Where does “þeir” come from?

þeir (Old Norse) comes from Proto-Germanic þai, from Proto-Indo-European to-, from Proto-Indo-European só — this; that.

þeir (Old Norse): those; they

Definitions

  1. those; they

Ancestry of “þeir”, step by step

þeir traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Proto-Germanic þai

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Germanicþaithey; those; nominative plural masculine of *sa
2Proto-Indo-Europeanto-it; that; the, that
3Proto-Indo-Europeansóthis; that

via Proto-Norse *ᚦᚨᛁᛉ

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Norse*ᚦᚨᛁᛉthey, those

Words derived from “þeir”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European só →Every word from Proto-Indo-European to- →Every word from Proto-Germanic þai →