Etymograph

English

with

With comes from Old English wiþ ‘against, opposite, toward’, whose sense shifted to ‘with’ in Middle English, perhaps a shortening of Proto-Germanic *wiþrą ‘against’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wí ‘apart’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wí‘apart’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wíteromreconstructedadverbial accusative of *wí
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wiþrą‘against’uncertain
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wiþireconstructedshortened form of *wiþrą
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘toward’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150wiþ‘against’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500with
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wí‘apart’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wíteromreconstructedadverbial accusative of *wí
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wiþrą‘against’uncertain
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wiþireconstructedshortened form of *wiþrą
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘toward’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150wiþ‘against’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500with
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590same form

Earliest quotation: 1590, Sir Philip Sidney: “With that she told me that though she spake…”

The story

In Middle English, the word shifted to denote association rather than opposition, displacing Middle English mid (‘with’), from Old English mid (‘with’), from Proto-Germanic *midi; an earlier model of this meaning shift exists in cognate Old Norse við; elsewhere, the converse meaning shift is exemplified by Old South Arabian 𐩨𐩺𐩬 (byn, “between, amid”) spawning Old South Arabian 𐩨𐩬 (bn, “against”) and even likewise frequent reverse meaning 𐩨𐩬 (bn, “from”).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dwi- ‘apart, asunder’

double, pimpernel, 24 more

Another origin of with

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁y-‘to wind, twist, bend, turn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyt-‘something twisted, rod, switch, whip’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wiþjǭ‘rope, cord’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wiþþe‘tie, band’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500withe
  6. Englishtodaywith

Today it means

prep Against.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wí / with

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