2 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
He \He\ (h[=e]), pron. [nom. {He}; poss. {His} (h[i^]z); obj.
{Him} (h[i^]m); pl. nom. {They} ([th][=a]); poss. {Their} or
{Theirs} ([th][^a]rz or [th][=a]rz); obj. {Them}
([th][e^]m).] [AS. h?, masc., he['o], fem., hit, neut.; pl.
h[=i], or hie, hig; akin to Ofries. hi, D. hij, OS. he, hi,
G. heute to-day, Goth. himma, dat. masc., this, hina, accus.
masc., and hita, accus. neut., and prob. to L. his this.
[root]183. Cf. {It}.]
1. The man or male being (or object personified to which the
masculine gender is assigned), previously designated; a
pronoun of the masculine gender, usually referring to a
specified subject already indicated.
Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall
rule over thee. --Gen. iii.
16.
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou
serve. --Deut. x. 20.
2. Any one; the man or person; -- used indefinitely, and
usually followed by a relative pronoun.
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise. --Prov.
xiii. 20.
3. Man; a male; any male person; -- in this sense used
substantively. --Chaucer.
I stand to answer thee, Or any he, the proudest of
thy sort. --Shak.
Note: When a collective noun or a class is referred to, he is
of common gender. In early English, he referred to a
feminine or neuter noun, or to one in the plural, as
well as to noun in the masculine singular. In
composition, he denotes a male animal; as, a he-goat.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
His \His\, pron. [AS. his of him, his, gen. masc. & neut. of h?,
neut. hit. See {He}.]
1. Belonging or pertaining to him; -- used as a pronominal
adjective or adjective pronoun; as, tell John his papers
are ready; formerly used also for its, but this use is now
obsolete.
No comfortable star did lend his light. --Shak.
Who can impress the forest, bid the tree Unfix his
earth-bound root? --Shak.
Note: Also formerly used in connection with a noun simply as
a sign of the possessive. ``The king his son.'' --Shak.
``By young Telemachus his blooming years.'' --Pope.
This his is probably a corruption of the old possessive
ending -is or -es, which, being written as a separate
word, was at length confounded with the pronoun his.
2. The possessive of he; as, the book is his. ``The sea is
his, and he made it.'' --Ps. xcv. 5.