the ninth letter in the alphabet of western Europe, called iota by the Greeks, from its Semitic name yod, in most European languages the sound that of the Latin long i, which we have in the words machine and marine. The normal sound of i in English is that heard in bit, dip, sit, which is the short Latin i.
I, ī, pron. the nominative case singular of the first personal pronoun: the word used by a speaker or writer in mentioning himself: the object of self-consciousness, the ego. [M. E. ich—A.S. ic; Ger. ich, Ice. ek, L. ego, Gr. egō, Sans. aham.]
I, ī, adv. same as Ay.—I', a form of in.
Iambus, ī-am′bus, n. a metrical foot of two syllables, the first short and the second long, as in L. fĭdēs; or the first unaccented and the second accented, as in deduce—also Iamb′.—adj. Iam′bic, consisting of iambics.—n. iambus.—adv. Iam′bically, in the manner of an iambic.—v.i. Iam′bise, to satirise in iambic verse.—n. Iambog′rapher, a writer of iambics. [L.,—Gr. iambos, from iaptein, to assail, this metre being first used by writers of satire.]
Ianthina, ī-an-thī′na, n. a genus of gregarious, pelagic gasteropods, having a snail-like shell, but delicate, translucent, and blue in colour. [Gr. ianthinos—ion, a violet, anthos, a flower.]
Iatric, -al, ī-at′rik, -al, adj. relating to medicine or physicians.—adj. Iatrochem′ical, pertaining to Iatrochem′istry, a system of applying chemistry to medicine introduced by Francis de la Boë of Leyden (1614-72).—n. Iatrol′ogy, a treatise on medicine.
Iberian, ī-bē′ri-an, adj. Spanish.—n. one of the primitive inhabitants of Spain, of whom some think the Basques a remnant. [L. Iberia, Spain.]
Ibex, ī′beks, n. a genus of goats, inhabiting the Alps and other mountainous regions. [L.]