English
among
Among comes from Middle English among, and goes back to Old English onġemang.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150onġemang1
- Old Englishc. 450–1150amang1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500among1
- Englishearliest quotation 1535among1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English among
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1535, Myles Coverdale: “And Adam hyd him ſelf with his wyfe [Eve],…”.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150onġemangWiktionary, English among
- Old Englishc. 450–1150amangWiktionary, English among
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500amongWiktionary, English among
- Englishearliest quotation 1535amongWiktionary, English among. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1535, Myles Coverdale: “And Adam hyd him ſelf with his wyfe [Eve],…”
The story
The preposition is derived from Middle English among, amang, amange, amonge (‘in the presence of, amid, among; in, within; between; during’), from Old English amang, onġemang (preposition), from on (‘on, among, in’) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- (‘on, onto’)) + ġemang (“crowd; mixture”, noun) (from ġe- (prefix forming nouns denoting association or similarity) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (‘beside, by; near; with’)) + mang- (from mængan, mengan (‘to mingle, mix’); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *menk- (‘to knead; to press’))).
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with among, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ‘Deictic particle, here’
- here ← her ← hēr ← *hēr ← *hē₂r
- consideration ← consideracioun ← consideracion ← cōnsīderātiō ← cōnsīderō
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’
- conference ← cōnferentia ← cōnferēns ← *kom- ← *kom
- gain ← gayn ← gagn ← *gagną ← *gagana
- consider ← consideren ← considerer ← considero ← *kom-
- competition ← competītiō ← competō ← *kom- ← *kom
- counter ← contre ← contra ← *komterād ← *komteros
- consistent ← cōnsistēntem ← cōnsistō ← *kom- ← *kom
- concrete ← concrētus ← *kom- ← *kom
- comply ← complire ← complēre ← compleō
- cum ← com ← *kom
- con ← contrā ← *komterād ← *komteros ← *kom-
59 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
prep Of a person or thing: in the midst of and surrounded by (other people or things).
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “among”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Old English onġemang / among