him

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigationJump to search
See also: Him and hím

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English him, from Old English him, from Proto-Germanic *himmai (to this, to this one). Cognate with Saterland Frisian him (him), West Frisian him (him), Sylt North Frisian ham, höm (him), Dutch hem (him), German Low German hum, hüm, em (him), German ihm (him, dative).

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

him (personal pronoun, objective case)

  1. A masculine pronoun; he as a grammatical object.
    1. With dative effect or as an indirect object. [from 9th c.]
      • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula:
        ‘I promise,’ he said as I gave him the papers.
    2. Following a preposition. [from 9th c.]
      • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice:
        She was in no humour for conversation with anyone but himself; and to him she had hardly courage to speak.
    3. With accusative effect or as a direct object. [from 12th c.]
      • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House:
        ‘He's got it buttoned in his breast. I saw him put it there.’
  2. (now rare) Used reflexively: (to) himself. [from 9th c.]
    • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts XII:
      Apon a daye apoynted, the kynge arayed hym in royall apparell, and set hym in his seate, and made an oracion unto them.
    • 1765, Oliver Goldsmith, The traveller, or, A prospect of society
      Though poor the peasant’s hut, his feasts though small,
      He sees his little lot the lot of all;
      [...]
      But calm, and bred in ignorance and toil,
      Each wish contracting, fits him to the soil.
  3. With nominative effect: he, especially as a predicate after be, or following a preposition. [from 15th c.]
    • 'c. 1616' (493 m), William Shakespeare, Macbeth, First Folio 1623, V.10:
      Before my body, I throw my warlike Shield: Lay on Macduffe, And damn'd be him, that first cries hold, enough.
    • '2003' (611 m), Claire Cozens, The Guardian, 11 Jun 2003:
      Lowe quit the West Wing last year amid rumours that he was unhappy that his co-stars earned more than him.
  4. Alternative letter-case form of Him

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

See also[edit]

See also[edit]

Noun[edit]

him (plural hims)

  1. (informal) A male person.
    I think this bird is a him, but it may be a her.
    • Hélène Cixous
      [] daring dizzying passages in other, fleeting and passionate dwellings within the hims and hers whom she inhabits []
    • 2004, Tom Wolfe, I Am Charlotte Simmons: A Novel
      Both hims took a good look at him.
    • 2004, Charles J. Sullivan, Love and Survival, page 68:
      By this time, she had so many questions, but she only hit him up for one answer about those “hims” and “hers.” She asked, “Do both hims and hers reproduce hummers?”

Synonyms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]


Gayón[edit]

Noun[edit]

him

  1. water

References[edit]

  • Luis Oramas, Materiales para el estudio de los dialectos Ayamán, Gayón, Jirajara, Ajagua (1916)

Irish[edit]

Noun[edit]

him m

  1. h-prothesized form of im

Luxembourgish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

him

  1. third-person masculine singular, dative: him, to him
    Ech baken him e Kuch.
    I'm baking him a cake.
  2. third-person neuter singular, dative: her, to her; (rarely: it, to it)
    Hie war gëschter mat him am Kino.
    He went to the cinema with her yesterday.

Usage notes[edit]

  • For the use of the neuter for referring to female persons, see hatt.

Declension[edit]


Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old English him. Originally a dative form; gradually displaced accusative hine.

Pronoun[edit]

him (nominative he)

  1. Third-person singular masculine pronoun indicating a grammatical object: him.
  2. (reflexive) himself.
  3. Third-person singular neuter pronoun indicating a grammatical object: it.
  4. (impersonal) Third-person singular neuter pronoun indicating a grammatical object one, you.
Descendants[edit]
  • English: him
See also[edit]
References[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

him

  1. Alternative form of hem
References[edit]

Mizo[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

him

  1. safe
  2. unscathed

Old English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

him

  1. dative of : him
  2. dative of hit: it
  3. dative of hīe: them

Descendants[edit]


Old Frisian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

him

  1. him

Inflection[edit]


Sursurunga[edit]

Verb[edit]

him

  1. to work

Further reading[edit]

  • Sursurunga Organised Phonology Data (2011)

West Frisian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Frisian him, from Proto-Germanic *himmai.

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

him

  1. object of hy