Etymology

since

S1I1N1C3E1

Today it means: From a specified time in the past. Full definition →

Middle English syns ← Old English sīþþan
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromsīþþan
  2. Middle English · inherited fromsyns
  3. English todaysince

From Middle English syns, synnes, contraction of earlier sithens, sithence, from sithen (“after, since”) ( + -s, adverbial genitive suffix), from Old English sīþþan, from the phrase sīþ þǣm (“after/since that (time)”), from sīþ (“since, after”) + þǣm dative singular of þæt. Cognate with Dutch sinds (“since”), German seit (“since”), Danish siden (“since”), Icelandic síðan (“since”) Scots syne (“since”).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishsīþþan all →

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.