he1
[hee; unstressed ee]
- the male person or animal being discussed or last mentioned; that male.
- anyone (without reference to gender); that person: He who hesitates is lost.
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- any male person or animal; a man: hes and shes.
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- male (usually used in combination): a he-goat.
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Origin of he1
Usage note
Traditionally, the masculine singular pronouns he1 , his, and him have been used generically to refer to indefinite pronouns like anyone, everyone, and someone ( Everyone who agrees should raise his right hand ) and to singular nouns that can be applied to either gender ( painter, parent, person, teacher, writer, etc.): Every writer knows that his first book is not likely to be a bestseller. This generic use is often criticized as sexist, although many speakers and writers continue the practice.
Those who object to the generic use of he have developed various ways of avoiding it. One is to use he/she or she/he (or he or she or she or he ) or the appropriate case forms of these pairs: Everyone who agrees should raise his or her (or her or his or his/her or her/his ) right hand. Forms blending the feminine and masculine pronouns, as s/he, have not been widely adopted, probably because of confusion over how to say them.
Another solution is to change the antecedent pronoun or noun from singular to plural so that the plural pronouns they, their, and them can be used: All who agree should raise their right hands. All writers know that their first books are not likely to be bestsellers. See also they.
Those who object to the generic use of he have developed various ways of avoiding it. One is to use he/she or she/he (or he or she or she or he ) or the appropriate case forms of these pairs: Everyone who agrees should raise his or her (or her or his or his/her or her/his ) right hand. Forms blending the feminine and masculine pronouns, as s/he, have not been widely adopted, probably because of confusion over how to say them.
Another solution is to change the antecedent pronoun or noun from singular to plural so that the plural pronouns they, their, and them can be used: All who agree should raise their right hands. All writers know that their first books are not likely to be bestsellers. See also they.
he2
or heh
[hey]
- the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
- any of the sounds represented by this letter.
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Origin of he2
From the Hebrew word hēʾ
He
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HE
or H.E.
- high explosive.
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H.E.
- high explosive.Also HE
- His Eminence.
- His Excellency; Her Excellency.
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he's
[heez; unstressed eez]
- contraction of he is.
- contraction of he has.
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Usage note
See contraction.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
boy, guy, father, brother, son, fellow, husband, he, sir, grandfather, gentleman, gent, Mr., beau, papa, swain, spouse, boyfriend, uncle, nephewhe1
- refers to a male person or animalhe looks interesting; he's a fine stallion
- refers to an indefinite antecedent such as one, whoever, or anybodyeverybody can do as he likes in this country
- refers to a person or animal of unknown or unspecified sexa member of the party may vote as he sees fit
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- a male person or animal
- (in combination)he-goat
- a children's game in which one player chases the others in an attempt to touch one of them, who then becomes the chaserCompare tag 2
- the person chasingCompare it 1 (def. 7)
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Word Origin
Old English hē; related to Old Saxon hie, Old High German her he, Old Slavonic sĭ this, Latin cis on this side
he2
- the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet (ה), transliterated as h
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he3
- an expression of amusement or derisionAlso: he-he!, hee-hee!
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He
- helium
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HE
- high explosive
- His Eminence
- His (or Her) Excellency
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he's
- he is or he has
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for he
pron.
Old English he (see paradigm of Old English third person pronoun below), from Proto-Germanic *hi- (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch he, hi, Dutch hy, Old High German he), from PIE *ki-, variant of *ko-, the "this, here" (as opposed to "that, there") root (cf. Hittite ki "this," Greek ekeinos "that person," Old Church Slavonic si, Lithuanian šis "this"), and thus the source of the third person pronouns in Old English. The feminine, hio, was replaced in early Middle English by forms from other stems (see she), while the h- wore off Old English neuter hit to make modern it. The Proto-Germanic root also is the source of the first element in German heute "today," literally "the day" (cf. Old English heodæg).
| case | SINGULAR | - | - | PLURAL |
| - | masc. | neut. | fem. | (all genders) |
| nom. | he | hit | heo, hio | hie, hi |
| acc. | hine | hit | hie, hi | hie, hi |
| gen. | his | his | hire | hira, heora |
| dat. | him | him | hire | him, heom |
Pleonastic use with the noun ("Mistah Kurtz, he dead") is attested from late Old English. With animal words, meaning "male" (he-goat, etc.) from c.1300.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
He
- The symbol for the elementhelium
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
He
- The symbol for helium.
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helium
[hē′lē-əm]
- A very lightweight, colorless, odorless element in the noble gas group. Helium occurs in natural gas, in radioactive ores, and in small amounts in the atmosphere. It has the lowest boiling point of any substance and is the second most abundant element in the universe. Helium is used to provide lift for balloons and blimps and to create artificial air that will not react chemically. Atomic number 2; atomic weight 4.0026; boiling point -268.9°C; density at 0°C 0.1785 gram per liter. See Periodic Table.
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Word History: The second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen, Helium (symbol He) is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic gas that is produced abundantly by the nuclear fusion in all stars and is found in smaller amounts on Earth. It was discovered by the British scientist-and founding editor of the journal Nature-Joseph Norman Lockyer in 1868, while he was studying a solar eclipse with a spectroscope, an instrument that breaks light up into a spectrum. If an element is heated up enough to glow, the emitted light produces a unique spectrum when refracted through a prism. Lockyer noticed that the spectrum of the Sun's corona, which is visible only during a solar eclipse, contained lines produced by an unknown element. He named the element helium from helios, the Greek word for sun. Helios gives us many other words pertaining to the Sun, such as heliocentric and perihelion.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.