Standard Lemma guide

y-

prefix · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • ĭ-
  • Australian, Canada, General-American, India, Received-Pronunciation, Scotland: /ɪ-/
  • New-Zealand: /ə-/

1

prefix

Meaning 1

Used with past participle conjugations to form past participles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, morpheme, obsolete

Examples

  • ybaptized, ybarred, yclad, yclept, yronne, yslain ― baptized, barred, clothed, cleped, run, slain

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Germanic *ga- Proto-West Germanic *ga- Old English ġe- Middle English y- English y- Inherited from Middle English y-, from Old English ġe- (perfective and associative prefix); see those entries for more. Cognate with German ge-, Yiddish גע־ (ge-).