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Where does the word "they" come from? It comes from Old Norse their, and was adopted directly into English (1200s).
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Where does the word "they" come from? It comes from Old Norse their, and was adopted directly into English (1200s).
They’s story begins in Old Norse: their meant “they, those people.” A Norse pronoun that gradually replaced the native English forms hie and hi. It reached English by 1200s as they. Settled as the standard English third-person plural pronoun. Today, they means the third-person plural pronoun, also used for a single person of unspecified gender.
- Stage 1 · Old Norse · medieval their "they, those people", a Norse pronoun that gradually replaced the native English forms hie and hi.
- Stage 2 · English · 1200s they "the third-person plural pronoun", settled as the standard English third-person plural pronoun.