Etymology Map
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Them

3 stages from Old Norse to English.

Today it means the object form of 'they'

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

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

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'.