my
pronoun
(a form of the possessive case of I used as an attributive adjective).
my
1 American
[mahy]
/ maɪ /
pronoun
interjection
my-
2
American
my
1
British
/ 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 address
my lord
my dear boy
-
used in various exclamations
my goodness!
interjection
MY
2
British
abbreviation
my
3
British
abbreviation
my-
4
British
combining form
Grammar
See me.
Usage
What does my- mean? My- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “muscle.” It is often used in medical terms, especially in anatomy. My- comes from the Greek mŷs, meaning “muscle” and “mouse.” Mouse? You read that right. Discover why at our entry for muscle!My- is a variant of myo-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use myo- article.
Etymology
Origin of my
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English mī, variant of mīn, Old English mīn; see mine 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
We have $1.6 million in retirement accounts, a little more than half of which belongs to my husband.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
“But I feel like it was always my home,” she said of Israel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
I will do my best to protect her name and get to the bottom of exactly what happened in Creeslough that day.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Many Mexican Americans, including my cousins and me, consider family members raised in Mexico to be immigrants, even if they were born in the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Hopeful, I keep my face blank, my palms on the table.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
While the public relations effort to mold Hillary into a traditional my- heart-belongs-to-hubby First Lady means that campaign insiders are reluctant to publicly acknowledge her substantive role, her imprint on the staff shake-up seems clear.
From Time Magazine Archive
“How could I tie my- self up? Why would I do that?”
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
Why I should find it a pleasure, in France, to imagine my- self in Italy, is more than I can say; the illusion has never lasted long enough to be analyzed.
From A Little Tour in France by Henry James
"M. Letourneur and my- self were both of us disturbed by a very unusual commotion overhead."
From The Survivors of the Chancellor by Jules Verne
When I come from court a very sorry lackey throws a common cloak over my- 278 - shoulders.’
From Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 2 of 3) Essay 4: Joseph de Maistre by John Morley
“OH MY GOD! There is a shared message board,” one agent wrote, according to a report by AI safety nonprofit Model Evaluation and Threat Research that analyzed the transcripts with OpenAI’s permission.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
“I’ve seen the doc and listened to the podcasts and OH MY GOD.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2024
The programme will be renamed Love Songs with Michael Ball - but the singer said he wanted to "ensure that this won't be just MY show, but OUR show".
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2024
The Grammys love a throwback, making Lizzo’s disco banger and Beyoncé’s dressed-to-sweat “BREAK MY SOUL” — which bridges New Orleans bounce and ’90s dance pop — strong contenders.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 4, 2023
Me and my wings are — and that’s when I remember: MY.
From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
