Etymology Explorer › English

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

  1. The female person or animal previously mentioned...

Ancestry of “she”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishscheThird-person singular feminine pronoun: she; It;...
2Old Englishhēoshe
3Germanic*hiju—
4Proto-Germanichijōshe; nominative singular feminine of *hiz
5Proto-Indo-Europeanḱe-demonstrative particle; here; this, here

Words derived from “she”

  • heorshe
  • shemale
  • he-she
  • shehe
  • she-he
  • she-stuff
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱe- →