Where does “hers” come from?
Hers comes from Middle English heres, from Latin hercia, from Latin herpicem, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂er-.
hers (English): That which belongs to her; the possessive case of...
Definitions
- That which belongs to her; the possessive case of...
Ancestry of “hers”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | hires | Third-person singular feminine genitive pronoun:... |
| 2 | Middle English | hire | Third-person singular feminine genitive... |
| 3 | Old English | hire | genitive/dative of hēo |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | hezōi | dative singular feminine of *hiz |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | *hiz | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 7 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 8 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 9 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 10 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 11 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |