Etymology

i

I1

Today it means: The ninth letter of the English alphabet, called i and written in the Latin script. Full definition →

Latin i
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i · character, numeral, noun1

  1. Latin · derived fromi
  2. English todayi

From Latin i, minuscule of I.

i · pronoun2

  1. Old English · inherited fromiċ
  2. English todayi

From Old English iċ.

I · pronoun, noun3

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*eǵh₂óm“I”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*ek
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*ik“I”
  4. Old English · inherited fromic
  5. Middle English · inherited froma
  6. English todayI

From Middle English a, hi, hich, hij, I, ic, ich, ichc, ichs, ick, ig, ih, ik, j, jch, y, from Old English ic, ich, ih, ᛁᚳ (ic), ᛁᚴ (ik, “I”), from Proto-West Germanic *ik (“I”), from Proto-Germanic *ek, *eka, *ik (“I”), from Proto-Indo-European *eǵh₂óm (“I”). Cognates Cognate with Scots A, I, Ik (“I”), Yola Ich (“I”), North Frisian ick, ik, 'k (“I”), Saterland Frisian iek (“I”), West Frisian ik (“I”), Alemannic German i, ich, ig (“I”), Bavarian and Mòcheno i (“I”), Central Franconian eich, ich (“I”), Cimbrian i, ich (“I”), Dutch ick, ik, ikke (“I”), Low German eck, ick, ik, öck (“I”), German ich (“I”), Limburgish ich, iich (“I”), Luxembourgish ech (“I”), Vilamovian ych (“I”), West Flemish 'k (“I”), Yiddish איך (ikh), יאַך (yakh, “I”), Danish jeg, jæ (“I”), Elfdalian ig (“I”), Faroese eg, jeg (“I”), Icelandic eg, ég, ek, jeg (“I”), Jutish æ (“I”), Norn eg (“I”), Norwegian Bokmål jeg (“I”), Norwegian Nynorsk eg, æg (“I”), Swedish i, jag (“I”), Crimean Gothic ich (“I”), Gothic 𐌹𐌺 (ik, “I”); also Asturian, Aragonese, and Spanish yo (“I”), Catalan jo (“I”), French je (“I”), Galician and Portuguese eu (“I”), Italian io (“I”), Leonese and Mirandese you (“I”), Latin ego (“I”), Ancient Greek ἐγώ (egṓ, “I”), Latvian es (“I”), Lithuanian aš (“I”), Armenian ես (es, “I”), Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian я (ja, “I”), Bulgarian аз (az, “I”), Czech já (“I”), Macedonian јас (jas, “I”), Polish and Slovak ja (“I”), Serbo-Croatian jȃ (“I”), Slovene jȁz (“I”), Northern Kurdish ez (“I”), Sanskrit अहम् (ahám, “I”), Hittite 𒌑𒊌 (ūk, “I”). See also English ich. Doublet of ego and Ich. Capitalized since the 13th century to mark it as a distinct word and prevent misreading and omission (due to cursive writing).

I · character4

Old French i, from Latin ī, from Etruscan I (i).

I · noun5

Abbreviation.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishiċ all →

ichutchy

Proto-West Germanic*ik all →

Proto-Indo-European*eǵh₂óm all →

ichutchy

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.