Etymograph

English

thereabout

Thereabout comes from Old English þǣr ‘there’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *só ‘this’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*só1‘this’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150þǣr1‘there’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150þǣrābūtan1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ther-aboute1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611thereabout1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English thereabout
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And they entred in, and found not the body…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sóWiktionary, English thereabout‘this’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150þǣrWiktionary, English thereabout‘there’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150þǣrābūtanWiktionary, English thereabout
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ther-abouteWiktionary, English thereabout
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611thereaboutWiktionary, English thereabout. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And they entred in, and found not the body…”

The story

The English word is analysable as there + about. The word is attested earlier than thereabouts.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *só ‘this’

these, then, soon, contamination, sic, tandem, contaminate, contaminant, tanto, 6 more

Today it means

adv About or near that place.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “thereabout”. 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 *só / thereabout

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