Etymograph

English

in

In comes from Middle English in ‘inside, within’, from Old English in, from Proto-Germanic *in, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁én‘in’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*inreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*inreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150in
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500in‘inside’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605in

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁én‘in’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*inreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*inreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150in
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500in‘inside’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605in

Earliest quotation: c. 1604–1605, William Shakespeare, All’s Well, that Ends Well: “He that ears my land spares my team and…”

The story

Sense 1/2 "in"/"into" are from the original PIE prefix, with locative/accusative case respectively. Sense 3/4 "qualification"/"means" are from the PIE metaphor of all infinitives coming from locatives.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

entrance, internal, encounter, indigenous, intimate, ensemble, impulse, intern, intestine, incense, incubation, endo, dysentery, impel, incubus, incubate, agog, enteral, censer, interregnum, intimation, 31 more

through Middle English in ‘inside, within’

inn, 1 more

Today it means

prep Contained by; inside.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁én / in

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