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Origin and history of yond

yond(adv., prep.)

Middle English, from Old English geond "beyond, at a distance, over there; in or over every part of, beyond;" related to geon (see yon). Obsolete; compare beyond. Related: Yondward "in that direction; away."

Entries linking to yond

beyond(prep., adv.)

Old English begeondan "on the other side of, from the farther side," from be- "by," here probably indicating position, + geond "yonder" (prep.); see yond. A compound not found elsewhere in Germanic. From late 14c. as "further on than," 1530s as "out of reach of." To be beyond (someone) "to pass (someone's) comprehension" is by 1812.

yon(adj., pron.)

Middle English, from Old English geon "that or those," referring to objects at a distance, "that one (or those) over there," from Proto-Germanic *jaino-, source also of Old Frisian jen, Old Norse enn, Old High German ener, Middle Dutch ghens, German jener, Gothic jains "that, you."

This is reconstructed to be from PIE pronominal stem *i- (source also of Sanskrit ena-, third person pronoun, anena "that;" Latin idem "the same," id "it, that one;" Old Church Slavonic onu "he;" Lithuanian ans "he").

By late 14c. as "farther, more remote" in reference to another. As an adverb from late 15c., a shortening of yonder.

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