Etymograph

English

methinketh

Methinketh comes from Middle English me thinketh ‘I think’, 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. 450–1150iċ2as mē
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500me thinketh2‘I think’
  6. Englishtodaymethinketh2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

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

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 methinkethas mē
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500me thinkethWiktionary, English methinketh‘I think’
  6. EnglishtodaymethinkethWiktionary, English methinketh

A compound of me + thinketh

Proto-Indo-European *h₁me-

Proto-Germanic *miz

Proto-West Germanic *miʀ

Old English mē

Middle English me

English me

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂ ‘I’

ego, az, noose, egoism, egotism, egoist, 3 more

through Old English iċ

myself, ch, ich, mee, 1 more

Today it means

contraction methinks

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “methinketh”; 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 / methinketh

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