GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 3 definitions

1.       
   He , pron. [nom. He; poss. His ; obj. Him ; pl. nom. They ; poss. Their or Theirs ; obj. Them .] [AS. hē, masc., heó, fem., hit, neut.; pl. hī, or hie, hig; akin to OFries. hi, D. hij, OS. he, hi, G. heute to-day, Goth. himma, dat. masc., this, hina, accus. masc., and hita, accus. neut., and prob. to L. his this. √183. Cf. It.]
   The man or male being (or object personified to which the masculine gender is assigned), previously designated; a pronoun of the masculine gender, usually referring to a specified subject already indicated.
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   Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
   Gen. iii. 16.
   
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   Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve.
   Deut. x. 20.
   
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   Any one; the man or person; -- used indefinitely, and usually followed by a relative pronoun.
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   He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.
   Prov. xiii. 20.
   
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   Man; a male; any male person; -- in this sense used substantively.
   Chaucer.
   
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   I stand to answer thee,
   Or any he, the proudest of thy sort.
   Shak.
   
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   ☞ When a collective noun or a class is referred to, he is of common gender. In early English, he referred to a feminine or neuter noun, or to one in the plural, as well as to noun in the masculine singular. In composition, he denotes a male animal; as, a he-goat.
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2.       
   She , pron. [sing. nom. She; poss. Her.  or Hers ; obj. Her; pl. nom. They ; poss. Their  or Theirs ; obj. Them .] [OE. she, sche, scheo, scho, AS. seó, fem. of the definite article, originally a demonstrative pronoun; cf. OS. siu, D. zij, G. sie, OHG. siu, sī, si, Icel. sū, sjā, Goth. si she, sō, fem. article, Russ. siia, fem., this, Gr. , fem. article, Skr. sā, syā. The possessive her or hers, and the objective her, are from a different root. See Her.]
   This or that female; the woman understood or referred to; the animal of the female sex, or object personified as feminine, which was spoken of.
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   She loved her children best in every wise.
   Chaucer.
   
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   Then Sarah denied, . . . for she was afraid.
   Gen. xviii. 15.
   
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   A woman; a female; -- used substantively. [R.]
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   Lady, you are the cruelest she alive.
   Shak.
   
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   ☞ She is used in composition with nouns of common gender, for female, to denote an animal of the female sex; as, a she-bear; a she-cat.
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3.       
   They , pron. pl.; poss. Theirs; obj. Them. [Icel. þeir they, properly nom. pl. masc. of sā, sū, þat, a demonstrative pronoun, akin to the English definite article, AS. sē, seó, ðaet, nom. pl. ðā. See That.] The plural of he, she, or it. They is never used adjectively, but always as a pronoun proper, and sometimes refers to persons without an antecedent expressed.
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   Jolif and glad they went unto here [their] rest
   And casten hem [them] full early for to sail.
   Chaucer.
   
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   They of Italy salute you.
   Heb. xiii. 24.
   
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   Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.
   Matt. v. 6.
   
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   ☞ They is used indefinitely, as our ancestors used man, and as the French use on; as, they say (French on dit), that is, it is said by persons not specified.
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