Etymograph

English

you

You comes from Middle English you, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *izwiz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*izwiz1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*iwwiz1reconstructedwestern form of *izwiz
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*iwwi1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ēow1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500you1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1485you1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English you
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur: “I charge you, as ye woll have my love,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*izwizWiktionary, English youreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*iwwizWiktionary, English youreconstructedwestern form of *izwiz
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*iwwiWiktionary, English youreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ēowWiktionary, English you
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500youWiktionary, English you
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1485youWiktionary, English you. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur: “I charge you, as ye woll have my love,…”

The story

Ye, you and your are cognate with Dutch jij/je, jou, jouw; Low German ji, jo/ju, jug and German ihr, euch and euer respectively. Ye is also cognate with Danish I and archaic Swedish I.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *yúHs

ye

through Middle English you

yours, 1 more

Today it means

pron The people spoken, or written to, as an object.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “you”. 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 *izwiz / you

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