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Origin and history of yon

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.

Entries linking to yon

yonder(adv.)

c. 1300, "at a distance, over there, at or in that (more or less distant) place," with comparative suffix -er (2) + yond (adv.) "at a distance, over there." In some cases from yond (adj.).

Cognate with Middle Low German ginder, Middle Dutch gender, Dutch ginder, Gothic jaindre. Now replaced except in poetic usage by ungrammatical use of that.

i.e.

abbreviation of Latin id est, literally "that is;" used in English in the sense of "that is to say." Latin id "it" is from PIE pronominal stem *i- (see yon). For est, see is.

i.e. means that is to say, & introduces another way (more comprehensible to the hearer, driving home the speaker's point better, or otherwise preferable) of putting what has been already said; it does not introduce an example, & when substituted for e.g. in that function ... is a blunder. [Fowler]
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Trends of yon

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

ilk
Old English ilca "the same" (pron.), from Proto-Germanic *ij-lik (compare German eilen), in which the first element is from the PIE demonstrative particle *i- (see yon) and the second is that in Old English -lic "form" (see like (adj.)). Of similar formation are each, which and s
yet
Old English get, gieta "till now, thus far, earlier, at last, also," an Anglo-Frisian word (cognates: Old Frisian ieta, Middle High German ieuzo), of unknown origin; perhaps connected to PIE pronominal stem *i- (see yon). The meaning in other Germanic languages is expressed by de
warrant
c. 1200, "protector, defender," from Old North French warant "defender; surety, pledge; justifying evidence" (Old French garant), from Frankish *warand, from Proto-Germanic *war- "to warn, guard, protect" (source also of Old High German werento "guarantor," noun use of present pa
holy
Old English halig "holy, consecrated, sacred; godly; ecclesiastical," from Proto-Germanic *hailaga- (source also of Old Norse heilagr, Danish hellig, Old Frisian helich "holy," Old Saxon helag, Middle Dutch helich, Old High German heilag, German heilig, Gothic hailags "holy"), fr
bat
"a stick or staff used in beating, a war-club, staff used to strike the ball in certain games," c. 1200, from rare Old English batt "cudgel," a western England word at first, probably from Welsh or another Celtic source (compare Irish and Gaelic bat, bata "staff, cudgel"), later
plot
late Old English plot "small piece of ground of defined shape," a word of unknown origin. The sense of "ground plan," and thus "map, chart, survey of a field, farm, etc." is from 1550s. Plat is a Middle English collateral form. The meaning "a secret, plan, fully formulated scheme
vanity
c. 1200, "that which is vain, futile, or worthless," from Old French vanite "self-conceit; futility; lack of resolve" (12c.), from Latin vanitatem (nominative vanitas) "emptiness, aimlessness; falsity," figuratively "vainglory, foolish pride," from vanus "empty, void," figurative
decision
mid-15c., "act of deciding," from Old French décision (14c.), from Latin decisionem (nominative decisio) "a decision, settlement, agreement," noun of action from past-participle stem of decidere "to decide, determine," literally "to cut off," from de "off" (see de-) + caedere "to
stoic
late 14c., "philosopher of the school founded by Zeno" (c. 334-c. 262 B.C.E.), from Latin stoicus, from Greek stoikos "pertaining to a member of or the teachings of the school founded by Zeno, characterized by austere ethical doctrines," literally "pertaining to a portico," from
spurn
Middle English spurnen, from Old English spurnan "to kick (away), strike against, drive back," as with the foot (a sense now obsolete); also "reject with disdain, scorn, despise," from Proto-Germanic *spurnon (source also of Old Saxon and Old High German spurnan, Old Frisian spur

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