Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗To refer to (someone) using she/her pronouns.
Synonym of her.
A female.
The female (typically) person or animal previously mentioned or implied. · A ship or boat. · A country, or sometimes a city, province, planet, etc. · A thing, especially a machine or other object, such as a car, a computer, or (poetically) a season.
Inherited from Middle English sche, scho, hyo, ȝho (“she”), whence also Yorkshire dialectal shoo (“she”), Scots she, sho (“she”). Probably from Old English hēo (whence dialectal English hoo), with an irregular change in stress from hēo to heō /hjoː/, then a development from /hj-/ to /ç/ to /ʃ-/, similar to the derivation of Shetland from Old Norse Hjaltland. In this case, she is from Proto-West Germanic *hiju, from Proto-Germanic *hijō f (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this, here”), and is cognate with Saterland Frisian jo, ju, West Frisian hja, North Frisian jü, Danish hun, Swedish hon; more at he. A derivation from Old English sēo (“that one”, occasionally “she”) is also possible, though less likely. In that case, sēo would have undergone a change in stress from sēo to seō /sjoː/, then a change from /sj-/ to /ʃ-/, similar to the derivation of sure from Old French seur. It would then be cognate to Dutch zij and German sie. Neither etymology would be expected to yield the modern vocalism in /iː/ (the expected form would be shoo, which is in fact found dialectally). It may be due to influence from he, but both hēo and sēo also have rare variants (hīe and sīe) that may give modern English /iː/.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionscheenm
- Cognate mentionshesco
- Inherited-form mentionhēoang
- Cognate mentionhooen
- Inherited-form mention*hijugmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*hijōgem-pro
- Derivation mention*ḱe-ine-pro
- Cognate mentionjostq
- Cognate mentionhjafy
- Cognate mentionjüfrr
- Cognate mentionhunda
- Cognate mentionhonsv
- Cognate mentionsēoang · that one”, occasionally “she
- Cognate mentionzijnl
- Cognate mentionsiede
This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
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"name": "ety",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:sche"
},
"expansion": "[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"she\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"she\">"
},
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"expansion": "Middle English sche"
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"expansion": "Inherited from Middle English sche"
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"expansion": "Scots she"
},
{
"name": "inh",
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"expansion": "Old English hēo"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "hoo"
},
"expansion": "English hoo"
},
{
"name": "m+",
"args": {
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"2": "Hjaltland"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse Hjaltland"
},
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"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *hiju"
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},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian jo"
},
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"name": "cog",
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"2": "hja"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian hja"
},
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"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "jü"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian jü"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "hun"
},
"expansion": "Danish hun"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "hon"
},
"expansion": "Swedish hon"
},
{
"name": "cog",
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"t": "that one”, occasionally “she"
},
"expansion": "Old English sēo (“that one”, occasionally “she”)"
},
{
"name": "m+",
"args": {
"1": "fro",
"2": "",
"3": "seur"
},
"expansion": "Old French seur"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "zij"
},
"expansion": "Dutch zij"
},
{
"name": "cog",
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},
"expansion": "German sie"
},
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"expansion": ""
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"links": [
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"sche",
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"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hijō"
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"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ḱe-"
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[
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"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ḱey-"
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[
"jo",
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"ju",
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[
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],
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]
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"A ship or boat.",
"A country, or sometimes a city, province, planet, etc.",
"A thing, especially a machine or other object, such as a car, a computer, or (poetically) a season."
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