yours

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

English

Alternative forms

• your's (archaic, now mis-spelling)

Etymology

From Middle English youres, ȝoures, attested since the 1300s. Equivalent to your +‎ -s (compare -'s); formed by analogy to his. Displaced yourn in standard speech.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /jɔː(ɹ)z/, /jʊəz/, (unstressed) /jəz/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)z
• (US) enPR: yôrz, IPA^(key): /jɔɹz/, /jʊɚz/, /jɝz/, (unstressed) /jɚz/
• ,
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)z
• Homophone: yaws (in some non-rhotic accents)

Pronoun

yours

1. That which belongs to you (singular); the possessive second-person singular pronoun used without a following noun.

2. That which belongs to you (plural); the possessive second-person plural pronoun used without a following noun.
3. Written at the end of a letter, before the signature.

Usage notes

• In British English the adverb almost invariably follows the word yours at the end of a letter; in most dialects of American English it usually precedes it. As a general rule, sincerely is only employed if the name of the recipient is already known to the writer; a letter begun with Dear Sir or Dear Madam finishes with faithfully. Yours on its own and yours ever are less formal than the other forms.

Synonyms

• yourn (obsolete outside Britain and US dialects, especially Appalachia)

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

Middle English

Pronoun

yours

1. Alternative form of youres