■ determiner
1》 denoting one or more people or things already mentioned or assumed to be common knowledge; ~ definite article.
↘used to refer to a person, place, or thing that is unique.
↘(with a unit of time) ~ present.
↘ informal used instead of a possessive.
↘used with a surname in its plural form to refer to a family or married couple.
2》 used to point forward to a following qualifying or defining clause or phrase.
↘(chiefly with rulers and family members with ~ same name) used after a name to qualify it.
3》 used to make a generalized reference ra~r than identifying a particular instance.
4》 enough of.
5》 (pronounced stressing ‘~’) used to indicate that someone or something is ~ best known or most important of that name or type.
6》 used adverbially with comparatives to indicate how one amount or degree of something varies in relation to ano~r.
↘(usu. all ~ —— ) used to emphasize ~ amount or degree to which something is affected.
Origin
OE se , sēo , thæt , ult. superseded by forms from Northumbrian and North Mercian thē , of Gmc origin.