Etymograph

English

me

Me comes from Middle English me, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁me-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁me-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*miz1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*miʀ1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mē1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500me1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611me1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English me
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Shew me a token foꝛ good, that they which…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁me-Wiktionary, English mereconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mizWiktionary, English mereconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*miʀWiktionary, English mereconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mēWiktionary, English me
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500meWiktionary, English me
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611meWiktionary, English me. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Shew me a token foꝛ good, that they which…”

Word family

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

through Old English mē

Explore everything descended from *h₁me- →

Another origin of me

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmīra
  2. Italianc. 1300–presentmi
  3. Englishtodayme

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Today it means

pron As the object (direct or indirect) of a verb.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “me”. 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 *h₁me- / me