Etymograph

English

yet

Yet comes from Old English ġīet ‘still’, from Proto-West Germanic *jūta, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *juta ‘yet’, a compound of *ju ‘already’ and *ta ‘to’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*juta1‘yet’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*jūta1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġīet1‘still’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yet1‘still, even now’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1602yet1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English yet
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1602, William Warner, The Seventh Booke. Chapter XXXVI.: “Nor Court nor Citie had ſhe ſeene, yeat eithers…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*jutaWiktionary, English yet‘yet’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*jūtaWiktionary, English yetreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġīetWiktionary, English yet‘still’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yetWiktionary, English yet‘still, even now’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1602yetWiktionary, English yet. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1602, William Warner, The Seventh Booke. Chapter XXXVI.: “Nor Court nor Citie had ſhe ſeene, yeat eithers…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu ‘long time’

  • age ← eage ← *aetāticum ← aetātem ← *aiwotāts
  • junior ← iuvenior ← iuvenis ← *juwō ← *h₂yéwHō
  • juvenile ← iuvenīlis ← iuvenis ← *juwō ← *h₂yéwHō
  • longevity ← longaevitās ← longaevus ← aevum ← *aiwom
  • juvenal ← iuvenālis ← iuvenis ← *juwō ← *h₂yéwHō

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’

  • just ← juste ← juste ← iūstus ← iovestos
  • judge ← jugen ← juger ← jugier ← iūdicō
  • jury ← jure ← juree ← iūrāta ← iūrō
  • judgment ← juggement ← jugement ← iūdicāmentum ← iūdicō
  • judicial ← iūdiciālis ← iūdicium ← iūdicō ← iūdex
  • judiciary ← iudiciarius ← iūdicium ← iūdicō ← iūdex
  • prejudice ← praeiūdicium ← iūdicium ← iūdicō ← iūdex

43 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of yet

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewd-‘to pour’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*geutaną‘to flow, pour’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*geutan‘to pour’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġēotan‘to flow, pour’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yeten‘to pour out from a container’
  6. Englishtodayyet

Another origin of yet

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰed-‘to find’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*getaną‘to find or make a way’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*getanreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġietan‘to get’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yeten
  6. Englishtodayyet

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Today it means

adv In negative or interrogative use, often with an expectation or potential of something happening in the future.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “yet”. 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 *juta / yet