Where does “You” come from?

You comes from Middle English you and yow, from Old English ēow, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European h₁eyHweh₂ and túh₂, meaning the second person pronoun.

You (English): Honorific alternative letter-case form of you,...

Definitions

  1. Honorific alternative letter-case form of you,...

Ancestry of “You”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishyowSecond-person plural object pronoun: you;...
2Old EnglishēowWo!, Alas!; sheep
3Proto-West Germaniciwwiz—
4Proto-Germanicizwizaccusative/dative/instrumental of *jūz
5Proto-Germanic*jūz—
6Proto-Indo-Europeantúh₂you, thou

Words derived from “You”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European túh₂ →