by

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bi, also be,^[2][3] inherited from Old English bī, unstressed be,^[4][5][6][7] from Proto-Germanic *bi (“around, about”),^[7][4][8][1] and is cognate with Old Saxon bī, Old Frisian bī, Middle Dutch bie, Dutch bij, Old High German bī, German bei and Gothic 𐌱𐌹 (bi, “about, by”).^[7][4][3][8] Barnhart and Etymonline trace it to Proto-Indo-European *bhi, which Etymonline takes as a reduced form of *ambhi- (“around”);^[4][7] Wiktionary derives it instead from *h₁epi.^[1] Most dictionaries see the Germanic word as the second syllable of Latin ambi- (“on both sides, around”), Ancient Greek ἀμφί (amphí, “around”) and Old English ymbe (“around”).^{[9][5][6][4][10]} The unstressed form is the source of the prefix be-.^[9][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Near, beside: Barnhart dates bī and unstressed be to about 725, in Beowulf.^[4] The OED's earliest uses, in Old English, are "at the side of, near" and "in the region or direction of", the latter in the Old English Orosius.^[11] Ayto takes "close to, near" as the original meaning.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Already in Old English by marked the means or instrument, a use in which it came to replace from, through and of; from the 14th century it also marked the agent, replacing of as well as from.^[5] Swearing by something is also Old English, perhaps originally "in the presence of".^[7] As an adverb, "near, close at hand", it is recorded from about 1300.^[7] Etymonline notes that the second edition of the OED distinguished 38 senses of the preposition.^[7] Phrases followed: by the way, literally "along the way" (about 1200), was used for "incidentally" by the 1540s;^[7] by and by meant "one by one" in the early 14th century and "before long" from the 1520s;^[7] and by the by (1615), from a noun by, a side issue, may come from the language of dice.^[11][7] The nautical by and large, sailing to the wind and off it, is from the 1660s.^[7] From about 1400 by formed the names of the smaller points of the compass.^[11] The sense "at the home of" (1535, in Coverdale's Bible) is now regional in the southern United States and the Caribbean,^[11] and since 1918 North American English has used it of a person's situation or point of view.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 725 – near, beside.^[4]
• c. 1200 – by the way, along the way.^[7]
• c. 1300 – adverb, near, close at hand.^[7]
• early 14th century – by and by, one by one.^[7]
• 14th century – marking the agent of an action.^[5]
• c. 1400 – in the names of points of the compass.^[11]
• 1520s – by and by, before long.^[7]
• 1535 – at the home of.^[11]
• 1540s – by the way, incidentally.^[7]
• 1615 – by the by, incidentally.^[11] Etymonline dates it to the 1610s.^[7]
• 1660s – by and large, originally a sailing term.^[7]
• 1918 – North American, of a person's circumstances.^[11]

Meanings

Preposition

1. Close to; next to: a bench by the door.^[12][10][6]
2. Up to and beyond; past: A cyclist rode by the window.^[12][6]
3. With the use or help of; through the means of: We came by bus.^[12][5]
4. Through the agency or action of; marking the agent of a passive verb: a song written by her brother.^[12][5]
5. During: They travelled by night.^[12]
6. Not later than: Send it by noon.^[12]
7. In the amount of; to the extent of: Prices rose by ten per cent.^[12]
8. According to: They played by the rules.^[12]
9. In the name of, in oaths.^[12][7]

Adverb

1. Close at hand; nearby: There was nobody by.^[12][10]
2. Aside; away: She put a little money by each month.^[12][10]
3. Past: A lorry rumbled by.^[12][10]
4. Into the past: as the years went by.^[12]
5. At or to someone's home, on a visit: Drop by after work.^[10]
6. by and by: before long.^[7]

Word family

• nearby
• passerby
• bypass
• bygone
• byline
• flyby
• hereby

Related words

• be-
• ambi-
• amphi-

Usage notes

A noun by, a village or town, has a separate source, probably Old Norse býr, from búa (“to dwell”); the OED and the Shorter Oxford take the ending of place names such as Whitby and Grimsby from it,^[11][6] while Etymonline links those names to the adverb.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin