Etymograph

English

so

So comes from Old English swā ‘so, as, such’, from Proto-West Germanic *swā ‘so, thus’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *swa ‘so’, whose earlier origin is uncertain.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swa1‘so’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swā1‘so’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150swā1‘so’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500so1
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591so1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English so
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “Speed. ‘Item: She doth talk in her sleep.’ Launce.…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swaWiktionary, English so‘so’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swāWiktionary, English so‘so’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150swāWiktionary, English so‘so’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500soWiktionary, English so
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591soWiktionary, English so. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “Speed. ‘Item: She doth talk in her sleep.’ Launce.…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *swa

such, 1 more

through Middle English so

soe

Another origin of so

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₁-‘to cut off, release’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*luh₁étireconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEluō‘to untie, set free, separate’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsolvōas solve‘wash away’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sol‘fifth degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales’
  6. Englishtodayso

Shortened from sol, to make it an open syllable for uniformity with the rest of the scale, from Glover's solmization, from Middle English sol (‘fifth degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales’), Italian sol in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin solve (‘wash away’) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.

Another origin of so

  1. Japanesemodern蘇so
  2. Englishtodayso

Today it means

conj As a result; for that reason; therefore; because of this; due to this.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “so”. 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-Germanic *swa / so

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