English

by

By comes from Old English bī ‘by’, from Proto-West Germanic *bī ‘by, at’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bi ‘near’, whose further origin is disputed.

Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bi¹‘near’reconstructed
Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bī¹‘by’reconstructed
Old Englishc. 450–1150bī¹‘by’
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500by¹
Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598by¹

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

¹ Wiktionary, English by
Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “By yonder moon I swear you do me wrong”.

Lineage

Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bi1Wiktionary, English by‘near’reconstructed
Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bī1Wiktionary, English by‘by’reconstructed
Old Englishc. 450–1150bī1Wiktionary, English by‘by’
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500by1Wiktionary, English by
Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598by1Wiktionary, English by. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “By yonder moon I swear you do me wrong”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with by, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁éps

evening ← ǣfnung ← ǣfnian ← ǣfen ← *ābanþ

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi ‘on, at, near’

even ← ǣfen ← *ābanþ ← *ēbanþs
epic ← ἐπί ← *epí

through Old English bī ‘by; near; around’

14 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

prep Near or next to.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “by”. 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 / Proto-Germanic *bi / by