is
/ɪz/ verb
Also a form of be
- verb (now colloquial) Used in phrases with existential there (also here and where) when the semantic subject is plural. “There is three of them there.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English is, from Old English is, from Proto-West Germanic *ist, from Proto-Germanic *isti (a form of Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti (“is”).
Cognate with West Frisian is (“is”), Dutch is (“is”), German ist (“is”), Yiddish איז (iz, “is”), Afrikaans is (“am, are, is”) Old Swedish är, er, Old Norse er, es.
Further cognates include, among others, Latin est, Ancient Greek ἐστί (estí), Sanskrit अस्ति (asti), Persian است (ast), Russian есть (jestʹ), all with the same meaning.
Alternative pronunciation of us.
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Webster’s 1913
- verb The third person singular of the substantive verb be, in the indicative mood, present tense; as, he is; he is a man. See Be.
Etymology [AS. is; akin to G. & Goth. ist, L. est, Gr. asti. . Cf. Am, Entity, Essence, Absent.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “is”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details