Where does “them” come from?
Them comes from Middle English þem, from Old Norse þeim, from Proto-Germanic þaimaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European só, a demonstrative pronoun meaning that or those.
them (English): Those ones; Him, her, or it; that one; Those
Definitions
- Those ones; Him, her, or it; that one; Those
Ancestry of “them”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | þem | Third-person plural accusative pronoun: them;... |
| 2 | Old Norse | þeim | them, those |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | þaimaz | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | sa | that |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | só | this; that |
Words derived from “them”