your

English Online Dictionary. What means your‎? What does your mean?

English

Alternative forms

• ur (informal, Internet, text messaging)
• ya, yer, yr (informal)
• yo, yo' (African American Vernacular)

Etymology

From Middle English your, youre, ȝour, ȝoure, from Old English ēower, īower (“your”, plural), from Proto-West Germanic *iuwar, from Proto-Germanic *izweraz. Cognate with Saterland Frisian jou (“your”), Dutch jouw (“your”), German Low German jo, jos (“your”), German euer (“your”, plural), Danish jeres (“your”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /jɔː/, /jʊə/, (unstressed) /jə/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
• (US) enPR: yôr, IPA^(key): /jɔɹ/, /jʊɚ/, /jɝ/, (unstressed) /jɚ/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: yōr, IPA^(key): /jo(ː)ɹ/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /joə/
• (non-rhotic, show-sure merger, AAVE) IPA^(key): /joʊ/
• Homophone: you're
• Homophone: yore (accents with the pour–poor merger)
• Homophone: yaw (non-rhotic accents with the paw-poor merger)
• Homophone: yo (non-rhotic accents with the show-sure merger)

• Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ), -ɔː(ɹ)
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ) (some rhotic dialects)
• In US English, /jɚ/ is generally the unstressed version of /jɔɹ/; in many dialects, however, /jɝ/ is frequent even in positions of stress.

Determiner

your

1. Belonging to you; of you; related to you (singular; one owner).

2. Belonging to you; of you; related to you (plural; more owners).
3. A determiner that conveys familiarity and mutual knowledge of the modified noun.

4. (Ireland) That; the specified (usually used with a human referent)

Derived terms

Translations

Contraction

your

1. Misspelling of you're.

Usage notes

• The use of your instead of you're is a common mistake in written English.

See also

Cameroon Pidgin

Alternative forms

• ya

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ja/

Determiner

your

1. 2nd person singular possessive determiner

See also

Middle English

Alternative forms

• (common) youre, yowr, yowre, ȝour, ȝoure
• yowyr, yowur, yor, yur, yure, yeur, yhure, yhour, yhoure, ȝowyr, ȝowur, ȝor, ȝore, ȝur, ȝure, ȝiore, ȝhour, ȝhoure, ȝaure, ȝiure, ȝiwer, ȝeur, ȝeure, ȝeuer, ȝeuwer, ȝewer, ȝewere, gur, gure, giur, giure, giuor, giuer, giuwer, giwer, ihore, ihoire, iure, eour, eoure, eouer, eouwer, eouwere, eower, eowwer, eore, eur, eure, euwer, euwere, our, oure, or, ore, ouer, ouwer, ouwere, ower, owur, hour, æure

Etymology

From Old English ēower, from Proto-West Germanic *iuwar, from Proto-Germanic *izweraz. Initial /j/ is by analogy with ye.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /juːr/, /jiu̯r/
• (unstressed) IPA^(key): /jur/

Determiner

your (nominative pronoun ye)

1. Second-person plural genitive determiner: your (plural)
2. (formal) Second-person singular genitive determiner: your (singular).

Pronoun

your (nominative ye)

1. Second-person plural possessive pronoun: yours, of you (plural)

Descendants

• English: your (ya, yer, yo)
• Scots: your (yer)
• Yola: yer, ye

See also

References

• “your, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 20 May 2018.