Etymologically
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yours

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /jɔːz/, US /jʊrz/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English youres,[2] formed from your and the possessive -s,[2][3] on the model of his and ours.[4] It is the absolute form of your, used when no noun follows.[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Standing for “your” and a noun, and meaning “your family, friends”: before 1300 in the OED.[5] Etymonline dates it to about 1300,[4] and Merriam-Webster to the 13th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

The predicative use, as in the book is yours, is from 1375.[5] The subscription of a letter, often with truly, sincerely or faithfully, is from about 1430,[5] and yours truly meaning “myself” is by 1833, from that conventional phrase.[4] “Your business or affair” is from 1841.[5] What's yours?, “what will you drink?”, is colloquial.[3] In East Anglian dialect yours meant “your house”.[6]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – your family, your ones.[5]
  • 1375 – predicative use.[5]
  • c. 1430 – closing a letter.[5]
  • 1833 – yours truly, myself.[4]
  • 1841 – your business.[5]

Modern meaning

Pronoun

  1. The one or ones belonging to you: the choice is yours.
  2. Used at the end of a letter, often with an adverb: Yours sincerely.
  3. you and yours: you and your family.

Word family

  • yours truly
  • your
  • you
  • ours
  • hers
  • theirs
  • mine

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)