Etymograph

English

ch

Ch comes from Old English iċ ‘I’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂ ‘I’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*éǵh₂1as *eǵh₂óm‘I’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ik1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ik1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150iċ2‘I’
  5. Englishtodaych2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English ic
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ch

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*éǵh₂Wiktionary, Old English icas *eǵh₂óm‘I’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ikWiktionary, Old English icreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ikWiktionary, Old English icreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150iċWiktionary, English ch‘I’
  5. EnglishtodaychWiktionary, English ch

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂ ‘I’

ego, az, noose, egoism, egotism, egoist, 4 more

through Old English iċ ‘I’

myself, mee, ich, 2 more

Today it means

pron —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ch”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English ic. 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-Indo-European *éǵh₂ / ch

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