my

[ mahy ]

/ maɪ /

WATCH NOW: What Is The Origin Of The Word "My"?

WATCH NOW: What Is The Origin Of The Word "My"?

One tiny word, two letters, yet it has a long history and a powerful punch. How did we start using "my" as an exclamation?

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pronoun

(a form of the possessive case of I used as an attributive adjective): My soup is cold.

interjection

Also my-my. (used as an exclamation of mild surprise or dismay): My, what a big house this is! My-my, how old he looks!

Nearby words

mwanza, mweru, mwp, mx, mx., my, my antonia, my country, 'tis of thee, my eye, my fair lady, my god

Origin of my

1125–75; Middle English mī, variant of mīn, Old English mīn; see mine¹

Usage note

See me.

Definition for my (2 of 3)

I

[ ahy ]

/ aɪ /

pronoun, nominative I, possessive my or mine, objective me; plural nominative we, possessive our or ours, objective us.

the nominative singular pronoun, used by a speaker in referring to himself or herself.

noun, plural I's.

(used to denote the narrator of a literary work written in the first person singular).

Metaphysics. the ego.

Origin of I

before 900; Middle English ik, ich, i; Old English ic, ih; cognate with German ich, Old Norse ek, Latin ego, Greek egṓ, OCS azŭ, Lithuanian aš, Sanskrit ahám

Can be confused

Usage note

See me.

Definition for my (3 of 3)

my-

variant of myo- before some vowels: myalgia.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for my (1 of 8)

my

¹

/ (maɪ) /

determiner

of, belonging to, or associated with the speaker or writer (me)my own ideas; do you mind my smoking?

used in various forms of addressmy lord; my dear boy

used in various exclamationsmy goodness!

interjection

an exclamation of surprise, awe, etcmy, how you've grown!

Word Origin for my

C12 mī, variant of Old English mīn when preceding a word beginning with a consonant

British Dictionary definitions for my (2 of 8)

my

²

the internet domain name for

Malaysia

British Dictionary definitions for my (3 of 8)

MY

abbreviation for

motor yacht

British Dictionary definitions for my (4 of 8)

i

I

/ (aɪ) /

noun plural i's, I's or Is

the ninth letter and third vowel of the modern English alphabet

any of several speech sounds represented by this letter, in English as in bite or hit

something shaped like an I
(in combination)an I-beam

dot the i's and cross the t's to pay meticulous attention to detail

British Dictionary definitions for my (5 of 8)

i

symbol for

the imaginary number √–1Also called: j

British Dictionary definitions for my (6 of 8)

my-

combining form

a variant of myo-

British Dictionary definitions for my (7 of 8)

I

¹

/ (aɪ) /

pronoun

(subjective) refers to the speaker or writer

Word Origin for I

C12: reduced form of Old English ic; compare Old Saxon ik, Old High German ih, Sanskrit ahám

British Dictionary definitions for my (8 of 8)

I

²

symbol for

chem iodine

physics current

physics isospin

logic a particular affirmative categorial statement, such as some men are married, often symbolized as SiPCompare A, E, O 1

(Roman numeral) oneSee Roman numerals

abbreviation for

Italy (international car registration)

Word Origin for I

(for sense 4) from Latin (aff) i (rmo) I affirm

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for my (1 of 3)

My

abbr.

myopia

Medicine definitions for my (2 of 3)

I

The symbol for the elementiodine

i The symbol forcurrent

Medicine definitions for my (3 of 3)

my-

pref.

Variant ofmyo-

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Science definitions for my (1 of 2)

i

[ ī ]

The number whose square is equal to -1. Numbers expressed in terms of i are called imaginary or complex numbers.

Science definitions for my (2 of 2)

I

The symbol for electric current.

The symbol for iodine.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Idioms and Phrases with my

i

see dot the i's and cross the t's.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.