Where does “yore” come from?
Yore comes from Middle English ȝare, Old English ġearu, Proto-West Germanic garu, Proto-Germanic jērą, and Proto-Indo-European yōro-, which may derive from ḱóm and h₂er-.
yore (English): a time long past; In time long past; long ago
Definitions
- a time long past; In time long past; long ago
Ancestry of “yore”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | yore | yore; for a long time |
| 2 | Old English | ġeāra | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | jērǫ̂ | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | jērą | year; name of the J-rune |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | yeh₁r- | year |