Etymology

there

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Today it means: In or at a place or location (stated, implied or otherwise indicated) that is perceived to be away from, or at a relative distance from, the speaker (compare here). Full definition →

Middle English there ← Old English þēr ← Proto-West Germanic *þār
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*tó-r“there”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*þar“at that place; there”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*þār
  4. Old English · inherited fromþēr
  5. Middle English · inherited fromthere
  6. English todaythere

From Middle English there, ther, thare, thar, thore, from Old English þēr, þǣr, þār (“there; at that place”), from Proto-West Germanic *þār, from Proto-Germanic *þar (“at that place; there”), from Proto-Indo-European *tó-r (“there”), from demonstrative pronominal base *to- (“the, that”) + adverbial suffix *-r. Cognate with Scots thar, thair (“there”), North Frisian dear, deer, där (“there”), Saterland Frisian deer (“there”), West Frisian dêr (“there”), Dutch daar (“there”), Low German dar (“there”), German da, dar- (“there”), Danish der (“there”), Norwegian der (“there”), Swedish där (“there”), Icelandic þar (“in that place, there”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.