Etymograph

English

one's

One's (possessive) comes from Middle English ones, equivalent to one + 's.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ones1‘one's’
  2. Englishtodayone's1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English one's

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500onesWiktionary, English one's‘one's’
  2. Englishtodayone'sWiktionary, English one's

Formed from one + -'s

Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘single’

Proto-Germanic *ainaz ‘one’

Proto-West Germanic *ain ‘one’

Old English ān ‘one’

Middle English oon

English one

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’

union, unique, universal, unite, null, uno, triune, 21 more

through Proto-Germanic *ainaz ‘one’

no, any, only, none, eleventh, 3 more

through Old English ān ‘one’

an, one, yan, 2 more

through Middle English on

on, 1 more

Today it means

det Belonging to one.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “one's”. 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 / Middle English ones / one's

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