Is

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The present-tense form of the verb be used with a singular subject such as he, she, it or a single named thing
2. A form of the verb be used in the present tense to link a single subject to a description, identity, location or state
3. The present tense singular form of be, used with he, she, it or any one noun to show existence, identity or condition

Etymology: This is one of the oldest words in the language, and it is the third-person singular present of "be", a form that has survived unchanged in its core sense for well over a thousand years. Its root is the Proto-Indo-European verb for "to be", reconstructed as *h₁es-, and the same root gives Latin "est", ancient Greek "estí", Sanskrit "asti", Persian "ast" and Russian "jestʹ". The Germanic branch kept it too: Old English had "is", and its close relatives include Dutch "is", German "ist", Yiddish "iz", West Frisian "is" and Afrikaans "is", while Old Norse had "er" and "es". Because "is" is a form of "be", its own history is tied to the verb as a whole, which drew on several different roots that were later merged into one paradigm. English "am", "are", "is", "was" and "were" come from separate sources, and "is" is the one that has kept the earliest Germanic shape most directly. The word also has an alternative pronunciation, "us", which appears in unstressed speech where the vowel reduces.

Synonyms: exists