ego

Forms

egō̆ (first person, nominative, plural nōs)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *egō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ (“I”), with a suffix that gave the long final vowel, as in Greek.^[2][1] De Vaan thinks that several variants of the pronoun existed side by side in PIE: the bare stem in Baltic, a form with long /oː/ in Latin and Greek, and one ending in /-om/ in Indo-Iranian, Slavic and Germanic.^[2] The other cases are built on a different stem (⟨mē⟩, ⟨mihi⟩, genitive ⟨meī⟩).^[3]

Cognate with Faliscan eqo, Ancient Greek ἐγώ (egṓ), Sanskrit अहम् (ahám), Lithuanian àš, Gothic 𐌹𐌺 (ik) and Hittite ūk.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An early inscription on a vase from Ardea writes it eqo; in literature it is found from Livius Andronicus on.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Because the verb ending already shows the person, ego is used mainly for emphasis or contrast (“I for my part”), though colloquial Latin sometimes uses it without emphasis.^[3] It is strengthened with -met (egomet) or -pte (mēpte), and cum follows it to make mēcum.^[3] The final vowel is usually short (egŏ) in all periods, long only now and then in the comic poets.^[3]

English took the word in metaphysics by 1707 for “the self, that which thinks and acts”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 280–200 BC – Used by Livius Andronicus.^[4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has egomet and the old accusative mēd.^[3][4]
• by 1707 – Borrowed into English as ego in metaphysics.^[5]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. I (nominative, usually emphatic); (oblique cases) me, myself.^[3][6]
2. (dative, “ethic”) For me, I'd have you know (in lively speech).^[3]
3. ad mē, to my house;^[3] ā mē, from my house, out of my own money.^[3]

Word family

• egomet
• mēcum
• meus

Related words

• mē
• nōs
• tū
• English ego

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press