Where does “you-know-who” come from?
you-know-who (English) comes from English You, from Middle English yow, from Old English ēow, from Proto-West Germanic iwwiz, from Proto-Germanic izwiz, from Proto-Germanic *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European túh₂ — you, thou.
you-know-who (English): Person or entity whose name one does not want to...
Definitions
- Person or entity whose name one does not want to...
Ancestry of “you-know-who”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | You | Honorific alternative letter-case form of you,... |
| 2 | Middle English | yow | Second-person plural object pronoun: you;... |
| 3 | Old English | ēow | Wo!, Alas!; sheep |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | iwwiz | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | izwiz | accusative/dative/instrumental of *jūz |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | *jūz | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | túh₂ | you, thou |