them

Where does the word "them" come from? It comes from Old Norse þeim, passing through Middle English before entering English (1400s).

Them’s story begins in Old Norse: þeim meant “to them.” Dative plural of the Norse demonstrative, used for 'to/for those'. By 1200s, the word had taken hold in Middle English as þem. Displaced Old English 'heom', which had become easy to confuse with 'him'. It reached English by 1400s as them. Chaucer's London English still used 'hem'; 'them' won out in the following century. Today, them means the object form of 'they'.

1. Stage 1 · Old Norse · medieval þeim "to them", dative plural of the Norse demonstrative, used for 'to/for those'.
2. Stage 2 · Middle English · 1200s þem "them", displaced Old English 'heom', which had become easy to confuse with 'him'.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1400s them "them", Chaucer's London English still used 'hem'; 'them' won out in the following century.