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

  1. Those ones; Him, her, or it; that one; Those

Ancestry of “them”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishþemThird-person plural accusative pronoun: them;...
2Old Norseþeimthem, those
3Proto-Germanicþaimaz
4Proto-Germanicsathat
5Proto-Indo-Europeanthis; that

Words derived from “them

Every word from Proto-Indo-European