his
[hiz; unstressed iz]
- the possessive form of he1 (used as an attributive or predicative adjective): His coat is the brown one. This brown coat is his. Do you mind his speaking first?
- that or those belonging to him: His was the cleverest remark of all. I borrowed a tie of his.
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Origin of his
Usage note
His
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he
1[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 he
1Usage 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for his
owned, letter, nod, ovation, salute, reception, hello, card, mine, welcome, howdy, hi, hail, salutation, blow, respects, acknowledgment, testimonial, aloha, notehis
- of, belonging to, or associated with himhis own fault; his knee; I don't like his being out so late
- as pronounhis is on the left; that book is his
- his and hers (of paired objects) for a man and woman respectively
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- of his belonging to or associated with him
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Word Origin for his
Old English his, genitive of hē he 1 and of hit it
He
- helium
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HE
- high explosive
- His Eminence
- His (or Her) Excellency
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he
1- 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 for he
Old English hē; related to Old Saxon hie, Old High German her he, Old Slavonic sĭ this, Latin cis on this side
he
2- the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet (ה), transliterated as h
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he
3- an expression of amusement or derisionAlso: he-he!, hee-hee!
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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 his
Old English his (genitive of he), from Proto-Germanic *khisa (cf. Gothic is, German es). Originally also the neuter possessive pronoun, but replaced in that sense c.1600 by its. In Middle English, hisis was tried for the absolute pronoun (cf. her/hers), but it failed to stick. For dialectal his'n, see her.
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he
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
His
- histidine
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His
(hĭs)Wilhelm 1863-1934- German anatomist known for his investigations of the heart. He described (1893) the atrioventricular trunk, also called the His bundle.
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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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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.