Etymology

i-

Today it means: Used to form past participles of verbs. Alternative spelling of y-. Full definition →

Middle English i- ← Old English ġe- ← Proto-West Germanic *ga-
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i- · prefix1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ḱóm“with, near, by, along”
  2. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*ḱó-
  3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*ga-
  4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*ga-
  5. Old English · inherited fromġe-
  6. Middle English · inherited fromi-
  7. English todayi-

From Middle English i-, y-, ȝe-, from Old English ġe-, from Proto-West Germanic *ga-, from Proto-Germanic *ga-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱó-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with, near, by, along”). Cognate with Dutch ge-, Low German ge-, je-, e-, German ge-.

i- · prefix2

  1. Latin · borrowed fromi-
  2. English todayi-

From Latin i-, assimilated form of in- used before gn-.

i- · prefix3

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁n̥tér
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥ter
  4. Latininter
  5. Latininter-
  6. Englishinter-
  7. Proto-Germanic*natją
  8. Proto-West Germanic*nati
  9. Old Englishnett
  10. Middle Englishnet
  11. Englishnet
  12. Proto-Indo-European*werǵ-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*wérǵom
  14. Proto-Germanic*werką
  15. Proto-West Germanic*werk
  16. Old Englishweorc
  17. Middle Englishwerk
  18. Englishwork
  19. Englishnetwork
  20. Englishinternetwork
  21. EnglishInternet
  22. English todayi-

From Internet. Popularized in the name of the iMac line of computers (1998).

i- · prefix4

From intelligent

Words from the same roots

Old Englishġe- all →

a-y-

Proto-West Germanic*ga- all →

shapeyearninga-

Proto-Germanic*ga- all →

gainshapegloveyearninga-geburgnast

Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm all →

amonggainconsistentcomplygaloreconciergeHansardconglomerateyearningcahootshansecurtilagea-conventiclegezelligqualtagh

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.