Etymograph

English

my

My comes from Old English mīn ‘my, mine’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *méynos.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méynos1‘my’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mīnaz1‘my’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mīn1‘my’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mīn1‘my’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mi1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1671my1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English my
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, John Milton, The First Book: “From what conſummate vertue I have choſe / This…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méynosWiktionary, English my‘my’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mīnazWiktionary, English my‘my’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mīnWiktionary, English my‘my’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mīnWiktionary, English my‘my’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500miWiktionary, English my
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1671myWiktionary, English my. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, John Milton, The First Book: “From what conſummate vertue I have choſe / This…”

Word family

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

through Old English mīn ‘my, mine’

through Middle English mi

1 more relative in the full family tree

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Today it means

det Belonging to me.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “my”. 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 *méynos / my