Where does “by-” come from?

by- (English) comes from English ñame, from Middle English name, from Old English nama, from Proto-West Germanic namō, from Proto-Germanic namô, from Proto-Indo-European h₁nómn̥, from Proto-Indo-European h₃neh₃- — to name.

by- (English): town or city; nearness or roundaboutness;...

Definitions

  1. town or city; nearness or roundaboutness;...

Ancestry of “by-”, step by step

by- traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English ñame

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishñameSynonym of name
2Middle Englishnamename
3Old Englishnamaname; noun
4Proto-West Germanicnamōname
5Proto-Germanicnamôname
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁nómn̥name
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃neh₃-to name

via Middle English by

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishbybe
2Old NorsebýrAlternative form of bǿr; farm; town; place ,...
3Proto-Germanicbūwizdwelling

Words derived from “by-”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃neh₃- →