English
us
Us comes from Old English ūs ‘(to) us’, from Proto-Germanic *uns ‘us’, and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European first-person plural pronoun *wéy ‘we’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyas *n̥smé, alteration‘we’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*uns‘us’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ūs‘(to) us’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500us
- Englishearliest quotation 1611same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyas *n̥smé, alteration‘we’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*uns‘us’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ūs‘(to) us’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500us
- Englishearliest quotation 1611same form
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set…”
The story
The compensatory lengthening was lost in Middle English due to the word being unstressed when used.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wéy
Today it means
pron Me and at least one other person, excluding the person(s) being addressed. (exclusive us.)
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.