the vowel -o-, proper to 
Greek compounds, is often used, as scut-o-pterus [<( L. scu- 
tum (scuto-) + Gr. ir-repci-). Even when both elements are 
Latin, the connective -o- is sometimes used ; but it is prop- 
erly confined to Greek and other non-Latin compounds. 
See -o-. 
-ia 1 . [L. -ia, Gr. -la, being -i-, stem- vowel, + 
-a 1 , uom. suffix of first declension : see -a 1 .] A 
termination in Latin and Greek nouns (chiefly 
feminine), many of them in English use, being 
-a* preceded by -i-, a stem-vowel, formative or 
euphonic, as in tib-ia, fasc-ia, milit-ia, man-ia, 
scoria, etc. When such forms are Anglicized, 
the termination becomes -y, as in family, from 
Latin familia. 
-ia 2 . [L. -ia, Gr. -ia, being -i-, stem-vowel, + -a 2 , 
nom. pi. suffix: see -a'-T] A termination in 
Latin and Greek nouns, many of them in Eng- 
lish use, being - 2 preceded by -i-, a stem-vow- 
el, formative or euphonic, as in regal-ia, satur- 
nal-ia, etc. 
-iac, -iacal. See -ac. 
lache (i'a-ke), n. [NL., < Gr. 'la*)?, a nymph, 
companion of Proserpine ; cf . iaxti, a cry, shout, 
a joyous sound, < Id^ctv, cry, shout.] A genus 
of humming-birds of the family TrochiUdce, of 
which the type is the broad-billed hummer, I. 
latirostris, a Mexican species, occurring also in 
the United States. Z>. G. Elliot, 1879. Also 
called Circe. 
iacintt, See jacinth. 
-ial. A form of -al, being -al preceded by an 
original or euphonic vowel i-. See -al. 
laltris (i-al'tris), n. [NL., < Gr. id/Urn" (verbal 
adj. MzXrof), send forth.] A genus of colubri- 
form ophidians, related to Dromicus, but hav- 
ing no solid teeth on the maxillary bone behind 
the long median one. The type is 7. vultuosa 
of Hayti. E. D. Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., 
Phila., 1862, p. 73. 
iamb (i'amb), n. [= F. iambe = Sp. yambo = Pg. 
It.jambo, < L. iambus: see iambus.] Same as 
iambus. [Rare.] 
The license is sometimes carried so far as to add three 
short syllables to the last iamb. Brande. 
iambelegus (I-am-bel'e-gus), n. [LL., < Gr. 
iauftefayoe, < m^/3of, iambus, + efa-yof, an elegiac 
poem: see iambus and elegy."] In anc.pros., an 
episynthetic meter consisting of an iambic colon 
followed by a dactylic penthemimeres (half an 
elegiac pentameter). 
iambic (!-am'bik), a. and n. [= F. iambique = 
Sp. ydmbico = Pg. It. jambico, < LL. iambicus, 
< Gr. iaufliKoc, iambic, < layfiof, an iambus: see 
iambus.'] I. a. 1. Pertaining to the iambus; 
employing iambics : as, iambic meter; an iam- 
bic poet. 2. Consisting of an iambus, or of 
iambics: as, an iambic foot; an iambic verse or 
poem Iambic Class (of leet). Same as diplasic or dou- 
ble class. See diplasic. 
II. n. In pros.: (a) Same as iambus, (b) Averse 
or metrical period consisting of iambi. Iambics 
have been a favorite or prevalent form of verse in the 
poetry of many nations. They were used among the 
Greeks from early times in popular poetry, especially of a 
festive or a vituperative character. English heroic verse 
is the iambic pentapody or trimeter brachycatalectic (~ - 
w I ^ w I w ). Iambics of various lengths form the 
great bulk of all English poetry, other meters being com- 
paratively rare. Seecholiamb,llipponactean,ischiorrhogic, 
ttcazon, trimeter, genarius, geptenaritw, octonariue. 
iambical (i-am'bi-kal), a. [< iambic + -al.'] 
Same as iambic, [Rare.] 
