Where does “she” come from?
She comes from Middle English sche, from Old English hēo, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots ḱe-, skek-, and kew-.
she (English): The female person or animal previously mentioned...
Definitions
- The female person or animal previously mentioned...
Ancestry of “she”, step by step
she traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English sche
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | sche | Third-person singular feminine pronoun: she; It;... |
| 2 | Old English | hēo | she |
| 3 | Germanic | *hiju | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | hijō | she; nominative singular feminine of *hiz |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe- | demonstrative particle; here; this, here |
via Mandarin ^畲
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mandarin | ^畲 | — |