Etymology

there be

Today it means: Of the specified thing: to exist, physically or abstractly. Full definition →

Old English þær
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromþær
  2. English todaythere be

The expletive there, from Old English þær, to fill the first position in English's historic V2 word order.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.