My
/maɪ/noun
A first-person singular possessive determiner used to show ownership or association.
Did you know?English my is descended from an old possessive form ultimately tied to the Proto-Indo-European root *me-, the same ancient source behind a whole family of first-person forms across Indo-European languages.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*me-
“first-person singular pronoun root, ‘me, I’”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*mīnaz
“possessive form meaning ‘my, mine’”
Old English
OE
mīn
“‘my, mine’”
Middle English
ME
mi, my
“possessive determiner ‘my’”
Modern English
English
my
“possessive determiner used before a noun”