English
she
She comes from Middle English sche.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sche
- Englishearliest quotation 1590she
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sche
- Englishearliest quotation 1590she
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto IX: “Goodly she entertaind those noble knights, / And brought…”
The story
In this case, she is from Proto-West Germanic *hiju, from Proto-Germanic *hijō f (‘this, this one’), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (‘this, here’), and is cognate with Saterland Frisian jo, ju, West Frisian hja, North Frisian jü, Danish hun, Swedish hon; more at he. A derivation from Old English sēo (“that one”, occasionally “she”) is also possible, though less likely. In that case, sēo would have undergone a change in stress from sēo to seō /sjoː/, then a change from /sj-/ to /ʃ-/, similar to the derivation of sure from Old French seur. It would then be cognate to Dutch zij and German sie.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱe- ‘this, here’
through Old English hēo
Today it means
pron The female (typically) person or animal previously mentioned or implied.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English sche / she