(stressed thē; unstressed before a consonant thə; unstressed before a vowel thi) definite article or adjective The is opposed to the indefinite article a or an, and is used, especially before nouns, to render the modified word more particular or individual. It is used specifically:
1. When reference is made to a particular person, thing, or group: The natives are getting restless; He left the room.
2. To give an adjective substantive force, or render a notion abstract: the quick and the dead; the doing of the deed.
3. Before a noun to make it generic: The dog is a friend of man.
4. With the force of a possessive pronoun: He kicked me in the (my) leg.
5. To give distributive force: equivalent to a, per, each, etc.: a dollar the volume.
6. Scot. & Irish To designate the head of a clan or group: the MacIntosh.
7. To designate a particular one as emphatically outstanding: usually stressed in speech and italicized in writing: He is the officer for the command.
8. As part of a title: The Duke of York. [OE the, later form of sē]

(thə) adverb
By that much; by so much; to this extent: the more, the merrier: used to modify words in the comparative degree. [OE th, oblique case of sē the]

Var. of THEO–.