Etymograph

English

hither

Hither comes from Old English hider ‘to here, hither’, from Proto-Germanic *hiz ‘this’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱís.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱís1‘this (here)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hiz2‘this’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hidrê3‘to this place, to here, hither’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hider3‘to here, hither’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1588–1593hither3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hiz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hidrê
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English hither
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus: “SATURNINUS: Go fetch them hither to us presently. TITUS:…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱísWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hiz‘this (here)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hizWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hidrê‘this’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hidrêWiktionary, English hither‘to this place, to here, hither’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hiderWiktionary, English hither‘to here, hither’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1588–1593hitherWiktionary, English hither. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus: “SATURNINUS: Go fetch them hither to us presently. TITUS:…”

Linked words

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

cis, 1 more

through Proto-Germanic *hiz ‘this’

he, his, him, her, here, hey, en, hence, 1 more

Today it means

adv To this place, to here.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hither”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *hiz, Proto-Germanic *hidrê. 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 / hither

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