from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
The \The\ ([th][=e], when emphatic or alone; [th][-e], obscure
before a vowel; [th]e, obscure before a consonant; 37),
definite article. [AS. [eth][=e], a later form for earlier
nom. sing. masc. s[=e], formed under the influence of the
oblique cases. See {That}, pron.]
A word placed before nouns to limit or individualize their
meaning.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The was originally a demonstrative pronoun, being a
weakened form of that. When placed before adjectives
and participles, it converts them into abstract nouns;
as, the sublime and the beautiful. --Burke. The is used
regularly before many proper names, as of rivers,
oceans, ships, etc.; as, the Nile, the Atlantic, the
Great Eastern, the West Indies, The Hague. The with an
epithet or ordinal number often follows a proper name;
as, Alexander the Great; Napoleon the Third. The may be
employed to individualize a particular kind or species;
as, the grasshopper shall be a burden. --Eccl. xii. 5.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
The \The\, adv. [AS. [eth][=e], [eth][=y], instrumental case of
s[=e], se['o], [eth][ae]t, the definite article. See 2d
{The}.]
By that; by how much; by so much; on that account; -- used
before comparatives; as, the longer we continue in sin, the
more difficult it is to reform. "Yet not the more cease I."
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
So much the rather thou, Celestial Light,
Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
Irradiate. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]