English Dictionary: his | by the DICT Development Group |
2 results for his | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
He \He\ (h[emac]), pron. [nom. {He}; poss. {His} (h[icr]z); obj. {Him} (h[icr]m); pl. nom. {They} ([th][amac]); poss. {Their} or {Theirs} ([th][acir]rz or [th][amac]rz); obj. {Them} ([th][ecr]m).] [AS. h[?], masc., he[a2], fem., hit, neut.; pl. h[c6], 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. [root]183. Cf. {It}.] 1. 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. Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. --Gen. iii. 16. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve. --Deut. x. 20. 2. Any one; the man or person; -- used indefinitely, and usually followed by a relative pronoun. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise. --Prov. xiii. 20. 3. Man; a male; any male person; -- in this sense used substantively. --Chaucer. I stand to answer thee, Or any he, the proudest of thy sort. --Shak. Note: 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. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
His \His\, pron. [AS. his of him, his, gen. masc. & neut. of h[?], neut. hit. See {He}.] 1. Belonging or pertaining to him; -- used as a pronominal adjective or adjective pronoun; as, tell John his papers are ready; formerly used also for its, but this use is now obsolete. No comfortable star did lend his light. --Shak. Who can impress the forest, bid the tree Unfix his earth-bound root? --Shak. Note: Also formerly used in connection with a noun simply as a sign of the possessive. [bd]The king his son.[b8] --Shak. [bd]By young Telemachus his blooming years.[b8] --Pope. This his is probably a corruption of the old possessive ending -is or -es, which, being written as a separate word, was at length confounded with the pronoun his. 2. The possessive of he; as, the book is his. [bd]The sea is his, and he made it.[b8] --Ps. xcv. 5. |