Etymograph

English

their

Their comes from Old Norse þeira ‘of them’, from Proto-Germanic *þaizǭ, genitive plural of *sa ‘that’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þaizǭ1‘genitive plural of *sa ‘that’’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Norsec. 200–800 CEþaizō1reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350þeira1‘of them’
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1594their1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English their
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Comedie of Errors: “There's not a man I meet but doth salute…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þaizǭWiktionary, English their‘genitive plural of *sa ‘that’’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Norsec. 200–800 CEþaizōWiktionary, English theirreconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350þeiraWiktionary, English their‘of them’
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1594theirWiktionary, English their. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Comedie of Errors: “There's not a man I meet but doth salute…”

The story

Replaced native Old English heora.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *þaizǭ

Today it means

det Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “their”. 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 *þaizǭ / their

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