† herheren.¹

Forms: Old English hearra, herra, hærra, Middle English herre, hærre, northern and ScottishMiddle English her, Middle English–1500s here, (Middle English heere, hery, 1500s hair, heir, heyr).

Etymology: Old English herra, hearra, corresponding to Old Frisian hêra, Old Saxon hêrro (Middle Dutch herre, hêr(r)e, Dutch heer), Old High German hêrro (Middle High German hêrre, herre, German herr), Old Norse harri, herra (Swedish, Danish herre). In Old High German and Old Saxon, a substantive use of the comparative degree hêr(o)ro of the adjective hêr ‘old’, hence ‘venerable, august’, modern German hehr ‘sublime, elevated, august, holy’, identical with Old English hár hoary, grey, Old Norse hárr < Old Germanic *hairo- probably ‘hoary with age, venerable’; supposed to have been first used as a form of address to superiors: compare the Romanic use of Latin senior, in Italian signore, Spanish señor, French seigneur ‘lord’, originally ‘older, elder’. Both in Old English and Old Norse adopted < Old Low German; in Old English found originally in the parts of the ‘Cædmon’ poems which are transliterated from an Old Saxon original; also in later Old English and Middle English poetry, and in Scots to 16th cent. Apparently only in poetical use.

poetic. Obsolete.

Lord, chief, master; man of high position or rank; sometimes more generally = Man.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > [noun] > those in authority > person in authority

mastereOE

herOE

lordOE

overmana1325

overling1340

seignior1393

prelatea1475

oversman1505

signor1583

hogen mogen1639

boss-cocky1898

man1918

trump1937

authority figure1948

Great White Father1960

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > [noun] > person of > man of rank

herOE

man of statec1330

peera1375

man of goodc1390

sira1400

titulado1622

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > lord

herOE

lordOE

lordheada1325

lordship1394

milord1607

Lo.1610

milordo1758

the world > people > person > man > [noun]

churla800

werec900

rinkeOE

wapmanc950

heOE

wyeOE

gomeOE

ledeOE

seggeOE

shalkOE

manOE

carmanlOE

mother bairnc1225

hemea1250

mother sona1250

hind1297

buck1303

mister mana1325

piecec1325

groomc1330

man of mouldc1330

hathela1350

sire1362

malea1382

fellowa1393

guestc1394

sergeant?a1400

tailarda1400

tulka1400

harlotc1405

mother's sona1470

frekea1475

her1488

masculinea1500

gentlemana1513

horse?a1513

mutton?a1513

merchant1549

child1551

dick1553

sorrya1555

knavea1556

dandiprat1556

cove1567

rat1571

manling1573

bird1575

stone-horse1580

loona1586

shaver1592

slave1592

copemate1593

tit1594

dog1597

hima1599

prick1598

dingle-dangle1605

jade1608

dildoa1616

Roger1631

Johnny1648

boy1651

cod1653

cully1676

son of a bitch1697

cull1698

feller1699

chap1704

buff1708

son of a gun1708

buffer1749

codger1750

Mr1753

he-man1758

fella1778

gilla1790

gloak1795

joker1811

gory1819

covey1821

chappie1822

Charley1825

hombre1832

brother-man1839

rooster1840

blokie1841

hoss1843

Joe1846

guy1847

plug1848

chal1851

rye1851

omee1859

bloke1861

guffin1862

gadgie1865

mug1865

kerel1873

stiff1882

snoozer1884

geezer1885

josser1886

dude1895

gazabo1896

jasper1896

prairie dog1897

sport1897

crow-eater1899

papa1903

gink1906

stud1909

scout1912

head1913

beezer1914

jeff1917

pisser1918

bimbo1919

bozo1920

gee1921

mush1936

rye mush1936

basher1942

okie1943

mugger1945

cat1946

ou1949

tess1952

oke1970

bra1974

muzhik1993

OE Genesis 521 Þe sende waldend god, þin hearra þas helpe of heofonrice.

OE Genesis 678 Nu hæbbe ic his her on handa, herra se goda; gife ic hit þe georne.

c1067 Poem in Anglo-Saxon Chron. (MS. C.) anno 1066 Se in alle tid hyrde holdlice hærran sinum.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2702 For þu ært ure hærre.

1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 102 Þis lond ich habbe here so fre, þat to non herre y schal abuye.

a1400–50 Alexander 1920 All þe hathils & þe heris & þe hiȝe maistris.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vii. l. 41 Arnwlff..Off South Hantoun, that huge hie her and lord.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid v. vi. 8 Thiddir the heir [Æneas] with mony thowsand gan hy.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid v. xii. 70 Ane of the eldest herys stude about, Clepit Nautes.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 10146 Antenour in angur angardly stroke, Vnhorset the here, hade hym to ground.

1559 D. Lindsay Test. Papyngo l. 338 in Wks. (1931) I Thov arte bot kyng of bone, Frome tyme thyne hereis hartis bene from ye gone.

1622 (?a1513) W. Dunbar Poems (Reidpeth) (1998) I. 241 I sa ane heir in bed oppressit ly.

Derivatives

† here-man n. Obsolete lord, master.

ΚΠ

a1400–50 Alexander 4938 A! A! happy haly here man.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

† herpron.¹adj.¹

Forms: 1.

α. early Old English hara (Mercian, perhaps transmission error), early Old English hyrra (perhaps transmission error), Old English eora (rare), Old English hæora (rare), Old English heara (chiefly Mercian), Old English hiara (chiefly Northumbrian), Old English hieora (rare), Old English hiera, Old English hiora, Old English hyora (rare), Old English (early Middle English in copy of Old English charter) hira, Old English–early Middle English heora, Old English–early Middle English hyra, Old English (rare)–early Middle English hera, late Old English (early Middle English in copy of Old English charter) hæra, late Old English–early Middle English hora, early Middle English hura. eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 449 Her Mauricius & Ualentines onfengon rice... On hiera dagum Hengest & Horsa..gesohton Bretene.eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 893 Ða Deniscan sæton þær behindan, forþæm hiora cyning wæs gewundod on þæm gefeohte.eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 895 Þa Deniscan hæfdon hira wif befæst innan Eastengle.OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. vi. 5 Receperunt mercedem suam : onfengon mearde heara [OE Rushw. heora, OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. hyra, c1200 Hatton heore].OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 48 In eorum celebritate gaudere : in hiara gimersunge gifeaiga.OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) iv. 6 He his englum bebead be ðe þæt hig þe on hyra [c1200 Hatton heora] handum beron.OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) vii. 25 Þæt he geseo hwæþer heora [a1225 Winteney hera] ænig andgyttol sy.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1090 His gesworene men him trucedon & agefon hera castelas him to hearme.?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 23 Þisne læcecræft man sceal don þan manne, þe hura stemna offylþ.a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Egerton) 226 in J. Zupitza & J. Schipper Alt- u. Mitteleng. Übungsbuch (1904) 87 Ich..wulle..warnie heom wið heora unfreme, ȝif hi me wulle hlusten.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 212 He heora [c1300 Otho hire] monredne mid monscipe on-feng.

β. Old English hioræ (rare), Old English hiore (rare), Old English (rare)–early Middle English heoræ, Old English (rare)–Middle English (chiefly west midlands and south-western) heore, Old English (rare)–Middle English here, Old English (rare)–Middle English hiere, late Old English heræ, late Old English hieræ, late Old English hiræ, late Old English hyræ, late Old English–early Middle English hære, early Middle English heare (Essex), early Middle English hero, early Middle English hevro (in copy of Old English charter), early Middle English horo (south-west midlands), early Middle English huore (south-west midlands), early Middle English hye (in copy of Old English charter, transmission error), Middle English are, Middle English ere, Middle English ȝare (south-western), Middle English ȝere (south-western), Middle English hare (chiefly southern), Middle English heere, Middle English heire, Middle English herre, Middle English heyre, Middle English hire, Middle English hoere (south-western and south-west midlands), Middle English hore, Middle English horre (north-west midlands), Middle English huere (west midlands and south-western), Middle English hure (chiefly west midlands and south-western), Middle English hurre (south-western), Middle English huyre (south-western), Middle English hyare (south-eastern), Middle English hyre, Middle English hyrre, Middle English ire, Middle English ore. OE Homily (Somerset Rec. Office: DD/SASC/1193/77) in Anglo-Saxon Eng. 33 (2004) 158 Here laf hem geteorode [L. deficit panes eorum].lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 979 Nu we magon ongytan þet manna wisdom & smeagunga & heore rædas syndon nahtlice ongean Godes geþeaht.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 407 & shulenn habbenn heore læn. Forr heore rihhtwisnesse.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) Ded. l. 86 Acc nohht þurrh skill. acc all þurrh niþ. & all þurrh þeȝȝre sinne. & unnc birrþ biddenn godd tatt he Forrȝife hemm here sinne.a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 75 Hore loking, hore blawing, hore smelling, heore feling wes al iattret.?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 58 Hit is hare mester.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11399 Þa wifmen..kerueð of hire neose [c1300 Otho hure nose].1340 Ayenbite (1866) 35 Ham, þet habbeþ onworþ, to lene of hire hand: ac hi doþ lene, hare sergons. oþer oþre men, of hire pans.c1400 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Tiber.) i. lix, in R. Morris & W. W. Skeat Specim. Early Eng. (1884) II. 241 Chyldern in scole..buþ compelled for to leue here oune longage, & for to construe here lessons & here þinges a Freynsch. ▸ c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 16 Saynt Benet hom enformyd..to sle þe lust of hore lycam.a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) 3485 Þe wether..greuede hem after þat tyme nomore, Bot hadden þe wedur ryȝt at hurre wylle.c1450 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Fairf. 16) (1879) Prol. l. 138 This was hire [v.rr. here, her, hir, theyr, thair] songe the foweler we deffye.1483 tr. Adam of Eynsham Reuelation Prol. f. 2 Lyke as they deserue here in this world by here lyuyng.a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 6 Þe seruauntis hirde hire lord crye.a1550 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Edinb. Laing) 1082 They be folys, therfore here warkes hem preuyth vn wytty.

γ. Old English (rare)–Middle English (south-west midlands) heor, Old English (rare)–Middle English hyr, late Old English–Middle English 1600s hir, Middle English ar, Middle English er, Middle English ȝar (south-western), Middle English ȝer (south-western), Middle English har (chiefly southern), Middle English harr, Middle English he (transmission error), Middle English heer, Middle English heir, Middle English herr, Middle English heyr, Middle English hier, Middle English hor (chiefly west midlands and south-western), Middle English horr (north-west midlands), Middle English hour (north-west midlands), Middle English hur (chiefly west midlands and south-western), Middle English or, Middle English yr, Middle English–1500s her; English regional (Lancashire) 1800s her, 1800s hir; Irish English (Wexford) 1700s 'ar, 1700s are, 1800s aar. OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xxvii. 30 Expuentes in eum : spittende on him heor spaðl.OE Charter: Bp. Ealdred to Wulfgeat (Sawyer 1409) (transcript of lost MS) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 208 Ealdred biscop hæfþ geunnen Wulfgeate sumne dæl landes..to habbanne & to brucane ðreora manna dæg & æfter hyr dæge gange ðæt land eft agean to ðam..ðe ðonne bisceoprices wealde.OE Tiberius Psalter cviii. 20 Hoc opus eorum qui detrahunt mihi apud dominum : þis weorc heor þe tælað me mid drihten.lOE Salisbury Psalter cxiii. 17 (cxiii b. 9.) Adiutor eorum et protector eorum est : gefylsta heora & gescyld heor is.?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Þe king & Randolf eorl..treuthes fæston ðat her nouþer sculde besuyken other.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 141 Hur eiðer alumð þe se, þat is þis woreld, of faire forbisne.a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 227 Har non neste wat oðer cweð.a1275 St. Margaret (Trin. Cambr.) l. 49 in A. S. M. Clark Seint Maregrete & Body & Soul (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Michigan) (1972) 19 Þe sergaunz deden ar ernde, feire ant fele siþe.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 8215 Hii þat miȝte of scapie sone hor [c1425 Harl. her] red nome.a1350 St. Patrick's Purgatory (Ashm.) l. 168 in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1875) 1st Ser. 157 Hi wolleþ bi hote þe Ioie Inouȝ ȝif þu wolt leue on hor lore.c1400 J. Wyclif On the Seven Deadly Sins (Bodl. 647) in Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 153 Þat nedes hom to spoyle hor tenauntis and hor neghtboris.a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Lamb.) (1887) i. l. 5046 He..loude ascried þem on har cry.c1450 (?a1400) T. Chestre Sir Launfal (1930) l. 232 Har kerteles were of Inde-sandel.1480 Cronicles Eng. (Caxton) ccxlj. sig. r8^v Hir armure..And all was white hertes with crounes aboute hir nekkes.1485 W. Caxton tr. Lyf St. Wenefryde sig. aiii Her fader & moder cam, & sawe how her doughter was biheded.a1500 W. Hilton Mixed Life (Royal) in G. G. Perry Eng. Prose Treat. (1921) 25 Of hem silfe and of hir [c1390 Vernon her] sugettis.c1535 Ploughman's Tale i. sig. A.iii^v In her sentence..They wyllen gesse in her gay hall. 1789 C. Vallancey Vocab. Lang. Forth & Bargie in Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 1788 2 Antiquities 36 Mot w'all 'ar boust, hi soon was ee teight At 'ar errone was var ameing 'ar 'ngish i height.1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale Hir, of them. Gen[itive] pl. of he.

2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word early Middle English -er. ▸ c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 2352 Þe king..yaf hem lond and oþer fe So mikel þat ilker twent[i] knihtes Hauede of genge.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Originally the genitive plural third person personal pronoun form, from an early period also used as possessive adjective (see branch B.). Cognate with Old Frisian hira , hiara , Old Dutch hiro (Middle Dutch haer , Dutch haar ). On the further etymology see discussion at he pron., n.¹, and adj. Parallel in inflection are Old Saxon iro , ira , era (Middle Low German ēr , ēre , ērer ), Old High German iro (Middle High German ir , ire , German ihr , ihrer ), Gothic izō . On the gradual replacement by their adj., their pron., theirs pron. see discussion at those entries. Form history. In Old English the word apparently originally showed a short stem vowel ĭ (hira ), which was liable to undergo back mutation before a of the following syllable (hiora ), especially in non-West Saxon dialects. The mutated form hiora shows the expected reflex heora in West Saxon and later Mercian (beside earlier hiora ), while later Northumbrian also shows a variant with unrounding of the second element of the diphthong (hiara , also heara ). West Saxon usually shows a form without mutation, hira . Early West Saxon has hiera as a frequent variant of this and late West Saxon a reflex hyra . These are probably to be explained as due to laxing of i in low stress. With the form hieora compare hieo at hi pron.² β. forms and hieom at 'em pron. β. forms. Late Old English hera , hora represent monophthongized forms of heora . However, the earlier form here in the Taunton Fragment (see quot. OE at Forms 1β) may, as has been suggested, reflect uncertainty in the use of eo by a scribe schooled in continental spelling conventions. In the early Mercian of the Vespasian Psalter, the form heara is unexpectedly frequent (beside expected heora ). This is perhaps due to reduction of the diphthong in low stress, but influence of early Mercian ðeara, genitive plural of the determiner (see tho pron.¹ and adj.) has also been suggested. The Middle English forms continue both the Old English forms with mutation and those without. Forms such as hire , hyre , hir are reflexes of Old English hira . The expected reflex of Old English heora is here , which is subject to open syllable lengthening when stressed (compare heere , heer ); early and western forms preserve rounding, e.g. heore , hure , and perhaps also hore . However, the forms hore , hor apparently chiefly reflect stress shift within the diphthong (with loss of the first element). The forms hare , har are perhaps of more than one origin; they may represent unrounded forms of hore or more general reduction of the vowel in low stress. With the occurrence of these forms in the south-west perhaps compare Old English (Mercian) heara . Stress shift within the diphthong is perhaps also indicated by forms such as ȝare , ȝere ; compare discussion of Forms 1δ and 1ε at hoo pron. and n. Forms showing reduction or loss of the final vowel occur already in Old English (see Forms 1β, 1γ). Their early occurrence and prevalence is due to the frequent occurrence of the pronoun in low stress. It has been suggested that the following quot. may show a late example (of the form type at Forms 1γ) from a London writer, but this seems unlikely, as this text otherwise shows their adj.; it is more likely that it shows an error for ther (variant of their adj.) or even an instance of her adj.² (if the reference is in fact, somewhat elliptically, to the widow as host of the two-year anniversary of her husband's death):1557 H. Machyn Diary (1848) 141 At ys durge was alle the leverey; the furst master altherman Draper; and after to her plasse, and they had a kake and a bone a pesse. Other suggested examples from non-regional sources composed later than 1500 are similarly very doubtful. Inflected forms. In Old English the possessive adjective, as an original genitive plural, does not usually inflect for case or number. However, occasional instances of inflected forms are attested in later Old English (from the first half of the 11th cent. onwards) and early Middle English (see quots. below; in each case showing the influence of the case ending of the noun modified). (In quot. c1275 perhaps alternatively an instance of nunnation, a very common feature of the language of this text in this manuscript, which has not been satisfactorily explained.) Compare discussion of the late Old English and early Middle English inflected form hise at his adj. OE Monastic Canticles (Durh. B.iii.32) (1976) i. 6 Erit fides in temporibus suis : bið geleafa on tidum heorum.OE Rule St. Benet (Tiber.) (1888) xxi. 53 Secundum mandata dei et precepta abbatis sui : efter godes bebodum godes & bebodu abbodes heores.OE Arundel Psalter cxliii. 14 Oues eorum fetose... Boues eorum crasse : sceap heora teamfulle..oxan heoran fætte.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1101 Þa..wurdon þa heafodmen..wiðerræden togeanes þam cynge..for heoran agenan mycelan ungetrywðan.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1119 Þa twegen cyngas innan Normandige mid heoran folcan coman togædere.lOE St. Giles (Corpus Cambr. 303) (1980) 106 Hi gehældon þa untrumen þurh heoras drihtnes mildheortnesse.a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily In Die Sancto Pentecosten (Lamb. 487) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 101 Bisceopas..setteð heoran [OE Royal heora] handan ofer ifulȝede men.a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) i. 13 Þat hi..onȝean þane deofol & heoræs fleascæs leahtres & heore yfele ȝeþanc [OE Corpus Cambr. his flæsces and geþohta leahtras] winnan cunnan.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 13802 Al heo hit sloȝen þat heo aneh comen þe while þe heo mihte walden heoren kine-wurðe wepnen. Compare also the following apparent use as pronoun (compare quot. lOE at sense A. 1), which seems to show a similar phenomenon, probably reflecting reanalysis of the pronoun as possessive adjective, rather than providing evidence of an otherwise unparalleled early use of hers pron.² as the genitive case of hi pron.² (with the syntactic development compare the special constructions noted below):a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 235 Þer for god hafd ȝescepe ham reste, sume wile hares unþances. Special constructions. See discussion at alther adj., bo adj. c, both adj. 4.

Obsolete.

A. pron.¹

1. The genitive case of the third person plural personal pronoun hi pron.² (subsequently they pron.): of them; of themselves.

eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 875 Ęlfred cyning..gefeaht wiþ vii sciphlæstas & hiera an gefeng & þa oþru gefliemde.

OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) vii. 25 Þæt he geseo hwæþer heora [a1225 Winteney hera] ænig andgyttol sy.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1123 Ða ferde se ærcebiscop..to Cantwarabyrig & wæs þær underfangan þæh hit wære here unþancas.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 471 Whillc here shollde serrfenn firrst.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 213 Ðe beger..seið þat hit nis noht wurð..; þe sullere..swereð þat he hit nele lasse selle;..and þesse wise biswikeð her aiðer oðer.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 121 Ure drihten..bihe of heuene to mannen and lokede gif here ani understoden oðer bi-sohten him.

c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 91 Ȝef hare nowðer nere sec.

c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 3543 Sory ynow hure euerech was.

tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iii. 397 He saide her either sappe wol condescende Unto that mene.

c1450 (a1375) Octavian (Calig.) (1979) l. 1085 Her eyder oþer for to slo Swerdes droghe.

2. Used predicatively or equivalent to the adjective with a noun supplied from the context: = theirs pron. Cf. hers pron.²

eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xliv. 319 To manienne sint ða ðe hiera [L. sua] mildheortlice sellað ðætte hie ne aðinden on hiora mode.

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) v. 10 Hyra [c1200 Hatton heora, L. ipsorum] ys heofonan rice.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1048 Ða wearð Eustatius uppon his horse & his gefeoran uppon heora.

a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 34 [He] foluwude ham. ase hore. hwuder so heo euer wolden.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 144 (MED) Þe kingdom of heuene is hare.

a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 97 Þei feyned it was her.

B. adj.¹ Possessive adjective (determiner) corresponding to hi pron.² (later they pron.) (originally the possessive use of the genitive of the pronoun).

Of them; which belongs or relates to them; = their adj. 1. Also reflexive: which belongs or relates to themselves. regional in later use.Quot. eOE² was cited by N.E.D. (1898) as a solitary example of the possessive adjective substituted for the genitive inflection, but is probably a case of anticipatory displacement of the noun from its clause (left dislocation); compare discussion at her adj.² 3.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > owning > [adjective] > own > his, her, its, or their > their

hereOE

theirc1175

theirs1498

theirna1800

they1843

eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 913 Þa landleode..gebrohton hie on fullum fleame & ahreddon..hira horsa & hira wæpna micelne dæl.

eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) i. i. 9 Affrica & Asia hiera landgemircu onginnað of Alexandria.

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 180 Se ælmihtiga scyppend..hi..let befeallan on ðæt ece fyr þe him gegearcod wæs for heora ofermettum.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1119 Þæs cynges mæn Heanriges manega..wið hine acordedan þe æror mid heora castelan him togeanes wæron.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 35 He com..to helen hem of heore synwunden.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. vi. 5 Trewly Y say to ȝou, thei han resseyued her meede.

c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 11 So priketh hem nature in hir corages.

?1481 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 664 They wythholde her catell and hem-selfe bothe from the coorte.

1493 Chastysing Goddes Chyldern (de Worde) sig. Gv^v/2 They trowen that by encheson of suche manere temptacyon, they ben forgeten of her god.

c1535 Ploughman's Tale i. sig. A.iii^v In her sentence..They wyllen gesse in her gay hall.

a1550 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Bodl. e Mus.) f. 59 They amalgame her bodies with mercury lyke papp.

c1600 (?c1395) Pierce Ploughman's Crede (Trin. Cambr. R.3.15) (1873) l. 551 Þei..launceþ heiȝe her hemmes wiþ babelyng in stretes.

1789 C. Vallancey Vocab. Lang. Forth & Bargie in Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 1788 2 Antiquities 36 Mot w'all 'ar boust, hi soon was ee-teight At 'ar errone was var ameing 'ar 'ngish i-height [= but with all their boasting they soon were taught that their errand was ordained for devising their anguish].

1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale Hir, of them. Gen[itive] pl. of he.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

herpron.²n.²

Brit.

/həː/,

/(h)ə/, U.S.

/hər/,

/(h)ər/

Forms: 1.

α. Old English hiore (rare), Old English hiræ (rare), Old English (rare) Middle English–1500s here, Old English–Middle English hiere, Old English–Middle English hyre, Old English–1500s hire, late Old English hieræ, late Old English (Middle English south-western and south-west midlands) heore, early Middle English þire (see note below), Middle English heere, Middle English herre, Middle English hirre, Middle English huere (west midlands), Middle English hure (chiefly west midlands and south-western), Middle English hurre (south-western), Middle English hyrre, Middle English ire, Middle English yre, Middle English (chiefly south-eastern)–1500s hare, 1500s harre; English regional 1700s hare (Devon), 1700s hire (Devon); Scottish pre-1700 hire, pre-1700 hyre, pre-1700 hyrre.

β. Old English (chiefly Northumbrian) Middle English–1600s hir, Middle English er, Middle English heer, Middle English heir (northern), Middle English hier, Middle English hirr, Middle English hor (west midlands and south-western), Middle English hyrr, Middle English yr, Middle English (1500s–1700s chiefly in representations of Welsh English) hur, Middle English 1600s har, Middle English–1500s hyr, Middle English–1500s ir, Middle English– her, 1900s– ar (Caribbean); English regional 1700s– er, 1700s– hur, 1800s– 'er, 1800s– har (chiefly south-eastern and East Anglian), 1800s– hor (northern), 1800s– ur (south-western), 1800s– uur (Somerset), 1900s– hooar (Yorkshire); U.S. regional 1900s– 'er, 1900s– huh; Scottish pre-1700 hyr, pre-1700 1700s– her, pre-1700 1800s– hir, 1800s 'ir, 1800s– hur; also Irish English (northern) 1800s 'ir, 1900s– hir, 1900s– hor, 1900s– hur.

2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word late Middle English 1600s (1800s Scottish) -er, 1900s– -uh (U.S. regional). See also etymological note for possible additional forms.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Originally the dative singular third person feminine personal pronoun form. Cognate with Old Frisian hire , hiare , Old Dutch hiro (also ere ; Middle Dutch hare , haer , Dutch haar ). On the further etymology see discussion at he pron., n.¹, and adj. Parallel in inflection are Old Saxon iru, iro (Middle Low German ere, er), Old High German iru, iro (Middle High German ir, ire, German ihr), Gothic izai.Form history. The original form in Old English was hire , of which hiere and hyre perhaps represent variants with laxing in low stress. Forms such as hiore , heore perhaps show the influence of the stem vowel of the nominative hēo hoo pron.; alternatively perhaps compare genitive plural heora (which originally had a short diphthong: see her pron.¹ and adj.¹). Middle English heore , hure , hor similarly could show the influence of either model. The early Middle English form þire (see Forms 1α) is from a manuscript (Arundel 248) in which þ is not infrequently written for h . The forms of her pron.² (originally dative, later objective) and her pron.³ and adj.² (genitive and possessive adjective) were already homophonous in Old English. (In later Northumbrian Old English there is a tendency to prefer hir (with apocope of final e : see Forms 1β) for the dative case and hire (without apocope) for the genitive and possessive; this distinction may be purely graphic and appears not to be found in later sources.) In Middle English there is also frequent overlap with forms of (genitive plural and possessive adjective) her pron.¹ and adj.¹ Additional Middle English forms. Ling. Atlas Late Mediaeval Eng. also records the following Middle English forms, but does not specify whether they show the objective (i.e. her pron.²) or the genitive (i.e. her pron.³, her adj.²): 1. α. ȝure , heire , huure , huyre , hyere (rare), ore (perhaps transmission error). 1. β. hijr (rare), hr (perhaps transmission error), hyer (rare). Change in function. In Old English sometimes found in direct object function in constructions where an accusative would be expected (see sense A. 1c and note given there). By the end of the 14th cent. (and in many varieties much earlier than this) her had replaced the distinctive accusative forms recorded at hi pron.¹ (in direct object function as well as with prepositions which earlier took an accusative: compare sense A. 1b).

A. pron.² The objective case of the feminine third person singular pronoun, corresponding to the subjective she pron.¹ (originally Old English hēo: see hoo pron.).

1. As feminine pronoun of the third person singular, objective (direct and indirect): the female person or animal previously mentioned or implied or easily identified.Now sometimes used (with capital initial) with reference to God, in reaction against the traditional use of Him.

a. As indirect object (originally dative).

OE Cynewulf Elene 962 Gode þancode, wuldorcyninge, þæs hire se willa gelamp þurh bearn godes bega gehwæðres.

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 187 Þa com se engel to hire..& cydde hyre þæt godes sunu sceolde beon acenned of hire.

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xiv. 7 Þa behet he mid aþe hyre [OE Lindisf. hir, OE Rushw. hire, c1200 Hatton hire, L. ei] to syllenne swa hwæt swa heo hyne bæde.

?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Þe eorles..sæhtleden wyd þemperice & brohten hire into Oxenford & iauen hire þe burch.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1995 Þa deæde [sune] heore wæs leouere þe quike here wes leoðere.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 708 Þe fader..bad ire [c1425 Harl. hire] vnderstonde, To ȝwan sse wolde imaried be.

c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. ii. l. 1 Yit kneled I on my knees and cried hire of grace.

c1450 (c1350) Alexander & Dindimus (Bodl.) (1929) l. 562 Hure was lecherie luf.

1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 33 Full weill was hir that day that sho was fre.

1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. ii. 385 To doe her wrong my soule shall ne're consent.

1642 D. Rogers Naaman 498 To goe and doe as her listeth.

1712 A. Pope Rape of Locke ii, in Misc. Poems 367 Give her the Hair—he spoke, and rapp'd his Box.

1792 C. Smith Desmond II. 254 The present suspence, dreadful as it is, has given her leave to look back on the past.

1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iv. 69 O Swallow,..tell her, tell her what I tell to thee.

1856 D. G. Rossetti Blessed Damozel (rev. ed.) in Oxf. & Cambr. Mag. Nov. 713 Her seem'd she scarce had been a day One of God's choristers.

1898 E. von Arnim Elizabeth & her German Garden 92 I poured her out some tea.

1938 O. Nash I'm Stranger here Myself 211 Give her a racquet and bulging shorts And put her out on the tennis courts.

2006 J. Halstead Ruth Gipps iii. 46 He had offered her the opportunity to conduct the Boyd Neel Orchestra.

b. As the object of a preposition.Also with prepositions that originally took a complement in the accusative in Old English, replacing hi pron.¹

OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) xx. 16 Ða cwæð se Hælend to hyre [OE Lindisf. hir to, c1200 Hatton to hire, L. ei], Maria.

OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1035 He..let niman of hyre ealle þa betstan gærsuma, ðe heo ofhealdan ne mihte.

c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 24 Ant te drake reasde to hire..& sette his sariliche muð..on hire heaued.

c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 25 Of hire he hadde lute blisse.

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 2458 If thou myght Atteyne of hire to haue a sight.

c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 167 When he neighed hur negh.

1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 70 He had ij childerne by harre.

1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 72 The fayryst lady that she hade wyth hare..was stolne away from hare.

1637 J. Milton Comus 10 Ile speake to her And she shall be my Queene.

1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) ii. 10 But ev'ry Eye was fix'd on her alone.

1795 Phantoms of Cloister I. 170 He very impertinently walked up to her.

1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 26 And others laugh'd at her and Philip too.

1937 A. Christie Dumb Witness ix. 98 As far as I know he never succeeded in getting any money out of her.

2006 Time Out N.Y. 7 Dec. 122/3 Then he falls in love with her, which leads to all sorts of trouble.

c. As direct object.In Old English originally only with certain verbs that take dative objects (cf. quot. OE²). In later use increasingly with verbs that originally took accusative objects (cf. quots. OE¹, lOE), replacing hi pron.¹

OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. i. 25 Non cognoscebat eam : ne groette hire [OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. hi].

OE Old Eng. Martyrol. (Julius) 26 Mar. 46 Eua hine halsode..ðæt he hire miltsade.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127 He..sende hire siððen to Normandi, & mid hire ferde hire broðer Rotbert eorl of Gleucestre.

?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Þe king..besæt hire in þe tur; & me læt hire dun on niht of þe tur mid rapes.

c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 188 He cheas hire bimong alle wummen forte beon his moder.

c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) l. 575 Þe Deouel hire [c1275 Calig. heo] louede.

c1425 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Harl.) 12 Y ȝeue here þe to þi wyf.

c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 39 If ani of prestis..leuiþ not heer þat he holdiþ.

c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 166^v He gird hir to ground and greuit hir yll.

1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 72 Dyvers lordes and ladys browte hare on hare way.

1621 F. Quarles Hadassa v. sig. E3 He obserued her; He sent for..dainty Myrrh.

1746 A. Pope Verses upon M—— 4 Offend her, and she knows not to forgive, Oblige her, and she'll hate you while you live.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Day-dream in Poems (new ed.) II. 155 He stoops—to kiss her—on his knee.

1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn II. xxxix. 54 No wonder Nero loves her better than that pale sad lady who sits among the six Vestals.

1959 J. Thompson Getaway iii. 16 Doc had teased her about this a time or two until he saw that it annoyed her.

1987 V. Mollenkott Godding i. 4 God is both ‘other’ and ourselves,..more all-encompassing than we could imagine Her to be.

2001 K. Sampson Outlaws (2002) 100 I'm half thinking I'll surprise her with one of my Thai curries.

a. As object of a verb or preposition. The thing personified or conventionally treated as female; (in early use) the thing grammatically feminine, previously mentioned or implied or easily identified.For the range of things conventionally referred to by the feminine third person pronoun, see she pron.¹ 2a.let her rip: see rip v.¹ Phrases 1a(a). put her there: see put v. Phrases 10. send her down, Davy (also Hughie), etc.: see to send down 6 at send v.¹ Phrasal verbs.

OE Ælfric De Temporibus Anni (Cambr. Gg.3.28) (2009) xi. 94 Ðære lyfte gecynd is þæt heo sicð ælcne wætan upp to hire.

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 19 Al þet þe licome luueð, þet þa saule heteð, and wa is hire þer fore.

c1300 St. Michael (Laud) 449 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 312 (MED) Al-so þe sonne, þat heo mouwe schyne a-boute eche-on, for alle habbez lijȝt of hire, and with-oute hire nouȝt on.

c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 96 Þe eorþe..And al þat euere in hire bilyþ.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 1308 He..Bretens doun all þe bild..Drenches hire in þe hiȝe see & drawis hire on hepis.

1497 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 378 To ger hir [a ship] com on floit.

a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 53 Our mother the ground..wyl suffycyently nurysch..al bestys fyschys & foulys wych are brede & brought up apon hyr.

1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. xxxiii. 64/2 They pray likewise to the new Moone..and salute her with great deuotion.

c1600 (?c1395) Pierce Ploughman's Crede (Trin. Cambr. R.3.15) (1873) l. 668 And syþen þe sely soule slen & senden hyre to helle!

1662 J. Lamont Diary (1830) 143 The corne kill ther tooke fyre and was brunt, haueing 11 bolls oatts on hir.

1738 A. Pope One Thousand Seven Hundred & Thirty Eight 9 Vice is undone, if she forgets her Birth..'tis the Fall degrades her to a Whore; Let Greatness own her, and she's mean no more.

1827 J. Keble Christian Year II. xciii. 166 The widow'd Church is fain to rove..Make haste and take her home.

1882 W. G. Hamley Traseaden Hall II. 251 The English vessel had..grappled the enemy and finally boarded her.

1927 R. Lehmann Dusty Answer iii. 164 It took ten minutes to get the car started, with Martin and Roddy madly swinging her by turns.

1943 A. M. Lindbergh Jrnl. 26 Apr. in War within & Without (1980) 343 Germany still is very strong, has one major offensive left in her.

2005 D. O'Neil Batman Begins xii. 164 ‘Would you like to take her for a spin?’ Fox asked. Bruce pushed the ignition button.

b. Among gay men: referring to another gay man, esp. one regarded as camp or effeminate. Cf. she pron.¹ 2c.

1931 B. Niles Strange Brother xi. 216 Glory fell unconsciously into use of the feminine gender. It seemed natural to use ‘she’ and ‘her’ in speaking of these ‘fairies’.

1984 ‘Pickles’ Queens 48 Ooh! Get her! Want to be left alone, love?

2010 R. Smith Man's World vi. 147 ‘First time out, dear?’ ‘I suppose.’ ‘Well watch her.’ He nodded towards Stephen. ‘She's notorious.’

c. In anaphoric reference to a singular noun or pronoun of undetermined gender. Cf. she pron.¹ 2b.Early examples are found in contexts (e.g. teaching) in which typical representatives of the class are women; subsequently in feminist use, in reaction to the use of him (see him pron. 2b), but now in wider use.

1936 Boys' Life July 31/2 Take a copy of your paper to the teacher and ask her to take a few minutes time in school.

1981 L. Malmberg & D. Crane tr. T. Skutnabb-Kangas Bilingualism or Not iv. 84 What we would expect of an individual for her to be described as bilingual would differ from case to case.

1998 J. R. Harris Nurture Assumption 318 These are the kid's friends and she will see them whether they want her to or not.

3. reflexive. Herself.

a. As indirect object. Now archaic and colloquial (chiefly U.S. regional).

ΚΠ

OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) ii. i. 96 Seo forecwedene fostermoder þæs halgan weres abæd an hriddern hire to læne æt oðrum wife [L. praestari sibi capisterium petiit].

a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 91 (MED) Wisdom..ararde hire an hus, and hie karf hire seuen postes.

1611 Bible (King James) Judith viii. 5 And she made her a tent vpon the top of her house.

1660 S. Pepys Diary 22 Nov. (1970) I. 299 My wife..bought her a white whiske and put it on.

1664 F. Gouldman Copious Dict. ii. at Mereo She got her a husband by reason of her dowry.

1726 J. Breval Remarks Several Parts Europe I. 210 Queen Margaret, Widow to Charles of Anjou..was so taken with the delightful Situation of Tournus, that she built her a little Palace here..in which she ended her Days.

1735 London Mag. Sept. 507/2 Flora no longer need give herself pain, She's got her a deputy fairer to reign.

1870 New Eclectic Mag. May 589 I shielded a dove from all grief; but she got her a mate in the wildwood.

1926 E. M. Roberts Time of Man iv. 138 Miss Cassie, she bought her a mare today.

2006 V. Lane Art's Blood vii. 82 She had went to school to learn to be a beauty operator and she got her a job in Ransom and went to boardin' there.

b. As object of a preposition.Also occasionally in common-gender use (cf. sense A. 2c).

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xx. 342 For þan ðe heo [sc. þæs mannes sawul] hæfð on hire ðreo ðing, þæt is gemynd & andgit & willa.

OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) ii. xviii. 142 Ne drinc ðu of þære [flascan], ac hyld þu hi wærlice, & þu þonne onfindest, hwæt heo in hire hæfð [L. quid intus habet].

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 47 Hie..brohte þat child mid hire in to þe temple.

c1480 (a1400) St. John Baptist l. 583 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 239 Þe quhilk sancte tecle with hir tuke,..& stedit it honorably in þe kirk of marytany.

1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iv. i. 11 Some whither would she haue thee goe with her .

1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads 339 Enrag'd she..threw it from her, tore her hair, and squeal'd.

a1779 A. Hervey Jrnl. (1953) (modernized text) 175 She brought a little Maltese dog in her arms with her.

1802 M. Moore Lascelles I. 232 She usually had a female friend staying with her, to interrupt these tedious duo's.

1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta I. xxv. 253 Ethelberta..was brimming with compassion for the throbbing girl so nearly related to her.

1940 ‘N. Shute’ Landfall i. 9 She trod softly on the oilcloth and shut her door furtively behind her.

1996 C. Peterson Psychol. Abnormality 460/2 Focus is on the person's orientation to the present reality—whether she understands the charges against her.

2001 National Post (Canada) 21 June b6/5 She crowded a five-piece smooth-jazz ensemble on to the stage with her.

c. As direct object. Now archaic (chiefly poetic) and regional.In Old English usually with verbs of motion or posture, which tend to take the reflexive pronoun in the dative. In later use also with other verbs that originally took the reflexive pronoun in the accusative (as e.g. in quot. a1300), replacing hi pron.¹

ΚΠ

OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xxi. 16 Heo..sæt hyre feorran [L. sedens contra] wepende.

lOE Ælfric Old Test. Summary: Judith (Corpus Cambr.) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 109 Heo..hi sylfe geglængede mid golde and mid purpuran and mid ænlicum gyrlum, and eode hire syððan mid anre þinene ut of þære byrig.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2655 Ȝho ras hire upp.

a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 156 Ðe mire..resteð hire seldum.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 260 Hy hyre sseweþ ine alle þe oþre boȝes.

a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) 3060 (MED) And badde her heyȝe and make hurre alle redy.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 623/2 My maystresse maketh her fresshe, I wene she go out to some feest to daye.

1611 Bible (King James) Gen. xxi. 16 She went and sate her downe ouer against him.

1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 8 She..had no time to shift her.

1667 J. Dryden Annus Mirabilis 1666 ccxcvii. 75 Like some Shepherdess..Who sate to bathe her by a River's side.

1763 Brit. Mag. 4 495 Tho' with prudish airs she starch her, Still she longs.

a1784 G. A. Stevens Songs, Comic & Satyrical (1788) 81 One primrose time, a maiden brown..By side of shepherd sat her down.

1858 C. Kingsley Sappho 20 Then peevishly she flung her on her face.

1931 A. Ransome Swallowdale ix. 124 It'll be nearer seventy [years] since..she sat her down in that chair for the first time.

4. In literary representations of the usage of Welsh, Irish, or Gaelic speakers: he, him, it; (also) I, me. Now rare.

ΚΠ

a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 797 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 120 A bard owt of Irland..Said..Raike hir a rug of ye rost or scho sall ryme [read ryiue] the.

1526 Hundr. Merry T. (1866) xcii. 150 By cottes blut and her nayle, quod the welchman, if her [sc. a cock] be not ynough now her wyll be ynough anone for her hath a good fyre vnder her.

1643 True Copy Welch Serm. Thomason Tracts C. No. 3. A3v Goe home young Prince Maurice, and be obedient to her deare Mother; her hath sent for her two times already, and if her doe not goe before the third time of sending, her will tell her plainly, that [etc.].

1657 H. Crouch Welsh Traveller 3 Poor Taffie fell immediately, into a great deep pit. Had not a shepherd stood her [1671 his] friend, and helpt her quickly out, Her surely there had made an end, her makes no other doubt.

1754 J. Shebbeare Marriage Act I. xxxvi. 241 Hur [= I] whill put the Sword thro' hur [= your] Pody.

1793 E. D. Clarke Tour S. Eng. iv. 174 Hur knows monies when hur sees it, inteed!

1821 M. Powell Hist. Welsh Tale of England's Troubles iii. 54 Look you, Colonel, hur was not alarmed—hur was your honour's servant.

1893 R. L. Stevenson Catriona xv. 163 It will be made by a bogle and her wanting ta heid upon his body.

1970 T. Murphy Whistle in Dark i. 29 Let her (Des ) do the choosing. Like Dada said, she's no baby.

5. Used for the subjective case.

a. As subject of a finite clause, esp. when postmodified, conjoined with a following noun or pronoun, after than and as, and as subject complement. Now colloquial.Sometimes considered incorrect: cf. him pron. 4b, me pron.¹ 5.

ΚΠ

1625 R. Aylett Brides Ornaments iv. iii. 75 None more pleasing to our smell I weene, Nor more, than her [sc. Meekness], respected of Loues royall Queene.

1666 S. Pepys Diary 1 Oct. (1972) VII. 303 I took another pretty woman for her, taking her a clap on the breech, thinking verily it had been her.

1697 J. Vanbrugh Provok'd Wife iv. 52 But if it prove her, All that's Woman in me shall be employ'd to destroy her.

1714 S. Centlivre Wonder v. 63 That's the Lady's Name of the House where my Incognita is, sure it could not be her.

a1718 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions (1723) II. 12 For thou art a girl as much brighter than her, As he was a poet sublimer than me.

a1754 H. Fielding Fathers (1778) iv. i. 71 The next morning down trundled her and I to Dirty Park.

1841 C. Dickens Master Humphrey's Clock II. 172 There was him and her..a sittin' by the fire.

1862 Dublin Univ. Mag. Feb. 142/2 Whisht! is that her coming?

1867 Ohio Educ. Monthly July 263 What rule of grammar is violated in the sentence, ‘It was her that told me’?

1920 C. S. Montanye Some Nephew! iii. 75 I and Robin and her goes into the studio.

1968 J. Speight Till Death us do Part: Scripts (1973) 83 There's some down this street a lot worse than her.

1993 R. Lowe & W. Shaw Travellers 6 I had a twenty-foot caravan at the time so I let her stay in there until her and her boyfriend got a council flat.

2000 P. Redmond Puppet Show (2003) 321 She..whirled round to face him and he saw that it wasn't her at all.

b. English regional. Used as the ordinary subjective case.

(a) midlands and southern. = she pron.¹ 1. Also: = she pron.¹ 2a(a).

ΚΠ

1777–8 R. Wight Horæ Subsecivæ (MS Bodl. Eng. lang. d.66) 3 Archaisms, Anomalies, Barbarisms... Dum. [i.e. Devon] Hire corrupte pro She—‘Where is Hire gone?’

1832 M. Wood Let. 13 Dec. in T. Sokoll Essex Pauper Lett. (2001) 95 I Do not know what to Do With the Gall As Her is So bad of for Cloths.

1872 H. Cullwick Diaries (1984) 202 So she ax'd me to come in the kitchen & I sat down. Her said, ‘You mun excuse the dirt, but you know what Saturdays is if you're the same sort o' servant as I am.’

1893 G. E. Dartnell & E. H. Goddard Gloss. Words Wilts. 4 Her's that weak her can't away with the childern at no rate!

1901 R. Barrett in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1902) III. 144/1 [Sussex] ‘Have her stopped?’ a man would ask of a clock.

1907 W. Weeks Bits o' Broad Devon (ed. 4) 75 'Er was a fine gurt likely maid.

1960 A. O. D. Claxton Suffolk Dial. 20th Cent. (ed. 2) 11 O, har be a bumptious botty bitch, har oon't speak t' th' loikes o' we.

1977 R. Scollins & J. Titford Ey up, mi Duck! II. 6 ‘Weer is 'er?’ ‘Is 'er ready yit?’

1996 M. Syal Anita & Me (1997) v. 101 ‘Her was blue,’ he said, ‘Like every bit of blood wore gone from her little body.’

(b) Chiefly south-west midlands and south-western. Used with reference to a male person or animal (= he pron. 1), or generally as a common-gender pronoun.See etymological note at hoo pron. and n.

ΚΠ

1811 P. Roberts in tr. Chron. Kings Brit. Notes 359 I have been informed that the word hur is used for he, in a small district on the border of Shropshire, not far from Welshpool, and another near Ellesmere in Shropshire.

1814 Monthly Mag. 39 127/1 [Somerset] Did he give them anything? did 'er gi' 'em ort?

1841 C. H. Hartshorne Salopia Antiqua 463 The masculine and feminine pronouns are constantly transposed by the vulgar. Thus a poor woman in describing the infirm state of her husband, says, ‘Her is meety lahm’.

1881 H. Smith & C. R. Smith Isle of Wight Words 51 ‘I axed Meyastur about that are last night.’ ‘Well: what ded ur zay?’

1890 S. S. Buckman John Darke's Sojourn in Cotteswolds ii. 7 ‘Good marning, Mr. Bassut,’ I says,..an' er says, ‘Marning’.

1901 C. V. Goddard in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1902) III. 143/2 [Dorset] The Lord hav' been good to I, han' her?

1974 W. Leeds Herefordshire Speech 11 Our Dad er says as uz is to go.

B. n.²

A female person, a woman. Also: (a woman's or girl's) self. Cf. she n. 2.

ΘΠ

the world > people > person > woman > [noun]

wifeeOE

womaneOE

womanOE

queanOE

brideOE

viragoc1000

to wifeOE

burdc1225

ladyc1225

carlinec1375

stotc1386

marec1387

pigsneyc1390

fellowa1393

piecec1400

femalea1425

goddessa1450

fairc1450

womankindc1450

fellowessa1500

femininea1513

tega1529

sister?1532

minikinc1540

wyec1540

placket1547

pig's eye1553

hen?1555

ware1558

pussy?a1560

jade1560

feme1566

gentlewoman1567

mort1567

pinnacea1568

jug1569

rowen1575

tarleather1575

mumps1576

skirt1578

piga1586

rib?1590

puppy1592

smock1592

maness1594

sloy1596

Madonna1602

moll1604

periwinkle1604

Partlet1607

rib of man1609

womanship?1609

modicum1611

Gypsy1612

petticoata1616

runniona1616

birda1627

lucky1629

she-man1640

her1646

lost rib1647

uptails1671

cow1696

tittup1696

cummer17..

wife1702

she-woman1703

person1704

molly1706

fusby1707

goody1708

riding hood1718

birdie1720

faggot1722

piece of goods1727

woman body1771

she-male1776

biddy1785

bitch1785

covess1789

gin1790

pintail1792

buer1807

femme1814

bibi1816

Judy1819

a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823

wifie1823

craft1829

shickster?1834

heifer1835

mot1837

tit1837

Sitt1838

strap1842

hay-bag1851

bint1855

popsy1855

tart1864

woman's woman1868

to deliver the goods1870

chapess1871

Dona1874

girl1878

ladykind1878

mivvy1881

dudess1883

dudette1883

dudine1883

tid1888

totty1890

tootsy1895

floozy1899

dame1902

jane1906

Tom1906

frail1908

bit of stuff1909

quim1909

babe1911

broad1914

muff1914

manhole1916

number1919

rossie1922

bit1923

man's woman1928

scupper1935

split1935

rye mort1936

totsy1938

leg1939

skinny1941

Richard1950

potato1957

scow1960

wimmin1975

womyn1975

womxn1991

1646 R. Crashaw Steps to Temple 138 Now if Time knowes That her whose radiant Browes Weave them a Garland of my vowes.

1795 W. Cobbett Kick for Bite 22 How artfully has the author (or authoress) managed the personification of genius! First it is a her, then an it, and by-and-by it acts like a man.

1860 L. M. Child Let. (1882) 142 ‘He..says..“I had hard work to lose him, but I have lost him.”’ ‘But I can never lose a her,’ said [John Greenleaf] Whittier. ‘The women are more pertinacious than the men.’

1939 A. Christie Murder is Easy ii. 28 Tell me about him? It's a her. Her name's Bridget Conway.

1995 V. Hamilton Her Stories 40 Little hers and hims tippy-toed on cobwebs..Tiny sister- and brother-ones made cobweb swings on the branches.

2010 Daily Tel. 15 Apr. 32/1 I was never sure whether one was real and one a part she was playing, and if so, who was the real her.

Compounds

her indoors n. (also 'er indoors) British colloquial one's wife or girlfriend; in extended use, applied to any woman occupying a position of authority who is regarded as domineering.The phrase was popularized by the Thames Television series Minder (1979–93), in which the leading character Arthur Daley habitually referred to his wife as ‘her indoors’. The series' original writer, Leon Griffiths, apparently first heard it used by ‘a taxi-driver drinking companion of his’ ( Independent (1992) 16 June 13/6).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > love > a lover > [noun] > one who is loved or a sweetheart > specifically a female sweetheart or girlfriend

lief971

ladya1393

ladyshipa1393

speciala1400

amiec1400

womanc1400

amoreta1425

mistressc1425

paramoura1450

fair ladya1470

girl?a1513

sooterkin1530

Tib1533

she1547

lady-love1568

jug1569

young lady1584

pigeon1592

love-lass1594

lass1596

dowsabel1612

swainling1615

lucky1629

Dulcinea1638

Lindabrides1640

inamorata1651

baby1684

best girl1691

lady friend1733

young woman1822

moll1823

querida1834

sheila1839

bint1855

tart1864

babykins1870

Dona1874

novia1874

fancy-girl1892

girlfriend1892

cliner1895

tootsy1895

dinah1898

best1904

twist and twirl1905

jane1906

kitten1908

patootie1918

meisie1919

bride1924

gf1925

jelly1931

sort1933

a bit (also piece) of homework1945

beast1946

queen1955

momma1964

mi'jita1970

her indoors1979

girlf1991

society > authority > rule or government > oppression > [noun] > domineering or overbearing > domineering person > woman

termagant1578

maîtresse femme1853

battle-axe1896

dragon lady1949

her indoors1979

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [noun] > wife > one's wife

peculiar1615

old woman1668

old girl1745

the Mrs1821

old lady1836

old Dutcha1889

duchess1909

ever-loving1939

her indoors1979

1979 L. Griffiths Smaller they Are in Minder (television script, second draft) 10 May 2 That's what her indoors doesn't understand Terry. A young bird keep [sic] you feeling young.

1984 Guardian 17 Oct. 12/2 These days, her indoors (and Mr Walker too) are said to be seldom off the phone with words of wisdom for Mr MacGregor.

1986 R. Sproat Stunning the Punters 156 I was taking Her Indoors out for a day at the Zoo.

1988 Times 2 Nov. 21/1 She [sc. the mistress of a Great Artist] is immortalized in oils, while 'Er Indoors cleans up the mess afterwards.

1992 Pilot July 36/1 I began to consider buying a single-seat kitplane, a microlight, or even a taildragger. But there were howls of disagreement from Her Indoors and the rest of the tribe.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online September 2022).

herpron.³adj.²

Brit.

/həː/,

/(h)ə/, U.S.

/hər/,

/(h)ər/

Forms: 1.

α. early Old English hiora (Kentish), Old English heora (rare), Old English hiore (rare), Old English hirę (rare), Old English (rare) Middle English–1500s here, Old English (rare)–early Middle English hira, Old English (rare)–early Middle English hiræ, Old English (rare)–early Middle English hora, Old English (rare)–early Middle English hyra, Old English (rare)–Middle English (south-western and south-west midlands) heore, Old English–Middle English hiere, Old English–1500s hire, Old English–1500s hyre, late Old English hioræ, late Old English hyræ, early Middle English þire (see note below), Middle English heere, Middle English hera (in copy of Old English charter), Middle English herre, Middle English heyre (west midlands), Middle English hiire, Middle English hirre, Middle English hyrre, Middle English ire, Middle English yre, Middle English (chiefly south-eastern)–1500s hare, Middle English (chiefly south-western and south-west midlands)–1500s hure, Middle English–1500s hurre, 1500s are, 1500s huire, 1500s huyre; English regional 1700s hare (Devon); Scottish pre-1700 hire, pre-1700 hyre, pre-1700 hyrre.

β. Old English (rare) Middle English–1500s hyr, Old English (rare) Middle English–1600s hir, Middle English er, Middle English heer, Middle English heir, Middle English heor (south-west midlands), Middle English herr, Middle English hirr, Middle English hor (chiefly west midlands), Middle English huyr, Middle English hyrr, Middle English ir, Middle English yr, Middle English (1500s–1600s chiefly in representations of Welsh English) hur, Middle English–1500s har, Middle English– her, 1500s hwr, 1600s 'er, 1600s 'r; English regional 1700s– hur (northern and north midlands), 1800s– 'er, 1800s– har (chiefly East Anglian), 1800s– hor (northern); Scottish pre-1700 hyr, pre-1700 1700s– her, pre-1700 1700s– hir, 1700s– hur; Irish English (northern) 1900s– hir, 1900s– hor, 1900s– hur.

2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word early Middle English -ere. See also etymological note for possible additional forms.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Originally the genitive singular third person feminine personal pronoun form, from an early period also used as possessive adjective (see B.). Cognate with Old Frisian hire , hiare , Old Dutch hiro (also iro ; Middle Dutch haer , hare , har , Dutch haar ). On the further etymology see discussion at he pron., n.¹, and adj. Parallel in inflection are Old Saxon iro (also ira, ire, iru; Middle Low German ere, er), Old High German ira (Middle High German ir, ire, German ihr), Gothic izos.Form history. The original form in Old English is hire , which is already formally identical with the dative singular hire her pron.², and the two forms largely show parallel development in Old English and Middle English. In Middle English there is also frequent overlap with the forms of (plural) her pron.¹ and adj.¹ The early Middle English form þire (see Forms 1α) is from a manuscript (Arundel 248) in which þ is not infrequently written for h . For a discussion of the preference in later Northumbrian Old English for the form without apocope for the genitive and possessive see her pron.² and n.² Additional Middle English forms. Ling. Atlas Late Mediaeval Eng. also records the following Middle English forms, but does not specify whether they show the genitive (i.e. her pron.³, her adj.²) or the objective (i.e. her pron.²): 1. α. ȝure, heire, huure, huyre, hyere (rare), ore (perhaps transmission error). 1. β. hijr (rare), hr (perhaps transmission error), hyer (rare). 2. -er (rare).

†A. pron.³

1. The genitive case of the third person singular feminine personal pronoun hēo (see hoo pron.): of her; of the feminine being or thing in question. Obsolete.

eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 878 Him to coman þær ongen Sumorsæte alle..& Hamtunscir se dęl se hiere behinon sę was.

eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) i. i. 20 Mauritania þe man oþre naman hæt Tingetana, be eastan hyre is Malua sio ea [L. habet ab oriente flumen Malvam].

c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Royal) (1934) 5 (MED) Ha iherde on euch half hire hu me droh to deaðe Cristes icorne for rihte bileaue.

a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 72 (MED) Y wolde nemne hyre to-day, ant y dorste hire munne.

2. Used predicatively or equivalent to the adjective with a noun supplied from the context: = hers pron.¹ Obsolete. [Originally the predicative and absolute uses of the possessive adjective.]

OE St. Mary of Egypt (Julius) (2002) 114 Ofgif þære eorðan þæt hire is [L. quod suum est], and þæt dust to þam duste geic.

lOE Will of Ælfheah (Sawyer 1485) in D. Whitelock Anglo-Saxon Wills (1930) 22 He gean..þam yldran æþælingæ þæs cyngæs suna and hiræ [sc. Ælfthryth's] þritiga mancussa goldæs.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 49 (MED) Duue..fedeð briddes þeh hie ne ben noht hire.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2035 Ðe wite is hise, ðe rigt is hire.

c1430 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1881) i. l. 889 A kyngis herte semyth bi hire [v.rr. her, hires] awreche.

B. adj.² Possessive adjective (determiner) corresponding to she pron.¹ (originally the possessive use of the genitive of the pronoun hēo).

1. Of her; which belongs or relates to her. Also reflexive: of herself; which belongs or relates to herself.

a. Referring to a person or female animal.Now sometimes used (with capital initial) with reference to God, in reaction against the traditional use of His.

ΘΠ

the mind > possession > owning > [adjective] > own > his, her, its, or their > his or her

hereOE

hiseOE

hers1555

himsc1700

him1780

he1833

his'n1895

eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 888 Ęþelswiþ cuen..forþferde, & hire lic liþ æt Pafian.

OE Widsith 99 Hyre lof lengde geond londa fela, þonne ic..secgan sceolde hwær ic..selast wisse goldhrodene cwen giefe bryttian.

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxi. 5 Þin cyning þe cymð to gedæfte & rit uppan tamre assene & hyre folan [L. super asinam et pullum filium subiugalis].

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1036 Ælfgifu Hardacnutes modor sæte on Winceastre mid þæs cynges huscarlum hyra suna.

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 3 (MED) Heo nomen þe asse and here colt.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 7619 Mold hire [c1425 Harl. yr] name was.

a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 1193 Þis hard hayre he wered hurre body nexst.

a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 3 My wif..woll[e] hyde his body by hire beddys syde.

1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 72 Shee went hare wayes.

1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 86 The qwenes grace came..are owne persone, with hare cepter in hare honde.

1569 J. Rogers Glasse Godly Love 181 As ritch as hir husband.

1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre ii. v. 26 in Wks. II Let's away, her language growes greasier then her Pigs.

1649 Perfect Diurnall No. 321. 2793 One black Mare with a white blaze down her forehead.

1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) i. 2 Belinda still her downy Pillow prest, Her Guardian Sylph prolong'd the balmy Rest.

1772 in G. Cartwright Jrnl. Resid. Coast Labrador (1792) I. 216 [I] saw the fresh tracks of three white-bears; a dog, a bitch, and her cub.

1808 W. Scott Marmion ii. iii. 80 Her hopes, her fears, her joys, were all Bounded within the cloister wall.

1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia II. x. 238 Hypatia sat still in her chamber, her face buried in her hands.

1876 Index (Boston) 27 Apr. 200/2 On this special evening she looked her most attractive.

1907 ‘N. Blanchan’ Birds Every Child should Know xv. 219 The female Cooper's hawk is about nineteen inches long and her mate a finger-length smaller.

1939 P. G. Wodehouse Uncle Fred in Springtime xv. 225 There was a look in her eyes that made me think right away that she was feeling he was her Prince Charming.

1986 A. Greeley God Game (1987) i. 5 As for God, Her program is not on the market.

2009 ‘R. Keeland’ tr. S. Larsson Girl who played with Fire vii. 112 She looked out at the firewall of the back courtyards, as she had done her whole life.

b. Referring to a thing personified or conventionally treated as female or (in early use) a thing grammatically feminine.For the range of things conventionally referred to by the feminine third person pronoun, see she pron.¹ 2a.

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxx. 266 Seo boc is swiðe micel, and hire digele andgyt is ofer ure mæðe to smeagenne.

OE tr. Titles to Psychomachia of Prudentius (Cleo.) xli, in Zeitschr. f. Deutsches Alterthum (1876) 20 40 Luxuria in caena sedit : seo galnes æt hyre æfengereordum sitt.

OE Paris Psalter (1932) ciii. 18 Sunne hire setlgang sweotule healdeð.

c1225 (?OE) Soul's Addr. to Body (Worcester) (Fragm. D) l. 18 Ȝet sæiþ þe soule soriliche to hire licame: ‘[Wen]dest þu, la, erming, her o to wunienne.’

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 196 Al þet hali chirche deð red oðer singeð. & alle hire sacramenz strengeð ow gastliche.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Song of Sol. i. 4 (margin) The Chirche of hir tribulaciouns.

1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) iv. vii. f. lxj Thenne ganne this fayre grene Appel tree to shaken hyr leues.

1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) i. 21 A ryver..I beleve verely that in al christendome is not her lyke.

c1503 tr. Magna Carta in R. Arnold Chron. f. lxxxiiij^v/1 That the chartur a forsaid in alle and euerych her articles.

1534 Bible (Tyndale rev. Joye) Luke xiv. 34 Salt is good but yf salt have loste hyr saltnes what shall be seasoned ther with?

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Chron. v. 7 The prestes broughte the Arke..vnto hir place.

1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 149 The moone is xviij. daies old, the time of hir shining is x. houres.

1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 205 Englande, and hir principall cities.

1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 649 There is nothing more common than the sunne, which imparteth of hir light to all the celestiall bodies.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iii. iii. 90 The Shippe boaring the Moone with her maine Mast.

1649 W. Blith Eng. Improver ii. 12 The Earth..and the principall causes of hir Barrennesse.

1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite ii, in Fables 46 The ruin'd House that falls And intercepts her Lord betwixt the Walls.

1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. at Metal When the Mouth of a Great Gun lies lower than her Breech.

1821 P. B. Shelley Epipsychidion 22 The Moon will veil her horn In thy last smiles.

1895 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Oct. 1/3 England..has tried her best to head him off.

1939 War Illustr. 29 Dec. 526 The superstructure is the nerve centre of the ship from which she is navigated and her gunfire controlled.

1994 United Church Observer Oct. 25/3 The future of Quebec is in the hands of all her citizens.

c. Referring to certain animals (e.g. the cat, the hare) conventionally accorded feminine gender.

a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 157 Ðe mire..fecheð hire fode.

c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 634 The bisy larke messager of day Salueth in hir song the morwe gray.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 413 A brid of þe see him seluyn him fangis..[with] þe wose of þe wede hire wengis anoyntis.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. vi. A Go to the Emmet (thou slogarde) considre hir wayes.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 268 The Weasill..hangeth fast vpon her throat, and will not loose her holde, runne the hare neuer so fast.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 512 If a male mouse be flaied all ouer, or her taile cut off, or if her legge be bound to a post in the house, or a bell be hung about her necke, and so turned going, she will driue away all her fellowes.

1642 D. Rogers Naaman 97 The Bezor..knowing by instinct what it is she is hunted for (not her skin, but her stone).

1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite iii, in Fables 54 The tuneful Lark..flick'ring on her Nest, made short Essays to sing.

1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 306 The timorous hare, Grown so familiar with her frequent guest, Scarce shuns me.

1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel II. 23 The quirking rabbit scarcely leaves her hole.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. 65 The cat, having cleaned all her fur, returned to the meatstained paper.

1972 P. O'Brian Post Captain viii. 220 And hare would not answer, either, for I dare say they are rated with the coney and her kind.

2005 M. Noble Liking Good Jazz i. 5 A black cat, her tail up, crossed in front of her.

†d. Modifying nainself, ownself. In literary representations of the usage of Gaelic speakers: he; I. Cf. her pron.² 4. Obsolete.

a1689 W. Cleland Coll. Poems (1697) 13 If any ask her of her thrift, Foresooth her nain sell lives by thift.

c1707 in Sc. Antiquary (1898) 12 105 Her nane sell does not well farstand tese Nice Points.

a1722 J. Lauder Jrnls. (1900) 128 They call it, shame fall it, ay hir oune selfe hes forgotten it.

1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth x, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. III. 263 ‘No offence meant,’ said the Highlander; ‘but her own self comes to buy an armour.’ ‘Her own self's bare shanks may trot hence with her,’ answered Henry.

e. In relation to a singular noun or pronoun of undetermined gender. Cf. she pron.¹ 2b.Early examples are often found in contexts (e.g. teaching) in which typical representatives of the class are women; subsequently in feminist use, in reaction to the use of his (see his adj. 1c), but now in wider use.

1908 W. Mack Cycl. Law & Procedure XXIX. 153/1 Where the beneficiary submits her proofs to the trustees of the society and appeals from the rejection of her claim, she waives any fraud found prior to the submission.

1909 Pop. Sci. Monthly Mar. 303 The teacher does her best; the pupils do better than one would suppose.

1977 P. Leach Baby & Child i. 19 That baby is the point of the whole labour process. It is her safe arrival with which your body is concerned.

1981 L. Malmberg & D. Crane tr. T. Skutnabb-Kangas Bilingualism or Not ii. 35 An individual who in both her languages fell short of the monolingual norm.

1988 Nature 24 Nov. 305/3 An observer..will find..that the inertial clocks read a later time than her own.

1991 K. Ward Vision to Pursue xiv. 190 The Buddhist seeks to..make her nature one with the Buddha nature.

2008 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 4 Dec. 12/2 Occasionally a person with a dementing illness will insist that her spouse is not her spouse or that her home is not her real home.

2. Used in certain respectful or honorific forms of address, as her highness, her ladyship, her majesty, etc., which act as a formal substitute for she or the objective pronoun her: see the nouns.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 1730 (MED) Ther scholde me non ydelschipe Departen fro hir ladischipe.

a1450 (c1375) G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite (Tanner 346) (1878) l. 191 This new lady..drofe hym forthe vnneth her liste to knowe That he was seruaunt vnto her ladyship.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. ccxxxviii^v Her Grace..alyghted out of her Chariot in the whych she had rydden all her long iourney.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. iv. 4 Will her Ladyship behold and heare our Exorcismes?

1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 5th Bk. Wks. xxii. 104 We humbly thank'd her Queenship, without saying a word, accepting of the Noble Office she conferr'd on us.

1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 41 Her Ladyship went to see, and to be seen.

1788 F. Burney Court Jrnls. & Lett. (2014) IV. 601 Her Majesty..drowned in Tears.

1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XIV lxiii. 146 Her Grace too pass'd for being an Intrigante..; One of those pretty, precious plagues, which haunt A lover with caprices soft and dear.

1884 Graphic 16 Aug. 162/3 Her Majesty has signified her intention of subscribing 200l. to the Building Fund.

1922 P. G. Wodehouse Clicking of Cuthbert x. 253 Her Highness is the easiest thing to look at these eyes have ever seen.

1959 P. O'Brian Unknown Shore xiv. 310 Her ladyship is giving a rout tonight.

2013 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 1 May (Features section) 21 At Balmoral, Her Majesty mucks in during summer barbecues.

3. After a noun (esp. a personal name): substituting for the genitive inflection -s. Cf. his adj. 5, their adj. 6.This use was probably modelled on his adj. 5.Quots. eOE and c1430, cited by N.E.D. (1898), are not instances of this phenomenon: the former probably shows the use of a redundant determiner displacing the noun phrase (left dislocation); the latter almost certainly shows simple verb-subject inversion. See further C. L. Allen in Trans. Philol. Soc. 95 (1997) 125–8.

eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) i. i. 11 Nilus seo ea hire æwielme is neh þæm clife þære Readan Sæs.

c1430 (c1395) G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1872) 359 (heading) Here begynnyt the wyf of bathe hire tale.]

1546 in State Papers Henry VIII (1830) I. 889 Elizabeth Holland her howse, newlie made in Suffolk.

1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 32 Curio..haunted Lucilla hir company.

1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. viii. 6 Presuming on the Queen her private practice.

1659 H. L'Estrange Alliance Divine Offices 455 The Excellency of our Church her burial office.

1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights I. iii. 39 It was a Testament, in lean type, and smelling dreadfully musty: a fly-leaf bore the inscription—‘Catherine Earnshaw, her book.’

1873 F. Hall Mod. Eng. 355 (note) In England, to this day, the vulgar write, in their Bibles, Prayer-books, and elsewhere, ‘John Crane his book’, ‘Esther Hodges her book’, etc.

1983 J. Wheatcroft (title) Catherine, her Book.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

n.¹OE

pron.¹adj.¹eOE

pron.²n.²OE

pron.³adj.²eOE

单词	her
释义	† herheren.¹ Forms: Old English hearra, herra, hærra, Middle English herre, hærre, northern and ScottishMiddle English her, Middle English–1500s here, (Middle English heere, hery, 1500s hair, heir, heyr). Etymology: Old English herra, hearra, corresponding to Old Frisian hêra, Old Saxon hêrro (Middle Dutch herre, hêr(r)e, Dutch heer), Old High German hêrro (Middle High German hêrre, herre, German herr), Old Norse harri, herra (Swedish, Danish herre). In Old High German and Old Saxon, a substantive use of the comparative degree hêr(o)ro of the adjective hêr ‘old’, hence ‘venerable, august’, modern German hehr ‘sublime, elevated, august, holy’, identical with Old English hár hoary, grey, Old Norse hárr < Old Germanic hairo- probably ‘hoary with age, venerable’; supposed to have been first used as a form of address to superiors: compare the Romanic use of Latin senior, in Italian signore, Spanish señor, French seigneur* ‘lord’, originally ‘older, elder’. Both in Old English and Old Norse adopted < Old Low German; in Old English found originally in the parts of the ‘Cædmon’ poems which are transliterated from an Old Saxon original; also in later Old English and Middle English poetry, and in Scots to 16th cent. Apparently only in poetical use. poetic. Obsolete. Lord, chief, master; man of high position or rank; sometimes more generally = Man. ΘΚΠ society > authority > [noun] > those in authority > person in authority mastereOE herOE lordOE overmana1325 overling1340 seignior1393 prelatea1475 oversman1505 signor1583 hogen mogen1639 boss-cocky1898 man1918 trump1937 authority figure1948 Great White Father1960 society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > [noun] > person of > man of rank herOE man of statec1330 peera1375 man of goodc1390 sira1400 titulado1622 society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > lord herOE lordOE lordheada1325 lordship1394 milord1607 Lo.1610 milordo1758 the world > people > person > man > [noun] churla800 werec900 rinkeOE wapmanc950 heOE wyeOE gomeOE ledeOE seggeOE shalkOE manOE carmanlOE mother bairnc1225 hemea1250 mother sona1250 hind1297 buck1303 mister mana1325 piecec1325 groomc1330 man of mouldc1330 hathela1350 sire1362 malea1382 fellowa1393 guestc1394 sergeant?a1400 tailarda1400 tulka1400 harlotc1405 mother's sona1470 frekea1475 her1488 masculinea1500 gentlemana1513 horse?a1513 mutton?a1513 merchant1549 child1551 dick1553 sorrya1555 knavea1556 dandiprat1556 cove1567 rat1571 manling1573 bird1575 stone-horse1580 loona1586 shaver1592 slave1592 copemate1593 tit1594 dog1597 hima1599 prick1598 dingle-dangle1605 jade1608 dildoa1616 Roger1631 Johnny1648 boy1651 cod1653 cully1676 son of a bitch1697 cull1698 feller1699 chap1704 buff1708 son of a gun1708 buffer1749 codger1750 Mr1753 he-man1758 fella1778 gilla1790 gloak1795 joker1811 gory1819 covey1821 chappie1822 Charley1825 hombre1832 brother-man1839 rooster1840 blokie1841 hoss1843 Joe1846 guy1847 plug1848 chal1851 rye1851 omee1859 bloke1861 guffin1862 gadgie1865 mug1865 kerel1873 stiff1882 snoozer1884 geezer1885 josser1886 dude1895 gazabo1896 jasper1896 prairie dog1897 sport1897 crow-eater1899 papa1903 gink1906 stud1909 scout1912 head1913 beezer1914 jeff1917 pisser1918 bimbo1919 bozo1920 gee1921 mush1936 rye mush1936 basher1942 okie1943 mugger1945 cat1946 ou1949 tess1952 oke1970 bra1974 muzhik1993 OE Genesis 521 Þe sende waldend god, þin hearra þas helpe of heofonrice. OE Genesis 678 Nu hæbbe ic his her on handa, herra se goda; gife ic hit þe georne. c1067 Poem in Anglo-Saxon Chron. (MS. C.) anno 1066 Se in alle tid hyrde holdlice hærran sinum. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2702 For þu ært ure hærre. 1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 102 Þis lond ich habbe here so fre, þat to non herre y schal abuye. a1400–50 Alexander 1920 All þe hathils & þe heris & þe hiȝe maistris. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vii. l. 41 Arnwlff..Off South Hantoun, that huge hie her and lord. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid v. vi. 8 Thiddir the heir [Æneas] with mony thowsand gan hy. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid v. xii. 70 Ane of the eldest herys stude about, Clepit Nautes. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 10146 Antenour in angur angardly stroke, Vnhorset the here, hade hym to ground. 1559 D. Lindsay Test. Papyngo l. 338 in Wks. (1931) I Thov arte bot kyng of bone, Frome tyme thyne hereis hartis bene from ye gone. 1622 (?a1513) W. Dunbar Poems (Reidpeth) (1998) I. 241 I sa ane heir in bed oppressit ly. Derivatives † here-man n. Obsolete lord, master. ΚΠ a1400–50 Alexander 4938 A! A! happy haly here man. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2021). † herpron.¹adj.¹ Forms: 1. α. early Old English hara (Mercian, perhaps transmission error), early Old English hyrra (perhaps transmission error), Old English eora (rare), Old English hæora (rare), Old English heara (chiefly Mercian), Old English hiara (chiefly Northumbrian), Old English hieora (rare), Old English hiera, Old English hiora, Old English hyora (rare), Old English (early Middle English in copy of Old English charter) hira, Old English–early Middle English heora, Old English–early Middle English hyra, Old English (rare)–early Middle English hera, late Old English (early Middle English in copy of Old English charter) hæra, late Old English–early Middle English hora, early Middle English hura. eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 449 Her Mauricius & Ualentines onfengon rice... On hiera dagum Hengest & Horsa..gesohton Bretene.eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 893 Ða Deniscan sæton þær behindan, forþæm hiora cyning wæs gewundod on þæm gefeohte.eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 895 Þa Deniscan hæfdon hira wif befæst innan Eastengle.OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. vi. 5 Receperunt mercedem suam : onfengon mearde heara [OE Rushw. heora, OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. hyra, c1200 Hatton heore].OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 48 In eorum celebritate gaudere : in hiara gimersunge gifeaiga.OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) iv. 6 He his englum bebead be ðe þæt hig þe on hyra [c1200 Hatton heora] handum beron.OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) vii. 25 Þæt he geseo hwæþer heora [a1225 Winteney hera] ænig andgyttol sy.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1090 His gesworene men him trucedon & agefon hera castelas him to hearme.?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 23 Þisne læcecræft man sceal don þan manne, þe hura stemna offylþ.a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Egerton) 226 in J. Zupitza & J. Schipper Alt- u. Mitteleng. Übungsbuch (1904) 87 Ich..wulle..warnie heom wið heora unfreme, ȝif hi me wulle hlusten.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 212 He heora [c1300 Otho hire] monredne mid monscipe on-feng. β. Old English hioræ (rare), Old English hiore (rare), Old English (rare)–early Middle English heoræ, Old English (rare)–Middle English (chiefly west midlands and south-western) heore, Old English (rare)–Middle English here, Old English (rare)–Middle English hiere, late Old English heræ, late Old English hieræ, late Old English hiræ, late Old English hyræ, late Old English–early Middle English hære, early Middle English heare (Essex), early Middle English hero, early Middle English hevro (in copy of Old English charter), early Middle English horo (south-west midlands), early Middle English huore (south-west midlands), early Middle English hye (in copy of Old English charter, transmission error), Middle English are, Middle English ere, Middle English ȝare (south-western), Middle English ȝere (south-western), Middle English hare (chiefly southern), Middle English heere, Middle English heire, Middle English herre, Middle English heyre, Middle English hire, Middle English hoere (south-western and south-west midlands), Middle English hore, Middle English horre (north-west midlands), Middle English huere (west midlands and south-western), Middle English hure (chiefly west midlands and south-western), Middle English hurre (south-western), Middle English huyre (south-western), Middle English hyare (south-eastern), Middle English hyre, Middle English hyrre, Middle English ire, Middle English ore. OE Homily (Somerset Rec. Office: DD/SASC/1193/77) in Anglo-Saxon Eng. 33 (2004) 158 Here laf hem geteorode [L. deficit panes eorum].lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 979 Nu we magon ongytan þet manna wisdom & smeagunga & heore rædas syndon nahtlice ongean Godes geþeaht.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 407 & shulenn habbenn heore læn. Forr heore rihhtwisnesse.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) Ded. l. 86 Acc nohht þurrh skill. acc all þurrh niþ. & all þurrh þeȝȝre sinne. & unnc birrþ biddenn godd tatt he Forrȝife hemm here sinne.a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 75 Hore loking, hore blawing, hore smelling, heore feling wes al iattret.?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 58 Hit is hare mester.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11399 Þa wifmen..kerueð of hire neose [c1300 Otho hure nose].1340 Ayenbite (1866) 35 Ham, þet habbeþ onworþ, to lene of hire hand: ac hi doþ lene, hare sergons. oþer oþre men, of hire pans.c1400 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Tiber.) i. lix, in R. Morris & W. W. Skeat Specim. Early Eng. (1884) II. 241 Chyldern in scole..buþ compelled for to leue here oune longage, & for to construe here lessons & here þinges a Freynsch. ▸ c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 16 Saynt Benet hom enformyd..to sle þe lust of hore lycam.a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) 3485 Þe wether..greuede hem after þat tyme nomore, Bot hadden þe wedur ryȝt at hurre wylle.c1450 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Fairf. 16) (1879) Prol. l. 138 This was hire [v.rr. here, her, hir, theyr, thair] songe the foweler we deffye.1483 tr. Adam of Eynsham Reuelation Prol. f. 2 Lyke as they deserue here in this world by here lyuyng.a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 6 Þe seruauntis hirde hire lord crye.a1550 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Edinb. Laing) 1082 They be folys, therfore here warkes hem preuyth vn wytty. γ. Old English (rare)–Middle English (south-west midlands) heor, Old English (rare)–Middle English hyr, late Old English–Middle English 1600s hir, Middle English ar, Middle English er, Middle English ȝar (south-western), Middle English ȝer (south-western), Middle English har (chiefly southern), Middle English harr, Middle English he (transmission error), Middle English heer, Middle English heir, Middle English herr, Middle English heyr, Middle English hier, Middle English hor (chiefly west midlands and south-western), Middle English horr (north-west midlands), Middle English hour (north-west midlands), Middle English hur (chiefly west midlands and south-western), Middle English or, Middle English yr, Middle English–1500s her; English regional (Lancashire) 1800s her, 1800s hir; Irish English (Wexford) 1700s 'ar, 1700s are, 1800s aar. OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xxvii. 30 Expuentes in eum : spittende on him heor spaðl.OE Charter: Bp. Ealdred to Wulfgeat (Sawyer 1409) (transcript of lost MS) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 208 Ealdred biscop hæfþ geunnen Wulfgeate sumne dæl landes..to habbanne & to brucane ðreora manna dæg & æfter hyr dæge gange ðæt land eft agean to ðam..ðe ðonne bisceoprices wealde.OE Tiberius Psalter cviii. 20 Hoc opus eorum qui detrahunt mihi apud dominum : þis weorc heor þe tælað me mid drihten.lOE Salisbury Psalter cxiii. 17 (cxiii b. 9.) Adiutor eorum et protector eorum est : gefylsta heora & gescyld heor is.?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Þe king & Randolf eorl..treuthes fæston ðat her nouþer sculde besuyken other.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 141 Hur eiðer alumð þe se, þat is þis woreld, of faire forbisne.a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 227 Har non neste wat oðer cweð.a1275 St. Margaret (Trin. Cambr.) l. 49 in A. S. M. Clark Seint Maregrete & Body & Soul (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Michigan) (1972) 19 Þe sergaunz deden ar ernde, feire ant fele siþe.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 8215 Hii þat miȝte of scapie sone hor [c1425 Harl. her] red nome.a1350 St. Patrick's Purgatory (Ashm.) l. 168 in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1875) 1st Ser. 157 Hi wolleþ bi hote þe Ioie Inouȝ ȝif þu wolt leue on hor lore.c1400 J. Wyclif On the Seven Deadly Sins (Bodl. 647) in Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 153 Þat nedes hom to spoyle hor tenauntis and hor neghtboris.a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Lamb.) (1887) i. l. 5046 He..loude ascried þem on har cry.c1450 (?a1400) T. Chestre Sir Launfal (1930) l. 232 Har kerteles were of Inde-sandel.1480 Cronicles Eng. (Caxton) ccxlj. sig. r8^v Hir armure..And all was white hertes with crounes aboute hir nekkes.1485 W. Caxton tr. Lyf St. Wenefryde sig. aiii Her fader & moder cam, & sawe how her doughter was biheded.a1500 W. Hilton Mixed Life (Royal) in G. G. Perry Eng. Prose Treat. (1921) 25 Of hem silfe and of hir [c1390 Vernon her] sugettis.c1535 Ploughman's Tale i. sig. A.iii^v In her sentence..They wyllen gesse in her gay hall. 1789 C. Vallancey Vocab. Lang. Forth & Bargie in Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 1788 2 Antiquities 36 Mot w'all 'ar boust, hi soon was ee teight At 'ar errone was var ameing 'ar 'ngish i height.1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale Hir, of them. Gen[itive] pl. of he. 2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word early Middle English -er. ▸ c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 2352 Þe king..yaf hem lond and oþer fe So mikel þat ilker twent[i] knihtes Hauede of genge. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Originally the genitive plural third person personal pronoun form, from an early period also used as possessive adjective (see branch B.). Cognate with Old Frisian hira , hiara , Old Dutch hiro (Middle Dutch haer , Dutch haar ). On the further etymology see discussion at he pron., n.¹, and adj. Parallel in inflection are Old Saxon iro , ira , era (Middle Low German ēr , ēre , ērer ), Old High German iro (Middle High German ir , ire , German ihr , ihrer ), Gothic izō . On the gradual replacement by their adj., their pron., theirs pron. see discussion at those entries. Form history. In Old English the word apparently originally showed a short stem vowel ĭ (hira ), which was liable to undergo back mutation before a of the following syllable (hiora ), especially in non-West Saxon dialects. The mutated form hiora shows the expected reflex heora in West Saxon and later Mercian (beside earlier hiora ), while later Northumbrian also shows a variant with unrounding of the second element of the diphthong (hiara , also heara ). West Saxon usually shows a form without mutation, hira . Early West Saxon has hiera as a frequent variant of this and late West Saxon a reflex hyra . These are probably to be explained as due to laxing of i in low stress. With the form hieora compare hieo at hi pron.² β. forms and hieom at 'em pron. β. forms. Late Old English hera , hora represent monophthongized forms of heora . However, the earlier form here in the Taunton Fragment (see quot. OE at Forms 1β) may, as has been suggested, reflect uncertainty in the use of eo by a scribe schooled in continental spelling conventions. In the early Mercian of the Vespasian Psalter, the form heara is unexpectedly frequent (beside expected heora ). This is perhaps due to reduction of the diphthong in low stress, but influence of early Mercian ðeara, genitive plural of the determiner (see tho pron.¹ and adj.) has also been suggested. The Middle English forms continue both the Old English forms with mutation and those without. Forms such as hire , hyre , hir are reflexes of Old English hira . The expected reflex of Old English heora is here , which is subject to open syllable lengthening when stressed (compare heere , heer ); early and western forms preserve rounding, e.g. heore , hure , and perhaps also hore . However, the forms hore , hor apparently chiefly reflect stress shift within the diphthong (with loss of the first element). The forms hare , har are perhaps of more than one origin; they may represent unrounded forms of hore or more general reduction of the vowel in low stress. With the occurrence of these forms in the south-west perhaps compare Old English (Mercian) heara . Stress shift within the diphthong is perhaps also indicated by forms such as ȝare , ȝere ; compare discussion of Forms 1δ and 1ε at hoo pron. and n. Forms showing reduction or loss of the final vowel occur already in Old English (see Forms 1β, 1γ). Their early occurrence and prevalence is due to the frequent occurrence of the pronoun in low stress. It has been suggested that the following quot. may show a late example (of the form type at Forms 1γ) from a London writer, but this seems unlikely, as this text otherwise shows their adj.; it is more likely that it shows an error for ther (variant of their adj.) or even an instance of her adj.² (if the reference is in fact, somewhat elliptically, to the widow as host of the two-year anniversary of her husband's death):1557 H. Machyn Diary (1848) 141 At ys durge was alle the leverey; the furst master altherman Draper; and after to her plasse, and they had a kake and a bone a pesse. Other suggested examples from non-regional sources composed later than 1500 are similarly very doubtful. Inflected forms. In Old English the possessive adjective, as an original genitive plural, does not usually inflect for case or number. However, occasional instances of inflected forms are attested in later Old English (from the first half of the 11th cent. onwards) and early Middle English (see quots. below; in each case showing the influence of the case ending of the noun modified). (In quot. c1275 perhaps alternatively an instance of nunnation, a very common feature of the language of this text in this manuscript, which has not been satisfactorily explained.) Compare discussion of the late Old English and early Middle English inflected form hise at his adj. OE Monastic Canticles (Durh. B.iii.32) (1976) i. 6 Erit fides in temporibus suis : bið geleafa on tidum heorum.OE Rule St. Benet (Tiber.) (1888) xxi. 53 Secundum mandata dei et precepta abbatis sui : efter godes bebodum godes & bebodu abbodes heores.OE Arundel Psalter cxliii. 14 Oues eorum fetose... Boues eorum crasse : sceap heora teamfulle..oxan heoran fætte.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1101 Þa..wurdon þa heafodmen..wiðerræden togeanes þam cynge..for heoran agenan mycelan ungetrywðan.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1119 Þa twegen cyngas innan Normandige mid heoran folcan coman togædere.lOE St. Giles (Corpus Cambr. 303) (1980) 106 Hi gehældon þa untrumen þurh heoras drihtnes mildheortnesse.a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily In Die Sancto Pentecosten (Lamb. 487) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 101 Bisceopas..setteð heoran [OE Royal heora] handan ofer ifulȝede men.a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) i. 13 Þat hi..onȝean þane deofol & heoræs fleascæs leahtres & heore yfele ȝeþanc [OE Corpus Cambr. his flæsces and geþohta leahtras] winnan cunnan.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 13802 Al heo hit sloȝen þat heo aneh comen þe while þe heo mihte walden heoren kine-wurðe wepnen. Compare also the following apparent use as pronoun (compare quot. lOE at sense A. 1), which seems to show a similar phenomenon, probably reflecting reanalysis of the pronoun as possessive adjective, rather than providing evidence of an otherwise unparalleled early use of hers pron.² as the genitive case of hi pron.² (with the syntactic development compare the special constructions noted below):a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 235 Þer for god hafd ȝescepe ham reste, sume wile hares unþances. Special constructions. See discussion at alther adj., bo adj. c, both adj. 4. Obsolete. A. pron.¹ 1. The genitive case of the third person plural personal pronoun hi pron.² (subsequently they pron.): of them; of themselves. Π eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 875 Ęlfred cyning..gefeaht wiþ vii sciphlæstas & hiera an gefeng & þa oþru gefliemde. OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) vii. 25 Þæt he geseo hwæþer heora [a1225 Winteney hera] ænig andgyttol sy. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1123 Ða ferde se ærcebiscop..to Cantwarabyrig & wæs þær underfangan þæh hit wære here unþancas. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 471 Whillc here shollde serrfenn firrst. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 213 Ðe beger..seið þat hit nis noht wurð..; þe sullere..swereð þat he hit nele lasse selle;..and þesse wise biswikeð her aiðer oðer. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 121 Ure drihten..bihe of heuene to mannen and lokede gif here ani understoden oðer bi-sohten him. c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 91 Ȝef hare nowðer nere sec. c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 3543 Sory ynow hure euerech was. tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iii. 397 He saide her either sappe wol condescende Unto that mene. c1450 (a1375) Octavian (Calig.) (1979) l. 1085 Her eyder oþer for to slo Swerdes droghe. 2. Used predicatively or equivalent to the adjective with a noun supplied from the context: = theirs pron. Cf. hers pron.² Π eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xliv. 319 To manienne sint ða ðe hiera [L. sua] mildheortlice sellað ðætte hie ne aðinden on hiora mode. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) v. 10 Hyra [c1200 Hatton heora, L. ipsorum] ys heofonan rice. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1048 Ða wearð Eustatius uppon his horse & his gefeoran uppon heora. a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 34 [He] foluwude ham. ase hore. hwuder so heo euer wolden. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 144 (MED) Þe kingdom of heuene is hare. a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 97 Þei feyned it was her. B. adj.¹ Possessive adjective (determiner) corresponding to hi pron.² (later they pron.) (originally the possessive use of the genitive of the pronoun). Of them; which belongs or relates to them; = their adj. 1. Also reflexive: which belongs or relates to themselves. regional in later use.Quot. eOE² was cited by N.E.D. (1898) as a solitary example of the possessive adjective substituted for the genitive inflection, but is probably a case of anticipatory displacement of the noun from its clause (left dislocation); compare discussion at her adj.² 3. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > owning > [adjective] > own > his, her, its, or their > their hereOE theirc1175 theirs1498 theirna1800 they1843 eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 913 Þa landleode..gebrohton hie on fullum fleame & ahreddon..hira horsa & hira wæpna micelne dæl. eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) i. i. 9 Affrica & Asia hiera landgemircu onginnað of Alexandria. OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 180 Se ælmihtiga scyppend..hi..let befeallan on ðæt ece fyr þe him gegearcod wæs for heora ofermettum. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1119 Þæs cynges mæn Heanriges manega..wið hine acordedan þe æror mid heora castelan him togeanes wæron. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 35 He com..to helen hem of heore synwunden. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. vi. 5 Trewly Y say to ȝou, thei han resseyued her meede. c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 11 So priketh hem nature in hir corages. ?1481 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 664 They wythholde her catell and hem-selfe bothe from the coorte. 1493 Chastysing Goddes Chyldern (de Worde) sig. Gv^v/2 They trowen that by encheson of suche manere temptacyon, they ben forgeten of her god. c1535 Ploughman's Tale i. sig. A.iii^v In her sentence..They wyllen gesse in her gay hall. a1550 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Bodl. e Mus.) f. 59 They amalgame her bodies with mercury lyke papp. c1600 (?c1395) Pierce Ploughman's Crede (Trin. Cambr. R.3.15) (1873) l. 551 Þei..launceþ heiȝe her hemmes wiþ babelyng in stretes. 1789 C. Vallancey Vocab. Lang. Forth & Bargie in Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 1788 2 Antiquities 36 Mot w'all 'ar boust, hi soon was ee-teight At 'ar errone was var ameing 'ar 'ngish i-height [= but with all their boasting they soon were taught that their errand was ordained for devising their anguish]. 1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale Hir, of them. Gen[itive] pl. of he. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online December 2021). herpron.²n.² Brit. /həː/, /(h)ə/, U.S. /hər/, /(h)ər/ Forms: 1. α. Old English hiore (rare), Old English hiræ (rare), Old English (rare) Middle English–1500s here, Old English–Middle English hiere, Old English–Middle English hyre, Old English–1500s hire, late Old English hieræ, late Old English (Middle English south-western and south-west midlands) heore, early Middle English þire (see note below), Middle English heere, Middle English herre, Middle English hirre, Middle English huere (west midlands), Middle English hure (chiefly west midlands and south-western), Middle English hurre (south-western), Middle English hyrre, Middle English ire, Middle English yre, Middle English (chiefly south-eastern)–1500s hare, 1500s harre; English regional 1700s hare (Devon), 1700s hire (Devon); Scottish pre-1700 hire, pre-1700 hyre, pre-1700 hyrre. β. Old English (chiefly Northumbrian) Middle English–1600s hir, Middle English er, Middle English heer, Middle English heir (northern), Middle English hier, Middle English hirr, Middle English hor (west midlands and south-western), Middle English hyrr, Middle English yr, Middle English (1500s–1700s chiefly in representations of Welsh English) hur, Middle English 1600s har, Middle English–1500s hyr, Middle English–1500s ir, Middle English– her, 1900s– ar (Caribbean); English regional 1700s– er, 1700s– hur, 1800s– 'er, 1800s– har (chiefly south-eastern and East Anglian), 1800s– hor (northern), 1800s– ur (south-western), 1800s– uur (Somerset), 1900s– hooar (Yorkshire); U.S. regional 1900s– 'er, 1900s– huh; Scottish pre-1700 hyr, pre-1700 1700s– her, pre-1700 1800s– hir, 1800s 'ir, 1800s– hur; also Irish English (northern) 1800s 'ir, 1900s– hir, 1900s– hor, 1900s– hur. 2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word late Middle English 1600s (1800s Scottish) -er, 1900s– -uh (U.S. regional). See also etymological note for possible additional forms. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Originally the dative singular third person feminine personal pronoun form. Cognate with Old Frisian hire , hiare , Old Dutch hiro (also ere ; Middle Dutch hare , haer , Dutch haar ). On the further etymology see discussion at he pron., n.¹, and adj. Parallel in inflection are Old Saxon iru, iro (Middle Low German ere, er), Old High German iru, iro (Middle High German ir, ire, German ihr), Gothic izai.Form history. The original form in Old English was hire , of which hiere and hyre perhaps represent variants with laxing in low stress. Forms such as hiore , heore perhaps show the influence of the stem vowel of the nominative hēo hoo pron.; alternatively perhaps compare genitive plural heora (which originally had a short diphthong: see her pron.¹ and adj.¹). Middle English heore , hure , hor similarly could show the influence of either model. The early Middle English form þire (see Forms 1α) is from a manuscript (Arundel 248) in which þ is not infrequently written for h . The forms of her pron.² (originally dative, later objective) and her pron.³ and adj.² (genitive and possessive adjective) were already homophonous in Old English. (In later Northumbrian Old English there is a tendency to prefer hir (with apocope of final e : see Forms 1β) for the dative case and hire (without apocope) for the genitive and possessive; this distinction may be purely graphic and appears not to be found in later sources.) In Middle English there is also frequent overlap with forms of (genitive plural and possessive adjective) her pron.¹ and adj.¹ Additional Middle English forms. Ling. Atlas Late Mediaeval Eng. also records the following Middle English forms, but does not specify whether they show the objective (i.e. her pron.²) or the genitive (i.e. her pron.³, her adj.²): 1. α. ȝure , heire , huure , huyre , hyere (rare), ore (perhaps transmission error). 1. β. hijr (rare), hr (perhaps transmission error), hyer (rare). Change in function. In Old English sometimes found in direct object function in constructions where an accusative would be expected (see sense A. 1c and note given there). By the end of the 14th cent. (and in many varieties much earlier than this) her had replaced the distinctive accusative forms recorded at hi pron.¹ (in direct object function as well as with prepositions which earlier took an accusative: compare sense A. 1b). A. pron.² The objective case of the feminine third person singular pronoun, corresponding to the subjective she pron.¹ (originally Old English hēo: see hoo pron.). 1. As feminine pronoun of the third person singular, objective (direct and indirect): the female person or animal previously mentioned or implied or easily identified.Now sometimes used (with capital initial) with reference to God, in reaction against the traditional use of Him. a. As indirect object (originally dative). Π OE Cynewulf Elene 962 Gode þancode, wuldorcyninge, þæs hire se willa gelamp þurh bearn godes bega gehwæðres. OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 187 Þa com se engel to hire..& cydde hyre þæt godes sunu sceolde beon acenned of hire. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xiv. 7 Þa behet he mid aþe hyre [OE Lindisf. hir, OE Rushw. hire, c1200 Hatton hire, L. ei] to syllenne swa hwæt swa heo hyne bæde. ?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Þe eorles..sæhtleden wyd þemperice & brohten hire into Oxenford & iauen hire þe burch. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1995 Þa deæde [sune] heore wæs leouere þe quike here wes leoðere. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 708 Þe fader..bad ire [c1425 Harl. hire] vnderstonde, To ȝwan sse wolde imaried be. c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. ii. l. 1 Yit kneled I on my knees and cried hire of grace. c1450 (c1350) Alexander & Dindimus (Bodl.) (1929) l. 562 Hure was lecherie luf. 1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 33 Full weill was hir that day that sho was fre. 1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. ii. 385 To doe her wrong my soule shall ne're consent. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 498 To goe and doe as her listeth. 1712 A. Pope Rape of Locke ii, in Misc. Poems 367 Give her the Hair—he spoke, and rapp'd his Box. 1792 C. Smith Desmond II. 254 The present suspence, dreadful as it is, has given her leave to look back on the past. 1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iv. 69 O Swallow,..tell her, tell her what I tell to thee. 1856 D. G. Rossetti Blessed Damozel (rev. ed.) in Oxf. & Cambr. Mag. Nov. 713 Her seem'd she scarce had been a day One of God's choristers. 1898 E. von Arnim Elizabeth & her German Garden 92 I poured her out some tea. 1938 O. Nash I'm Stranger here Myself 211 Give her a racquet and bulging shorts And put her out on the tennis courts. 2006 J. Halstead Ruth Gipps iii. 46 He had offered her the opportunity to conduct the Boyd Neel Orchestra. b. As the object of a preposition.Also with prepositions that originally took a complement in the accusative in Old English, replacing hi pron.¹ Π OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) xx. 16 Ða cwæð se Hælend to hyre [OE Lindisf. hir to, c1200 Hatton to hire, L. ei], Maria. OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1035 He..let niman of hyre ealle þa betstan gærsuma, ðe heo ofhealdan ne mihte. c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 24 Ant te drake reasde to hire..& sette his sariliche muð..on hire heaued. c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 25 Of hire he hadde lute blisse. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 2458 If thou myght Atteyne of hire to haue a sight. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 167 When he neighed hur negh. 1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 70 He had ij childerne by harre. 1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 72 The fayryst lady that she hade wyth hare..was stolne away from hare. 1637 J. Milton Comus 10 Ile speake to her And she shall be my Queene. 1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) ii. 10 But ev'ry Eye was fix'd on her alone. 1795 Phantoms of Cloister I. 170 He very impertinently walked up to her. 1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 26 And others laugh'd at her and Philip too. 1937 A. Christie Dumb Witness ix. 98 As far as I know he never succeeded in getting any money out of her. 2006 Time Out N.Y. 7 Dec. 122/3 Then he falls in love with her, which leads to all sorts of trouble. c. As direct object.In Old English originally only with certain verbs that take dative objects (cf. quot. OE²). In later use increasingly with verbs that originally took accusative objects (cf. quots. OE¹, lOE), replacing hi pron.¹ Π OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. i. 25 Non cognoscebat eam : ne groette hire [OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. hi]. OE Old Eng. Martyrol. (Julius) 26 Mar. 46 Eua hine halsode..ðæt he hire miltsade. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127 He..sende hire siððen to Normandi, & mid hire ferde hire broðer Rotbert eorl of Gleucestre. ?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Þe king..besæt hire in þe tur; & me læt hire dun on niht of þe tur mid rapes. c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 188 He cheas hire bimong alle wummen forte beon his moder. c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) l. 575 Þe Deouel hire [c1275 Calig. heo] louede. c1425 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Harl.) 12 Y ȝeue here þe to þi wyf. c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 39 If ani of prestis..leuiþ not heer þat he holdiþ. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 166^v He gird hir to ground and greuit hir yll. 1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 72 Dyvers lordes and ladys browte hare on hare way. 1621 F. Quarles Hadassa v. sig. E3 He obserued her; He sent for..dainty Myrrh. 1746 A. Pope Verses upon M—— 4 Offend her, and she knows not to forgive, Oblige her, and she'll hate you while you live. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Day-dream in Poems (new ed.) II. 155 He stoops—to kiss her—on his knee. 1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn II. xxxix. 54 No wonder Nero loves her better than that pale sad lady who sits among the six Vestals. 1959 J. Thompson Getaway iii. 16 Doc had teased her about this a time or two until he saw that it annoyed her. 1987 V. Mollenkott Godding i. 4 God is both ‘other’ and ourselves,..more all-encompassing than we could imagine Her to be. 2001 K. Sampson Outlaws (2002) 100 I'm half thinking I'll surprise her with one of my Thai curries. 2. a. As object of a verb or preposition. The thing personified or conventionally treated as female; (in early use) the thing grammatically feminine, previously mentioned or implied or easily identified.For the range of things conventionally referred to by the feminine third person pronoun, see she pron.¹ 2a.let her rip: see rip v.¹ Phrases 1a(a). put her there: see put v. Phrases 10. send her down, Davy (also Hughie), etc.: see to send down 6 at send v.¹ Phrasal verbs. Π OE Ælfric De Temporibus Anni (Cambr. Gg.3.28) (2009) xi. 94 Ðære lyfte gecynd is þæt heo sicð ælcne wætan upp to hire. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 19 Al þet þe licome luueð, þet þa saule heteð, and wa is hire þer fore. c1300 St. Michael (Laud) 449 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 312 (MED) Al-so þe sonne, þat heo mouwe schyne a-boute eche-on, for alle habbez lijȝt of hire, and with-oute hire nouȝt on. c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 96 Þe eorþe..And al þat euere in hire bilyþ. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 1308 He..Bretens doun all þe bild..Drenches hire in þe hiȝe see & drawis hire on hepis. 1497 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 378 To ger hir [a ship] com on floit. a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 53 Our mother the ground..wyl suffycyently nurysch..al bestys fyschys & foulys wych are brede & brought up apon hyr. 1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. xxxiii. 64/2 They pray likewise to the new Moone..and salute her with great deuotion. c1600 (?c1395) Pierce Ploughman's Crede (Trin. Cambr. R.3.15) (1873) l. 668 And syþen þe sely soule slen & senden hyre to helle! 1662 J. Lamont Diary (1830) 143 The corne kill ther tooke fyre and was brunt, haueing 11 bolls oatts on hir. 1738 A. Pope One Thousand Seven Hundred & Thirty Eight 9 Vice is undone, if she forgets her Birth..'tis the Fall degrades her to a Whore; Let Greatness own her, and she's mean no more. 1827 J. Keble Christian Year II. xciii. 166 The widow'd Church is fain to rove..Make haste and take her home. 1882 W. G. Hamley Traseaden Hall II. 251 The English vessel had..grappled the enemy and finally boarded her. 1927 R. Lehmann Dusty Answer iii. 164 It took ten minutes to get the car started, with Martin and Roddy madly swinging her by turns. 1943 A. M. Lindbergh Jrnl. 26 Apr. in War within & Without (1980) 343 Germany still is very strong, has one major offensive left in her. 2005 D. O'Neil Batman Begins xii. 164 ‘Would you like to take her for a spin?’ Fox asked. Bruce pushed the ignition button. b. Among gay men: referring to another gay man, esp. one regarded as camp or effeminate. Cf. she pron.¹ 2c. Π 1931 B. Niles Strange Brother xi. 216 Glory fell unconsciously into use of the feminine gender. It seemed natural to use ‘she’ and ‘her’ in speaking of these ‘fairies’. 1984 ‘Pickles’ Queens 48 Ooh! Get her! Want to be left alone, love? 2010 R. Smith Man's World vi. 147 ‘First time out, dear?’ ‘I suppose.’ ‘Well watch her.’ He nodded towards Stephen. ‘She's notorious.’ c. In anaphoric reference to a singular noun or pronoun of undetermined gender. Cf. she pron.¹ 2b.Early examples are found in contexts (e.g. teaching) in which typical representatives of the class are women; subsequently in feminist use, in reaction to the use of him (see him pron. 2b), but now in wider use. Π 1936 Boys' Life July 31/2 Take a copy of your paper to the teacher and ask her to take a few minutes time in school. 1981 L. Malmberg & D. Crane tr. T. Skutnabb-Kangas Bilingualism or Not iv. 84 What we would expect of an individual for her to be described as bilingual would differ from case to case. 1998 J. R. Harris Nurture Assumption 318 These are the kid's friends and she will see them whether they want her to or not. 3. reflexive. Herself. a. As indirect object. Now archaic and colloquial (chiefly U.S. regional). ΚΠ OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) ii. i. 96 Seo forecwedene fostermoder þæs halgan weres abæd an hriddern hire to læne æt oðrum wife [L. praestari sibi capisterium petiit]. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 91 (MED) Wisdom..ararde hire an hus, and hie karf hire seuen postes. 1611 Bible (King James) Judith viii. 5 And she made her a tent vpon the top of her house. View more context for this quotation 1660 S. Pepys Diary 22 Nov. (1970) I. 299 My wife..bought her a white whiske and put it on. 1664 F. Gouldman Copious Dict. ii. at Mereo She got her a husband by reason of her dowry. 1726 J. Breval Remarks Several Parts Europe I. 210 Queen Margaret, Widow to Charles of Anjou..was so taken with the delightful Situation of Tournus, that she built her a little Palace here..in which she ended her Days. 1735 London Mag. Sept. 507/2 Flora no longer need give herself pain, She's got her a deputy fairer to reign. 1870 New Eclectic Mag. May 589 I shielded a dove from all grief; but she got her a mate in the wildwood. 1926 E. M. Roberts Time of Man iv. 138 Miss Cassie, she bought her a mare today. 2006 V. Lane Art's Blood vii. 82 She had went to school to learn to be a beauty operator and she got her a job in Ransom and went to boardin' there. b. As object of a preposition.Also occasionally in common-gender use (cf. sense A. 2c). Π OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xx. 342 For þan ðe heo [sc. þæs mannes sawul] hæfð on hire ðreo ðing, þæt is gemynd & andgit & willa. OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) ii. xviii. 142 Ne drinc ðu of þære [flascan], ac hyld þu hi wærlice, & þu þonne onfindest, hwæt heo in hire hæfð [L. quid intus habet]. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 47 Hie..brohte þat child mid hire in to þe temple. c1480 (a1400) St. John Baptist l. 583 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 239 Þe quhilk sancte tecle with hir tuke,..& stedit it honorably in þe kirk of marytany. 1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iv. i. 11 Some whither would she haue thee goe with her . View more context for this quotation 1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads 339 Enrag'd she..threw it from her, tore her hair, and squeal'd. a1779 A. Hervey Jrnl. (1953) (modernized text) 175 She brought a little Maltese dog in her arms with her. 1802 M. Moore Lascelles I. 232 She usually had a female friend staying with her, to interrupt these tedious duo's. 1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta I. xxv. 253 Ethelberta..was brimming with compassion for the throbbing girl so nearly related to her. 1940 ‘N. Shute’ Landfall i. 9 She trod softly on the oilcloth and shut her door furtively behind her. 1996 C. Peterson Psychol. Abnormality 460/2 Focus is on the person's orientation to the present reality—whether she understands the charges against her. 2001 National Post (Canada) 21 June b6/5 She crowded a five-piece smooth-jazz ensemble on to the stage with her. c. As direct object. Now archaic (chiefly poetic) and regional.In Old English usually with verbs of motion or posture, which tend to take the reflexive pronoun in the dative. In later use also with other verbs that originally took the reflexive pronoun in the accusative (as e.g. in quot. a1300), replacing hi pron.¹ ΚΠ OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xxi. 16 Heo..sæt hyre feorran [L. sedens contra] wepende. lOE Ælfric Old Test. Summary: Judith (Corpus Cambr.) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 109 Heo..hi sylfe geglængede mid golde and mid purpuran and mid ænlicum gyrlum, and eode hire syððan mid anre þinene ut of þære byrig. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2655 Ȝho ras hire upp. a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 156 Ðe mire..resteð hire seldum. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 260 Hy hyre sseweþ ine alle þe oþre boȝes. a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) 3060 (MED) And badde her heyȝe and make hurre alle redy. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 623/2 My maystresse maketh her fresshe, I wene she go out to some feest to daye. 1611 Bible (King James) Gen. xxi. 16 She went and sate her downe ouer against him. View more context for this quotation 1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 8 She..had no time to shift her. 1667 J. Dryden Annus Mirabilis 1666 ccxcvii. 75 Like some Shepherdess..Who sate to bathe her by a River's side. 1763 Brit. Mag. 4 495 Tho' with prudish airs she starch her, Still she longs. a1784 G. A. Stevens Songs, Comic & Satyrical (1788) 81 One primrose time, a maiden brown..By side of shepherd sat her down. 1858 C. Kingsley Sappho 20 Then peevishly she flung her on her face. 1931 A. Ransome Swallowdale ix. 124 It'll be nearer seventy [years] since..she sat her down in that chair for the first time. 4. In literary representations of the usage of Welsh, Irish, or Gaelic speakers: he, him, it; (also) I, me. Now rare. ΚΠ a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 797 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 120 A bard owt of Irland..Said..Raike hir a rug of ye rost or scho sall ryme [read ryiue] the. 1526 Hundr. Merry T. (1866) xcii. 150 By cottes blut and her nayle, quod the welchman, if her [sc. a cock] be not ynough now her wyll be ynough anone for her hath a good fyre vnder her. 1643 True Copy Welch Serm. Thomason Tracts C. No. 3. A3v Goe home young Prince Maurice, and be obedient to her deare Mother; her hath sent for her two times already, and if her doe not goe before the third time of sending, her will tell her plainly, that [etc.]. 1657 H. Crouch Welsh Traveller 3 Poor Taffie fell immediately, into a great deep pit. Had not a shepherd stood her [1671 his] friend, and helpt her quickly out, Her surely there had made an end, her makes no other doubt. 1754 J. Shebbeare Marriage Act I. xxxvi. 241 Hur [= I] whill put the Sword thro' hur [= your] Pody. 1793 E. D. Clarke Tour S. Eng. iv. 174 Hur knows monies when hur sees it, inteed! 1821 M. Powell Hist. Welsh Tale of England's Troubles iii. 54 Look you, Colonel, hur was not alarmed—hur was your honour's servant. 1893 R. L. Stevenson Catriona xv. 163 It will be made by a bogle and her wanting ta heid upon his body. 1970 T. Murphy Whistle in Dark i. 29 Let her (Des ) do the choosing. Like Dada said, she's no baby. 5. Used for the subjective case. a. As subject of a finite clause, esp. when postmodified, conjoined with a following noun or pronoun, after than and as, and as subject complement. Now colloquial.Sometimes considered incorrect: cf. him pron. 4b, me pron.¹ 5. ΚΠ 1625 R. Aylett Brides Ornaments iv. iii. 75 None more pleasing to our smell I weene, Nor more, than her [sc. Meekness], respected of Loues royall Queene. 1666 S. Pepys Diary 1 Oct. (1972) VII. 303 I took another pretty woman for her, taking her a clap on the breech, thinking verily it had been her. 1697 J. Vanbrugh Provok'd Wife iv. 52 But if it prove her, All that's Woman in me shall be employ'd to destroy her. 1714 S. Centlivre Wonder v. 63 That's the Lady's Name of the House where my Incognita is, sure it could not be her. a1718 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions (1723) II. 12 For thou art a girl as much brighter than her, As he was a poet sublimer than me. a1754 H. Fielding Fathers (1778) iv. i. 71 The next morning down trundled her and I to Dirty Park. 1841 C. Dickens Master Humphrey's Clock II. 172 There was him and her..a sittin' by the fire. 1862 Dublin Univ. Mag. Feb. 142/2 Whisht! is that her coming? 1867 Ohio Educ. Monthly July 263 What rule of grammar is violated in the sentence, ‘It was her that told me’? 1920 C. S. Montanye Some Nephew! iii. 75 I and Robin and her goes into the studio. 1968 J. Speight Till Death us do Part: Scripts (1973) 83 There's some down this street a lot worse than her. 1993 R. Lowe & W. Shaw Travellers 6 I had a twenty-foot caravan at the time so I let her stay in there until her and her boyfriend got a council flat. 2000 P. Redmond Puppet Show (2003) 321 She..whirled round to face him and he saw that it wasn't her at all. b. English regional. Used as the ordinary subjective case. (a) midlands and southern. = she pron.¹ 1. Also: = she pron.¹ 2a(a). ΚΠ 1777–8 R. Wight Horæ Subsecivæ (MS Bodl. Eng. lang. d.66) 3 Archaisms, Anomalies, Barbarisms... Dum. [i.e. Devon] Hire corrupte pro She—‘Where is Hire gone?’ 1832 M. Wood Let. 13 Dec. in T. Sokoll Essex Pauper Lett. (2001) 95 I Do not know what to Do With the Gall As Her is So bad of for Cloths. 1872 H. Cullwick Diaries (1984) 202 So she ax'd me to come in the kitchen & I sat down. Her said, ‘You mun excuse the dirt, but you know what Saturdays is if you're the same sort o' servant as I am.’ 1893 G. E. Dartnell & E. H. Goddard Gloss. Words Wilts. 4 Her's that weak her can't away with the childern at no rate! 1901 R. Barrett in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1902) III. 144/1 [Sussex] ‘Have her stopped?’ a man would ask of a clock. 1907 W. Weeks Bits o' Broad Devon (ed. 4) 75 'Er was a fine gurt likely maid. 1960 A. O. D. Claxton Suffolk Dial. 20th Cent. (ed. 2) 11 O, har be a bumptious botty bitch, har oon't speak t' th' loikes o' we. 1977 R. Scollins & J. Titford Ey up, mi Duck! II. 6 ‘Weer is 'er?’ ‘Is 'er ready yit?’ 1996 M. Syal Anita & Me (1997) v. 101 ‘Her was blue,’ he said, ‘Like every bit of blood wore gone from her little body.’ (b) Chiefly south-west midlands and south-western. Used with reference to a male person or animal (= he pron. 1), or generally as a common-gender pronoun.See etymological note at hoo pron. and n. ΚΠ 1811 P. Roberts in tr. Chron. Kings Brit. Notes 359 I have been informed that the word hur is used for he, in a small district on the border of Shropshire, not far from Welshpool, and another near Ellesmere in Shropshire. 1814 Monthly Mag. 39 127/1 [Somerset] Did he give them anything? did 'er gi' 'em ort? 1841 C. H. Hartshorne Salopia Antiqua 463 The masculine and feminine pronouns are constantly transposed by the vulgar. Thus a poor woman in describing the infirm state of her husband, says, ‘Her is meety lahm’. 1881 H. Smith & C. R. Smith Isle of Wight Words 51 ‘I axed Meyastur about that are last night.’ ‘Well: what ded ur zay?’ 1890 S. S. Buckman John Darke's Sojourn in Cotteswolds ii. 7 ‘Good marning, Mr. Bassut,’ I says,..an' er says, ‘Marning’. 1901 C. V. Goddard in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1902) III. 143/2 [Dorset] The Lord hav' been good to I, han' her? 1974 W. Leeds Herefordshire Speech 11 Our Dad er says as uz is to go. B. n.² A female person, a woman. Also: (a woman's or girl's) self. Cf. she n. 2. ΘΠ the world > people > person > woman > [noun] wifeeOE womaneOE womanOE queanOE brideOE viragoc1000 to wifeOE burdc1225 ladyc1225 carlinec1375 stotc1386 marec1387 pigsneyc1390 fellowa1393 piecec1400 femalea1425 goddessa1450 fairc1450 womankindc1450 fellowessa1500 femininea1513 tega1529 sister?1532 minikinc1540 wyec1540 placket1547 pig's eye1553 hen?1555 ware1558 pussy?a1560 jade1560 feme1566 gentlewoman1567 mort1567 pinnacea1568 jug1569 rowen1575 tarleather1575 mumps1576 skirt1578 piga1586 rib?1590 puppy1592 smock1592 maness1594 sloy1596 Madonna1602 moll1604 periwinkle1604 Partlet1607 rib of man1609 womanship?1609 modicum1611 Gypsy1612 petticoata1616 runniona1616 birda1627 lucky1629 she-man1640 her1646 lost rib1647 uptails1671 cow1696 tittup1696 cummer17.. wife1702 she-woman1703 person1704 molly1706 fusby1707 goody1708 riding hood1718 birdie1720 faggot1722 piece of goods1727 woman body1771 she-male1776 biddy1785 bitch1785 covess1789 gin1790 pintail1792 buer1807 femme1814 bibi1816 Judy1819 a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823 wifie1823 craft1829 shickster?1834 heifer1835 mot1837 tit1837 Sitt1838 strap1842 hay-bag1851 bint1855 popsy1855 tart1864 woman's woman1868 to deliver the goods1870 chapess1871 Dona1874 girl1878 ladykind1878 mivvy1881 dudess1883 dudette1883 dudine1883 tid1888 totty1890 tootsy1895 floozy1899 dame1902 jane1906 Tom1906 frail1908 bit of stuff1909 quim1909 babe1911 broad1914 muff1914 manhole1916 number1919 rossie1922 bit1923 man's woman1928 scupper1935 split1935 rye mort1936 totsy1938 leg1939 skinny1941 Richard1950 potato1957 scow1960 wimmin1975 womyn1975 womxn1991 1646 R. Crashaw Steps to Temple 138 Now if Time knowes That her whose radiant Browes Weave them a Garland of my vowes. 1795 W. Cobbett Kick for Bite 22 How artfully has the author (or authoress) managed the personification of genius! First it is a her, then an it, and by-and-by it acts like a man. 1860 L. M. Child Let. (1882) 142 ‘He..says..“I had hard work to lose him, but I have lost him.”’ ‘But I can never lose a her,’ said [John Greenleaf] Whittier. ‘The women are more pertinacious than the men.’ 1939 A. Christie Murder is Easy ii. 28 Tell me about him? It's a her. Her name's Bridget Conway. 1995 V. Hamilton Her Stories 40 Little hers and hims tippy-toed on cobwebs..Tiny sister- and brother-ones made cobweb swings on the branches. 2010 Daily Tel. 15 Apr. 32/1 I was never sure whether one was real and one a part she was playing, and if so, who was the real her. Compounds her indoors n. (also 'er indoors) British colloquial one's wife or girlfriend; in extended use, applied to any woman occupying a position of authority who is regarded as domineering.The phrase was popularized by the Thames Television series Minder (1979–93), in which the leading character Arthur Daley habitually referred to his wife as ‘her indoors’. The series' original writer, Leon Griffiths, apparently first heard it used by ‘a taxi-driver drinking companion of his’ ( Independent (1992) 16 June 13/6). ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > love > a lover > [noun] > one who is loved or a sweetheart > specifically a female sweetheart or girlfriend lief971 ladya1393 ladyshipa1393 speciala1400 amiec1400 womanc1400 amoreta1425 mistressc1425 paramoura1450 fair ladya1470 girl?a1513 sooterkin1530 Tib1533 she1547 lady-love1568 jug1569 young lady1584 pigeon1592 love-lass1594 lass1596 dowsabel1612 swainling1615 lucky1629 Dulcinea1638 Lindabrides1640 inamorata1651 baby1684 best girl1691 lady friend1733 young woman1822 moll1823 querida1834 sheila1839 bint1855 tart1864 babykins1870 Dona1874 novia1874 fancy-girl1892 girlfriend1892 cliner1895 tootsy1895 dinah1898 best1904 twist and twirl1905 jane1906 kitten1908 patootie1918 meisie1919 bride1924 gf1925 jelly1931 sort1933 a bit (also piece) of homework1945 beast1946 queen1955 momma1964 mi'jita1970 her indoors1979 girlf1991 society > authority > rule or government > oppression > [noun] > domineering or overbearing > domineering person > woman termagant1578 maîtresse femme1853 battle-axe1896 dragon lady1949 her indoors1979 society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [noun] > wife > one's wife peculiar1615 old woman1668 old girl1745 the Mrs1821 old lady1836 old Dutcha1889 duchess1909 ever-loving1939 her indoors1979 1979 L. Griffiths Smaller they Are in Minder (television script, second draft) 10 May 2 That's what her indoors doesn't understand Terry. A young bird keep [sic] you feeling young. 1984 Guardian 17 Oct. 12/2 These days, her indoors (and Mr Walker too) are said to be seldom off the phone with words of wisdom for Mr MacGregor. 1986 R. Sproat Stunning the Punters 156 I was taking Her Indoors out for a day at the Zoo. 1988 Times 2 Nov. 21/1 She [sc. the mistress of a Great Artist] is immortalized in oils, while 'Er Indoors cleans up the mess afterwards. 1992 Pilot July 36/1 I began to consider buying a single-seat kitplane, a microlight, or even a taildragger. But there were howls of disagreement from Her Indoors and the rest of the tribe. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online September 2022). herpron.³adj.² Brit. /həː/, /(h)ə/, U.S. /hər/, /(h)ər/ Forms: 1. α. early Old English hiora (Kentish), Old English heora (rare), Old English hiore (rare), Old English hirę (rare), Old English (rare) Middle English–1500s here, Old English (rare)–early Middle English hira, Old English (rare)–early Middle English hiræ, Old English (rare)–early Middle English hora, Old English (rare)–early Middle English hyra, Old English (rare)–Middle English (south-western and south-west midlands) heore, Old English–Middle English hiere, Old English–1500s hire, Old English–1500s hyre, late Old English hioræ, late Old English hyræ, early Middle English þire (see note below), Middle English heere, Middle English hera (in copy of Old English charter), Middle English herre, Middle English heyre (west midlands), Middle English hiire, Middle English hirre, Middle English hyrre, Middle English ire, Middle English yre, Middle English (chiefly south-eastern)–1500s hare, Middle English (chiefly south-western and south-west midlands)–1500s hure, Middle English–1500s hurre, 1500s are, 1500s huire, 1500s huyre; English regional 1700s hare (Devon); Scottish pre-1700 hire, pre-1700 hyre, pre-1700 hyrre. β. Old English (rare) Middle English–1500s hyr, Old English (rare) Middle English–1600s hir, Middle English er, Middle English heer, Middle English heir, Middle English heor (south-west midlands), Middle English herr, Middle English hirr, Middle English hor (chiefly west midlands), Middle English huyr, Middle English hyrr, Middle English ir, Middle English yr, Middle English (1500s–1600s chiefly in representations of Welsh English) hur, Middle English–1500s har, Middle English– her, 1500s hwr, 1600s 'er, 1600s 'r; English regional 1700s– hur (northern and north midlands), 1800s– 'er, 1800s– har (chiefly East Anglian), 1800s– hor (northern); Scottish pre-1700 hyr, pre-1700 1700s– her, pre-1700 1700s– hir, 1700s– hur; Irish English (northern) 1900s– hir, 1900s– hor, 1900s– hur. 2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word early Middle English -ere. See also etymological note for possible additional forms. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Originally the genitive singular third person feminine personal pronoun form, from an early period also used as possessive adjective (see B.). Cognate with Old Frisian hire , hiare , Old Dutch hiro (also iro ; Middle Dutch haer , hare , har , Dutch haar ). On the further etymology see discussion at he pron., n.¹, and adj. Parallel in inflection are Old Saxon iro (also ira, ire, iru; Middle Low German ere, er), Old High German ira (Middle High German ir, ire, German ihr), Gothic izos.Form history. The original form in Old English is hire , which is already formally identical with the dative singular hire her pron.², and the two forms largely show parallel development in Old English and Middle English. In Middle English there is also frequent overlap with the forms of (plural) her pron.¹ and adj.¹ The early Middle English form þire (see Forms 1α) is from a manuscript (Arundel 248) in which þ is not infrequently written for h . For a discussion of the preference in later Northumbrian Old English for the form without apocope for the genitive and possessive see her pron.² and n.² Additional Middle English forms. Ling. Atlas Late Mediaeval Eng. also records the following Middle English forms, but does not specify whether they show the genitive (i.e. her pron.³, her adj.²) or the objective (i.e. her pron.²): 1. α. ȝure, heire, huure, huyre, hyere (rare), ore (perhaps transmission error). 1. β. hijr (rare), hr (perhaps transmission error), hyer (rare). 2. -er (rare). †A. pron.³ 1. The genitive case of the third person singular feminine personal pronoun hēo (see hoo pron.): of her; of the feminine being or thing in question. Obsolete. Π eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 878 Him to coman þær ongen Sumorsæte alle..& Hamtunscir se dęl se hiere behinon sę was. eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) i. i. 20 Mauritania þe man oþre naman hæt Tingetana, be eastan hyre is Malua sio ea [L. habet ab oriente flumen Malvam]. c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Royal) (1934) 5 (MED) Ha iherde on euch half hire hu me droh to deaðe Cristes icorne for rihte bileaue. a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 72 (MED) Y wolde nemne hyre to-day, ant y dorste hire munne. 2. Used predicatively or equivalent to the adjective with a noun supplied from the context: = hers pron.¹ Obsolete. [Originally the predicative and absolute uses of the possessive adjective.] Π OE St. Mary of Egypt (Julius) (2002) 114 Ofgif þære eorðan þæt hire is [L. quod suum est], and þæt dust to þam duste geic. lOE Will of Ælfheah (Sawyer 1485) in D. Whitelock Anglo-Saxon Wills (1930) 22 He gean..þam yldran æþælingæ þæs cyngæs suna and hiræ [sc. Ælfthryth's] þritiga mancussa goldæs. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 49 (MED) Duue..fedeð briddes þeh hie ne ben noht hire. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2035 Ðe wite is hise, ðe rigt is hire. c1430 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1881) i. l. 889 A kyngis herte semyth bi hire [v.rr. her, hires] awreche. B. adj.² Possessive adjective (determiner) corresponding to she pron.¹ (originally the possessive use of the genitive of the pronoun hēo). 1. Of her; which belongs or relates to her. Also reflexive: of herself; which belongs or relates to herself. a. Referring to a person or female animal.Now sometimes used (with capital initial) with reference to God, in reaction against the traditional use of His. ΘΠ the mind > possession > owning > [adjective] > own > his, her, its, or their > his or her hereOE hiseOE hers1555 himsc1700 him1780 he1833 his'n1895 eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 888 Ęþelswiþ cuen..forþferde, & hire lic liþ æt Pafian. OE Widsith 99 Hyre lof lengde geond londa fela, þonne ic..secgan sceolde hwær ic..selast wisse goldhrodene cwen giefe bryttian. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxi. 5 Þin cyning þe cymð to gedæfte & rit uppan tamre assene & hyre folan [L. super asinam et pullum filium subiugalis]. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1036 Ælfgifu Hardacnutes modor sæte on Winceastre mid þæs cynges huscarlum hyra suna. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 3 (MED) Heo nomen þe asse and here colt. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 7619 Mold hire [c1425 Harl. yr] name was. a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 1193 Þis hard hayre he wered hurre body nexst. a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 3 My wif..woll[e] hyde his body by hire beddys syde. 1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 72 Shee went hare wayes. 1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 86 The qwenes grace came..are owne persone, with hare cepter in hare honde. 1569 J. Rogers Glasse Godly Love 181 As ritch as hir husband. 1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre ii. v. 26 in Wks. II Let's away, her language growes greasier then her Pigs. 1649 Perfect Diurnall No. 321. 2793 One black Mare with a white blaze down her forehead. 1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) i. 2 Belinda still her downy Pillow prest, Her Guardian Sylph prolong'd the balmy Rest. 1772 in G. Cartwright Jrnl. Resid. Coast Labrador (1792) I. 216 [I] saw the fresh tracks of three white-bears; a dog, a bitch, and her cub. 1808 W. Scott Marmion ii. iii. 80 Her hopes, her fears, her joys, were all Bounded within the cloister wall. 1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia II. x. 238 Hypatia sat still in her chamber, her face buried in her hands. 1876 Index (Boston) 27 Apr. 200/2 On this special evening she looked her most attractive. 1907 ‘N. Blanchan’ Birds Every Child should Know xv. 219 The female Cooper's hawk is about nineteen inches long and her mate a finger-length smaller. 1939 P. G. Wodehouse Uncle Fred in Springtime xv. 225 There was a look in her eyes that made me think right away that she was feeling he was her Prince Charming. 1986 A. Greeley God Game (1987) i. 5 As for God, Her program is not on the market. 2009 ‘R. Keeland’ tr. S. Larsson Girl who played with Fire vii. 112 She looked out at the firewall of the back courtyards, as she had done her whole life. b. Referring to a thing personified or conventionally treated as female or (in early use) a thing grammatically feminine.For the range of things conventionally referred to by the feminine third person pronoun, see she pron.¹ 2a. Π OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxx. 266 Seo boc is swiðe micel, and hire digele andgyt is ofer ure mæðe to smeagenne. OE tr. Titles to Psychomachia of Prudentius (Cleo.) xli, in Zeitschr. f. Deutsches Alterthum (1876) 20 40 Luxuria in caena sedit : seo galnes æt hyre æfengereordum sitt. OE Paris Psalter (1932) ciii. 18 Sunne hire setlgang sweotule healdeð. c1225 (?OE) Soul's Addr. to Body (Worcester) (Fragm. D) l. 18 Ȝet sæiþ þe soule soriliche to hire licame: ‘[Wen]dest þu, la, erming, her o to wunienne.’ ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 196 Al þet hali chirche deð red oðer singeð. & alle hire sacramenz strengeð ow gastliche. a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Song of Sol. i. 4 (margin) The Chirche of hir tribulaciouns. 1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) iv. vii. f. lxj Thenne ganne this fayre grene Appel tree to shaken hyr leues. 1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) i. 21 A ryver..I beleve verely that in al christendome is not her lyke. c1503 tr. Magna Carta in R. Arnold Chron. f. lxxxiiij^v/1 That the chartur a forsaid in alle and euerych her articles. 1534 Bible (Tyndale rev. Joye) Luke xiv. 34 Salt is good but yf salt have loste hyr saltnes what shall be seasoned ther with? 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Chron. v. 7 The prestes broughte the Arke..vnto hir place. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 149 The moone is xviij. daies old, the time of hir shining is x. houres. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 205 Englande, and hir principall cities. 1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 649 There is nothing more common than the sunne, which imparteth of hir light to all the celestiall bodies. a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iii. iii. 90 The Shippe boaring the Moone with her maine Mast. View more context for this quotation 1649 W. Blith Eng. Improver ii. 12 The Earth..and the principall causes of hir Barrennesse. 1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite ii, in Fables 46 The ruin'd House that falls And intercepts her Lord betwixt the Walls. 1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. at Metal When the Mouth of a Great Gun lies lower than her Breech. 1821 P. B. Shelley Epipsychidion 22 The Moon will veil her horn In thy last smiles. 1895 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Oct. 1/3 England..has tried her best to head him off. 1939 War Illustr. 29 Dec. 526 The superstructure is the nerve centre of the ship from which she is navigated and her gunfire controlled. 1994 United Church Observer Oct. 25/3 The future of Quebec is in the hands of all her citizens. c. Referring to certain animals (e.g. the cat, the hare) conventionally accorded feminine gender. Π a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 157 Ðe mire..fecheð hire fode. c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 634 The bisy larke messager of day Salueth in hir song the morwe gray. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 413 A brid of þe see him seluyn him fangis..[with] þe wose of þe wede hire wengis anoyntis. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. vi. A Go to the Emmet (thou slogarde) considre hir wayes. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 268 The Weasill..hangeth fast vpon her throat, and will not loose her holde, runne the hare neuer so fast. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 512 If a male mouse be flaied all ouer, or her taile cut off, or if her legge be bound to a post in the house, or a bell be hung about her necke, and so turned going, she will driue away all her fellowes. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 97 The Bezor..knowing by instinct what it is she is hunted for (not her skin, but her stone). 1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite iii, in Fables 54 The tuneful Lark..flick'ring on her Nest, made short Essays to sing. 1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 306 The timorous hare, Grown so familiar with her frequent guest, Scarce shuns me. 1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel II. 23 The quirking rabbit scarcely leaves her hole. 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. 65 The cat, having cleaned all her fur, returned to the meatstained paper. 1972 P. O'Brian Post Captain viii. 220 And hare would not answer, either, for I dare say they are rated with the coney and her kind. 2005 M. Noble Liking Good Jazz i. 5 A black cat, her tail up, crossed in front of her. †d. Modifying nainself, ownself. In literary representations of the usage of Gaelic speakers: he; I. Cf. her pron.² 4. Obsolete. Π a1689 W. Cleland Coll. Poems (1697) 13 If any ask her of her thrift, Foresooth her nain sell lives by thift. c1707 in Sc. Antiquary (1898) 12 105 Her nane sell does not well farstand tese Nice Points. a1722 J. Lauder Jrnls. (1900) 128 They call it, shame fall it, ay hir oune selfe hes forgotten it. 1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth x, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. III. 263 ‘No offence meant,’ said the Highlander; ‘but her own self comes to buy an armour.’ ‘Her own self's bare shanks may trot hence with her,’ answered Henry. e. In relation to a singular noun or pronoun of undetermined gender. Cf. she pron.¹ 2b.Early examples are often found in contexts (e.g. teaching) in which typical representatives of the class are women; subsequently in feminist use, in reaction to the use of his (see his adj. 1c), but now in wider use. Π 1908 W. Mack Cycl. Law & Procedure XXIX. 153/1 Where the beneficiary submits her proofs to the trustees of the society and appeals from the rejection of her claim, she waives any fraud found prior to the submission. 1909 Pop. Sci. Monthly Mar. 303 The teacher does her best; the pupils do better than one would suppose. 1977 P. Leach Baby & Child i. 19 That baby is the point of the whole labour process. It is her safe arrival with which your body is concerned. 1981 L. Malmberg & D. Crane tr. T. Skutnabb-Kangas Bilingualism or Not ii. 35 An individual who in both her languages fell short of the monolingual norm. 1988 Nature 24 Nov. 305/3 An observer..will find..that the inertial clocks read a later time than her own. 1991 K. Ward Vision to Pursue xiv. 190 The Buddhist seeks to..make her nature one with the Buddha nature. 2008 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 4 Dec. 12/2 Occasionally a person with a dementing illness will insist that her spouse is not her spouse or that her home is not her real home. 2. Used in certain respectful or honorific forms of address, as her highness, her ladyship, her majesty, etc., which act as a formal substitute for she or the objective pronoun her: see the nouns. Π a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 1730 (MED) Ther scholde me non ydelschipe Departen fro hir ladischipe. a1450 (c1375) G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite (Tanner 346) (1878) l. 191 This new lady..drofe hym forthe vnneth her liste to knowe That he was seruaunt vnto her ladyship. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. ccxxxviii^v Her Grace..alyghted out of her Chariot in the whych she had rydden all her long iourney. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. iv. 4 Will her Ladyship behold and heare our Exorcismes? View more context for this quotation 1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 5th Bk. Wks. xxii. 104 We humbly thank'd her Queenship, without saying a word, accepting of the Noble Office she conferr'd on us. 1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 41 Her Ladyship went to see, and to be seen. 1788 F. Burney Court Jrnls. & Lett. (2014) IV. 601 Her Majesty..drowned in Tears. 1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XIV lxiii. 146 Her Grace too pass'd for being an Intrigante..; One of those pretty, precious plagues, which haunt A lover with caprices soft and dear. 1884 Graphic 16 Aug. 162/3 Her Majesty has signified her intention of subscribing 200l. to the Building Fund. 1922 P. G. Wodehouse Clicking of Cuthbert x. 253 Her Highness is the easiest thing to look at these eyes have ever seen. 1959 P. O'Brian Unknown Shore xiv. 310 Her ladyship is giving a rout tonight. 2013 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 1 May (Features section) 21 At Balmoral, Her Majesty mucks in during summer barbecues. 3. After a noun (esp. a personal name): substituting for the genitive inflection -s. Cf. his adj. 5, their adj. 6.This use was probably modelled on his adj. 5.Quots. eOE and c1430, cited by N.E.D. (1898), are not instances of this phenomenon: the former probably shows the use of a redundant determiner displacing the noun phrase (left dislocation); the latter almost certainly shows simple verb-subject inversion. See further C. L. Allen in Trans. Philol. Soc. 95 (1997) 125–8. Π eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) i. i. 11 Nilus seo ea hire æwielme is neh þæm clife þære Readan Sæs. c1430 (c1395) G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1872) 359 (heading) Here begynnyt the wyf of bathe hire tale.] 1546 in State Papers Henry VIII (1830) I. 889 Elizabeth Holland her howse, newlie made in Suffolk. 1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 32 Curio..haunted Lucilla hir company. 1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. viii. 6 Presuming on the Queen her private practice. 1659 H. L'Estrange Alliance Divine Offices 455 The Excellency of our Church her burial office. 1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights I. iii. 39 It was a Testament, in lean type, and smelling dreadfully musty: a fly-leaf bore the inscription—‘Catherine Earnshaw, her book.’ 1873 F. Hall Mod. Eng. 355 (note) In England, to this day, the vulgar write, in their Bibles, Prayer-books, and elsewhere, ‘John Crane his book’, ‘Esther Hodges her book’, etc. 1983 J. Wheatcroft (title) Catherine, her Book. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.¹OEpron.¹adj.¹eOEpron.²n.²OEpron.³adj.²eOE
随便看	ribbon society ribbon steel ribbon streamer ribbon stripe ribbon system ribbon threader ribbon tree ribbon weaver ribbon weaving ribbon weed ribbon work ribbon worm ribbon-back ribbon-backed ribbon-borer ribbon-bound ribbon-cutting ceremony ribbon-developed ribbon-gurnard ribbon-like ribbon-marked ribbon-pulling ribbon-rasp ribbon-shaped ribbon-trimmed

† herheren.1

Derivatives

† herpron.1adj.1

herpron.2n.2

Compounds

herpron.3adj.2

† herheren.¹

† herpron.¹adj.¹

herpron.²n.²

herpron.³adj.²