if

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*jabai“when, if”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*jabu
3. Old English · inherited fromġif“if”
4. Middle English · inherited fromif
5. English todayif

From Middle English if, yif, yef, from Old English ġif (“if”), from Proto-West Germanic *jabu, *jabē, from Proto-Germanic *jabai (“when, if”). Cognate with Scots gif (“if, whether”), Saterland Frisian af, of (“if, whether”), West Frisian oft (“whether”), Dutch of (“or, whether, but”), Middle Low German ef, if, af, of ("if; whether"; > German Low German of), German ob (“if, whether”), Icelandic ef (“if”).

Words from the same roots