English

her

Her comes from Old English hire ‘her’, from Proto-Germanic *hezōi, a dative form of *hiz ‘this’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱís ‘this’.

Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱís¹‘this’reconstructed
Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hiz²as *hezōi‘this’reconstructed
Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hezōi²‘dative singular feminine of *hiz’reconstructed
Old Englishc. 450–1150hire²‘her’
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500here²
Englishearliest quotation 1897her²

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

¹ Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hiz
² Wiktionary, English her
Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Hamilton Kingsford: “I means to goo to th' mop, 'er sez,…”.

Lineage

Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱís1Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hiz‘this’reconstructed
Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hiz2Wiktionary, English heras *hezōi‘this’reconstructed
Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hezōi2Wiktionary, English her‘dative singular feminine of *hiz’reconstructed
Old Englishc. 450–1150hire2Wiktionary, English her‘her’
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500here2Wiktionary, English her
Englishearliest quotation 1897her2Wiktionary, English her. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Hamilton Kingsford: “I means to goo to th' mop, 'er sez,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱís ‘this (here)’

cis

through Proto-Germanic *hiz ‘this’

his, him, he, here, hey, en, hence, hitherto, hither

Today it means

det Belonging to her (belonging to that female person or animal, or in poetic or old-fashioned language that ship, city, season, etc).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “her”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *hiz. 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 *ḱís / her

Shirt and support for this word

herher