My
det, intj, noun, pron ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Symbol for megayear(s). alt-of, symbol
- 2 Initialism of motor yacht (“diesel-driven yacht”). abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 1 First-person singular possessive determiner. See Appendix:Possessive#English.; Belonging to me.
"I can't find my book."
- 2 First-person singular possessive determiner. See Appendix:Possessive#English.; Associated with me.
"My seat at the restaurant was uncomfortable."
- 3 First-person singular possessive determiner. See Appendix:Possessive#English.; Related to me.
"My parents won't let me go out tonight."
- 4 First-person singular possessive determiner. See Appendix:Possessive#English.; In the possession of me.
"I have to take my books back to the library soon."
- 1 Used to express surprise, shock or amazement.
"My, what big teeth you have!"
- 1 Alternative letter-case form of my often used when speaking as God or another important figure who is understood from context. alt-of
Example
More examples"I'll do my best not to disturb your studying."
Etymology
From Middle English mi, my, apocopated form of min, myn, from Old English mīn (“my, mine”), from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz (“my, mine”, pron.) (possessive of *ek (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *méynos (“my; mine”). Cognate with West Frisian myn (“my”), Afrikaans my (“my”), Dutch mijn (“my”), German mein (“my”), Swedish min (“my”). More at me.
An abbreviation of an oath such as my word or my Lord
Related phrases
More for "my"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.