Etymograph

English

here

Here comes from Old English hēr ‘at this place’, from Proto-Germanic *hē₂r ‘here’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ‘here’ (via *ḱís ‘this’).

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱe1‘here (deictic particle)’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱís1‘this’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hiz1‘this’uncertain
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hē₂r1‘here, in this place’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hēr1‘here’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150hēr1‘at this place’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500her1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1796here1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English here
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1796, George Washington: “Here, perhaps I ought to stop.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱeWiktionary, English here‘here (deictic particle)’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱísWiktionary, English here‘this’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hizWiktionary, English here‘this’uncertain
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hē₂rWiktionary, English here‘here, in this place’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hērWiktionary, English here‘here’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150hērWiktionary, English here‘at this place’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500herWiktionary, English here
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1796hereWiktionary, English here. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1796, George Washington: “Here, perhaps I ought to stop.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ‘Deictic particle, here’

among, competition, consider, conference, concrete, cum, commodity, compulsory, compel, connotation, condiment, condescend, limbed, 15 more

through Proto-Germanic *hiz ‘this’

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

through Middle English her

hair, 1 more

Today it means

adv In, on, or at this place (a place perceived to be close to the speaker); compare there.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “here”. 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 *ḱe / here

Shirt and support for this word