with

with · preposition, adverb¹

1. Swedish · semantic loan frommed
2. Norwegian · semantic loan frommed
3. German · semantic loan frommit
4. Old Norse · derived fromvið
5. Proto-Germanic · derived from*wiþrą“against”
6. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*wiþi
7. Old English · inherited fromwiþ“against, opposite, toward, with”
8. Middle English · inherited fromwith
9. English todaywith

From Middle English with, from Old English wiþ (“against, opposite, toward, with”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiþi, a shortened form of Proto-Germanic *wiþrą (“against”). In Middle English, the word shifted to denote association rather than opposition, displacing Middle English mid (“with”), from Old English mid (“with”), from Proto-Germanic *midi; an earlier model of this meaning shift exists in cognate Old Norse við; elsewhere, the converse meaning shift is exemplified by Old South Arabian 𐩨𐩺𐩬 (byn, “between, amid”) spawning Old South Arabian 𐩨𐩬 (bn, “against”) and even likewise frequent reverse meaning 𐩨𐩬 (bn, “from”). The adverb sense is probably a semantic loan from various other Germanic languages, such as German mit, Norwegian med, and Swedish med.

with · noun²

1. Old English · inherited fromwiþþe
2. Middle English · inherited fromwithe
3. English todaywith

From Middle English withe, wiþþe, from Old English wiþþe. More at withe.

Words from the same roots