E | History, Etymology, & Pronunciation | Britannica (2025)

e, fifth letter of the alphabet, derived from a Semitic consonant that represented a sound similar to the English h, Greek ε, and Latin E. The original Semitic character may have derived from an earlier pictograph representing a lattice window or a fence. From the 4th century ce both the uncial and cursive forms were rounded. From these developed the Carolingian form, from which the modern minuscule e is derived.

Click Here to see full-size tableThe sound represented by the letter was a mid-front vowel corresponding, though inexactly, to the sound of the English a in take. The latter is a diphthong, whereas e represented an unmixed vowel sound, such as that heard in French tête or été. In Greek ε stood for a short, close vowel as opposed to η whose sound was long and open, although in all local alphabets, especially in early times, this distinction was not exactly observed. In the Latin alphabet the letter E did duty for all shades of the sound, long or short, close or open.

In English an extensive change took place in the sound of the long vowel during and after the later Middle English period (probably between the 13th and 17th centuries). Just as the sound represented by a moved forward until it now covers the ground of that formerly represented by e, so the latter moved upward, encroaching upon and occupying the territory of the sound of i, which became a diphthong. The sound of the English long e is now a close high front vowel, as when written double (feed) or when followed by a single consonant plus silent final e (precede), The sound of the short e, a more open and less high front vowel (as in bed) that has not to any great extent shifted from what may be called its original position. When followed by r the sound is modified and is less high, as in here. In the word there the vowel has the same sound as that of a in hare. In many English words a mute final e is employed as a device to mark the fact that the preceding vowel is long (take, wine, stone). This occurs only when the final e is separated from the long vowel by a single consonant. In words such as added or rotten, the letter represents little more than a voice glide.