Where does “hi” come from?
hi (Middle English) comes from Middle English he, from Old English hē, from Proto-West Germanic *hiʀ, from Proto-Germanic hīz — nominative plural masculine of *hiz; these, these...
hi (Middle English): Alternative form of I; Alternative form of he;...
Definitions
- Alternative form of I; Alternative form of he;...
Ancestry of “hi”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | he | Third-person singular masculine pronoun: he; it;... |
| 2 | Old English | hē | hey |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *hiʀ | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | hīz | nominative plural masculine of *hiz; these, these... |