Hisn.

Brit.

/ˌeɪtʃʌɪˈɛs/, U.S.

/ˌeɪtʃˌaɪˈɛs/

Forms: also with lower-case initial.

Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: histidine n.

Etymology: Shortened < histidine n., as a graphic abbreviation.

Biochemistry.

The amino acid histidine.

ΚΠ

1945 E. Brand et al. in Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 67 1531/2 The empirical formula in terms of amino acid residues is (using the first 3 letters of each as the symbol for the amino acid residues): Gly₈Ala₂₉Val₂₁Leu₅₀Ileu₂₇Pro₁₅Phe₉CySH₄(CyS-)₈Met₉Try₄Arg₇His₄Lys₃₃Asp₃₆Glu₂₄(Glu-NH₂)₃₂Ser₂₀Thr₂₁Tyr₉(H₂O)₄.

1963 Progress Nucleic Acid Res. 2 241 Binding involves a group other than His 119.

1990 Protein Engin. 4 199/2 In the so-called charge relay system the catalytic Asp residue accepts a proton from the His.

2006 Respiratory Physiol. & Neurobiol. 154 167/1 His side chains are the major buffer groups.

This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

hispron.¹

Brit.

/hɪz/,

/ɪz/, U.S.

/hɪz/,

/ɪz/

Forms: Old English–1500s hys, Old English– his, Middle English hijs, Middle English hjs, Middle English hus (chiefly south-west midlands), Middle English hyss, Middle English hysse, Middle English is, late Middle English hese, late Middle English hesse, late Middle English hise, late Middle English hisse, late Middle English hyse; English regional (Devon) 1800s hees, 1800s hee's.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Originally the genitive singular third person masculine and neuter personal pronoun form, corresponding to the nominative forms (masculine) he pron. and also (originally) to (neuter) it pron., adj., and n.¹ With the use as possessive pronoun (see II.) compare the use of the same form also as possessive adjective (see his adj.). On the further etymology see discussion at he pron., n.¹, and adj. Parallel in inflection are Old Dutch is (beside sīn), Old Saxon is, es (Middle Low German is, es), Old High German es (beside sīn), Gothic is. Several other early West Germanic languages use in the function of the genitive singular masculine and neuter personal pronoun the reflex of an (originally reflexive) possessive adjective the Old English cognate of which is sīn (rare and occurring chiefly in verse); compare Old Frisian sīn, Old Dutch sīn, Old Saxon sīn, Old High German sīn.In use as possessive pronoun, in early Middle English sometimes with plural inflection in -e (as hise ); compare quots. c1225, ?a1400 at sense 4a and see discussion at his adj. For discussion of forms see his adj. This pronoun (like the more recent formation its pron.) is unusual among the set of possessive pronouns in modern English in showing no formal differentiation from the corresponding possessive adjective his adj.; compare the pairs mine pron. and my adj., yours pron. and your adj. (also thine pron. and thy adj.), hers pron.¹ and her adj.¹, ours pron. and our adj., theirs pron. and their adj. Compare hisis pron. for a (rare and obsolete) form analogous to hers pron.¹, ours pron., yours pron., theirs pron., and compare his'n pron. for a form analogous to mine pron. and thine pron.

†I. As genitive case of the personal pronoun.

1. The genitive case of the third person singular masculine personal pronoun he pron. (in original use also of the third person singular neuter pronoun it pron.): of him; of it. Also reflexive: of himself, of itself. Obsolete.

eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) lviii. 443 Hwæt magon we his nu don?

OE Genesis B 616 Nu scineð þe leoht fore..þæt ic from gode brohte hwit of heofonum; nu þu his hrinan meaht.

OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) i. 32 Gedrinc his [?a1200 Harl. 6258B drinc hit, L. bibat] þonne on niht nistig þreo full fulle.

lOE Laws: Pax (Rochester) 390 Ðus feor sceal beon þæs cinges grið fram his burhgeate.., on feower healfe his, ðæt is iii mila & iii furlang & iii æcera bræde [L.] & ix fota.

c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 199 Ac þenne þe deaþ cymæð, þenne sceolen heo forlæten heoræ æhtæ heoræ unðancæs, and heo his þenne nan þing nabbæð.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 4373 His hit ware no resoun tille our lorde do suche tresoun.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4305 (MED) And, maugre his, he dos him lute.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3874 Bisid lya [= Leah] al night he lai, His vnwitand.

?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 12 Þe dragoun..tuke þe knyght and bare him maugree his [Fr. maugree luy] til a cragg of þe see.

II. As possessive pronoun.

2. Predicatively: that which belongs to him.

ΘΠ

the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > that which is one's own > that which is mine, ours, his, hers, or yours

oureOE

hisOE

mineOE

thineOE

hernc1230

hersa1250

ourna1382

yourna1382

oursa1400

his'nc1425

yours1526

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) ix. 252 Ealle þing syndon his, ægþer ge heofon ge eorðe & sæ & ealle þa ðing þe on ðam wuniað.

OE Paris Psalter (1932) xcix. 2 He us geworhte and we his syndon [L. ipsius sumus].

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 85 Ȝef he mare speneð of his, hwense he aȝein cherreð, al he hit him wule ȝelden.

c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 47 A forward fast þai bond Þat ich aman schul ioien his.

a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Job xxxix. 16 He [sc. the ostrich] is maad hard to hise briddis, as if thei ben not hise [a1382 E.V. She..hir..hiris].

1591 R. Greene Second Pt. Conny-catching sig. A2^v They..offer to depose, that they know the horse to be his.

1611 Bible (King James) Song of Sol. ii. 16 My beloued is mine, and I am his .

1674 J. Howe Treat. Delighting in God ii. 294 So as that you truly take him for your God,..giving up your self absolutely and without reservation to him as his.

1710 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 13 Oct. (1948) I. 54 Harrison..has written some mighty pretty things; that in your 6^th Miscellanea, about the Sprig of an Orange, is his.

1785 W. Cowper Task v. 343 He is ours..We are his.

1880 Harper's Mag. July 277/1 The house that once was his.

1971 I. Metzker & D. L. Levy tr. Bintel Brief 47 He loved me so much that he would waste away if I didn't become his.

2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic xxv. 363 I..sheered off the whole back of a red motorbike which happened to be his.

a. Equivalent to his with a noun supplied from the context. Frequently paired or contrasted with another possessive.

OE Dispute between Wynflæd & Leofwine (Sawyer 1454) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 138 Þa cwæþ hio þæt hio ne mihte [swerian] hyre dæles ne he his.

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 17 He..þrouwede deð for al moncun al for ure neode nawiht for his.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 121 Uor to confermi oure loue to his.

a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 115 Philip sold his prisoneres, Richard hing his.

1509 Parlyament Deuylles sig. A.vi He is out of our bokes, and we out of his.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. sig. Gg3 My true loue hath my hart, and I haue his.

1693 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. III. 342 To have our Wills intirely Conformable, and as it were Perpendicular to his.

1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero (1742) III. xi. 241 Nothing was more common, than to have sayings forged for his.

1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 41 [He] saw the babe Hers, yet not his, upon the father's knee.

1891 R. Routledge Discov. & Inventions 19th Cent. (ed. 8) 626 This hypothesis was revived by Ampère a few years later, and sometimes is called his.

1922 ‘R. Crompton’ More William (1924) viii. 131 Her capacity for cakes exceeded even William's, and his was no mean one.

1996 Guardian 7 Sept. (Weekend Suppl.) 55/4 His is white, but John Lewis has the bizz in chrome, as well as other colours.

b. Usually in combination with or in opposition to hers. Denoting an article, room (e.g. a lavatory), etc., intended for males.

1949 Good Housek. June 26/2 With color contrasts in towels and washcloths, it's easy to distinguish ‘his’ from yours.

1950 Charm Apr. 82 Among your wedding gifts..may be a set of bath towels labelled with beautiful equity and foresight: ‘His’ and ‘Hers’.

1953 Imagination June 115/1 Almost before Crae brought the car to a gravel-spraying stop..Ellena had the door open and was out and around the corner marked His and Hers.

1962 J. Blackburn Gaunt Woman x. 156 ‘His’ was a gloomy little room, laid with dirty grey lino.

1985 New York 25 Nov. 6/1 (advt.) Stainless steel and 14K gold [watches]. His, $1,950. Hers, $1,650.

a. Those who are his; esp. those to whom he is closely related, his family or kindred. Frequently in him (also he) and his .

OE Rule St. Benet (Tiber.) (1888) lxii. 103 Si quis abbas sibi presbiterum vel diaconem ordinari petierit, de suis eligat : gif ænig him sylfan mæssepreost oððe diacon beon gehadod geornð of his geceose.

a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 231 Þa cweð se hlafor[d] to his.

c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Bodl.) (1981) 507 Hwi ne hihi we forte beon ifulhet, as he het hise [c1225 Royal his], ear we faren heonne?

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9259 He..ladde ost gret ynou aȝen þe king & his.

?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 57 Edward him granted..Þat neuer þe Dangilde for [him] ne non of hise, Suld be chalenged for man of Danes lond.

c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lv. 185 All y^e domages that thou hast done him & his.

1576 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Queen Elizabeth (1908) 414 It is an accion of accompt..like to be the vtter vndooing both of him and his.

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. i. iii. 522 We will not relent,..till we haue confounded him and his.

1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. xl. 270 I..must go to him, and to his, as an obliged, and half-fortun'd person.

1828 J. Porter Field of Forty Footsteps 160 The portion of blood-guiltiness was indeed entailed on him and his!

1929 B. Gould Sky Larking 205 If that battle is waged from the skies, as it will assuredly be, he and his are doomed from the start, for there will be no defense.

1986 J. S. Reed Southern Folk, Plain & Fancy iii. 42 He and his are often regarded as another social class.

b. of his: that is (or are) his; belonging to him (see of prep. 32).

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 54 (MED) Tuo mesures makeþ be wyȝte ymad: þe mesure of wombe in oþre-manne house..þe mesure of þe purse of his.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 3004 The Pope..scholde ryde..Unto Pontsorge, the which is A Castell in Provence of his.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6480 (MED) Þi neghbur wijf ȝerne noght at haue, Ne aght of his.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Richard III f. xlvj As though he had gone secretely to visite a familier frende of his.

1680 H. More Apocalypsis Apocalypseos 332 If there be not more rhythme than Reason in those drolling verses of his.

1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle II. lxviii. 242 Methinks the doctor was in a pestilent hurry with that message of his.

1827 W. Scott Life Napoleon II. iv. 127 Blood..shed..without command of his.

1890 M. A. Craig tr. G. Verga House by Medlar-tree xiii. 236 One time or another, I'll beat it about his head, that sabre of his.

1917 A. Cahan Rise of David Levinsky (1993) ii. i. 29 This he did with such simple alacrity and kindly modesty as to make me feel a chum of his.

2005 G. M. Flynn Currach Race & Other Stories xii. 117 He was a great thatcher; just look at that house of his.

c. colloquial and British regional. His home, his house, ‘his place’. Cf. mine pron. 3d.

ΚΠ

1917 Trans. Yorks. Dial. Soc. 3 23 There is a peculiarity of speech by which an Essex man may often be detected—..the use of the word ‘his’ or ‘mine’ instead of ‘his house’, or ‘my house’. ‘Are you going to his to-night? No, he is coming to mine, unless we both come round to yours.’

1998 R. Newman Manners 104 He invited me to dinner round at his a few days later. He picked me up from mine.

2004 Sugar Nov. 86/1 If there's a lad you fancy, pop round to his when you're glammed up.

Compounds

his and hers adj. designating a pair of matching items intended for a man and a woman (esp. a husband and wife).

1940 Portsmouth (New Hampsh.) Herald 30 Nov. 2/1 (advt.) His and Hers, Mr. and Mrs., Pure Linen Guest Towels.]

1941 Rhinelander (Wisconsin) Daily News 23 June 3/2 Everyone favors ‘His and Hers’ linens.

1962 Life 16 Feb. 12 Win! ‘His and Hers’ Planes (or equivalent in cash).

1970 New Yorker 14 Mar. 34/3 He wore His-'n-Hers flowered at-home jams.

1991 Horse & Horseman July 12/3 His and Hers shirts..are made from a polyester cotton fabric and feature solid front yokes with silver ponderosa stitching.

2001 Toronto Star 13 Jan. m11/5 (advt.) Three ensuites! The grandest is the master bedroom's, with roman tub featuring columns, a separate custom-look shower stall and his and hers vanities.

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

† hispron.²

Forms: 1. Middle English as, Middle English es, Middle English hes, Middle English hies, Middle English his, Middle English hise, Middle English hys, Middle English hyse, Middle English is, Middle English ys. 2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word early Middle English -es, early Middle English -is.

Origin: Of uncertain origin.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Apparently an extended or compounded form of hi pron.¹, although if so the identity of the second element is uncertain. Perhaps compare third person singular feminine subjective and objective forms with initial s- in other West Germanic languages (in both full and cliticized forms) listed at hoo pron. and hi pron.¹ However, neither the hypothesis that such forms were inherited also in English but failed to be attested until the 13th cent., nor the hypothesis of borrowing of cliticized forms from another West Germanic language, are entirely convincing. Compare also the apparent parallel of his pron.³ and see discussion at that entry.It is uncertain whether some of the instances in quot. a1225² show full forms or contracted forms (with preceding he he pron.).

Obsolete.

The objective case of the feminine third person singular pronoun: = her pron.²

ΚΠ

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 159 (MED) An edie meiden..was iferen bispused þe heuenliche kinge, and..he hes fette hom.

a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 235 Þer efter arerde god þas lage þurh moysen..and wrate his himself in stanene wax bredene, and si ȝeleste sume wile.

a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 55 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 163 (MED) Þe þet echte wile habben wel hwile þe he muȝe es [a1200 Trin. Cambr. hes muȝe, a1225 Egerton he mei his, a1300 Jesus Oxf. he may him] welden, Giue hies [a1200 Trin. Cambr. hes, a1225 Egerton his, a1300 Jesus Oxf. hit] for godes luue; þenne deþ hes [a1225 Egerton he his, a1300 Jesus Oxf. he hit] wel ihalden.

c1300 St. Michael (Harl.) in T. Wright Pop. Treat. Sci. (1841) 140 Thulke soule nymeth his [a1325 Corpus Cambr. is; c1300 Laud hire] in and bileveth i-wis In the childes brayn an heȝ.

c1300 Ministry & Passion of Christ (Laud) (1873) l. 64 Ho so wole is soule sauui, he as mot allinge for leose; And ho so leost is soule, he as sauez; nou may ech man cheose.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 6595 (MED) He..is kinges croune nom & sette is [a1400 Trin. Cambr. hure, ?a1425 Digby it] vpe þe rode heued.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 179 Ase deþ þe cat mid þe mous þanne he his heþ ynome, and huanne he heþ mid hire longe yplayd: þanne he his eth.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 191 Þe prest his [i.e. a cow] nom bleþeliche, and hise zente to þe oþren.

c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 74 Þaȝ he by hyre ne ligge nouȝt, Oþer halt hys ine hys house.

c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 131 (MED) Þe erthe hys heuy..Ho halt ys op?

c1425 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Harl.) 349 Ac vorþ chyrche vnhalwed was..He þoȝte lete hys [v.r. hur] halwy to mydewynter.

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

† hispron.³

Forms: 1. Middle English as, Middle English es, Middle English hes, Middle English his, Middle English hise, Middle English hys, Middle English hyse, Middle English is, Middle English ys. 2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word (chiefly East Anglian, south-east midlands, and south-eastern) Middle English -as, Middle English -es, Middle English -is, Middle English -s, Middle English -us.

Origin: Of uncertain origin.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Apparently an extended or compounded form of hi pron.², although if so the identity of the second element is uncertain; it may perhaps show the plural ending -s . Compare the apparent parallel of his pron.² and see discussion at that entry.

Obsolete.

The objective case of the third person plural pronoun: = them pron.

ΚΠ

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 145 (MED) Hie his fet lauede mid hire hote teres and wipede his þer after mid hire faire here.

a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 259 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 228 Þe waren swo lease men þat mes [a1225 Egerton me hi] ne mihte leuen.

a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 237 (MED) Eter gate me his scyft, and þer me hi to ȝesceodeð.

a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 23 Seððen comen to ðe ða werȝede gastes of giuernesse, of drunkenesse..and manie oðre... Nu ðurh godes grace þu hes hafst forsaken.

a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 55 Þa bodes he beodeð þer inne, Bute weo hes halden, we doð sunne, and uwilc mon hes undernim to halden wel anundes him.

c1275 Kentish Serm. in J. Hall Select. Early Middle Eng. (1920) I. 220 (MED) Þos laste on ure habbeþ i travailed and þu his makest velaghes to us.

a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 586 Ðe culuer haueð costes gode: Alle wes oȝen to hauen in mode.

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 970 He bouthe him boþe hosen and shon, And sone dide him dones on.

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 1174 He ys hire yaf, and she as tok.

c1300 Ministry & Passion of Christ (Laud) (1873) l. 185 (MED) For ȝwan heo iseoth swuch pine and wo, Heore Joye and blis is wel þe more, ȝwane heo as habbuth for go.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3025 It so bi-cam, Ðat moyses askes up-nam, And warpes vt til heuene-ward.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1700 Bala two childre bar bi him, Rachel caldes dan, neptalim. And zelfa two sunes him ber, Lia calde is Gad, and asser.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 943 Vndelt hes leide quor-so hes tok.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 135 He knowned one ilc sterre name: He settes in ðe firmament.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9165 Þe bones hii bere..& bured is þere vaire inou.

c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 3850 (MED) He oxed his armes hastiliche, And men es him brouȝt sikerliche.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 71 Þe dyaþ hise heþ, and neuremo his nele þe yelde.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 100 He his byat, and his chasteþ.

c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 88 Ten hestes haueþ y-hote god..In ston ich wot þat he hys wrot.

a1425 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Linc. Inn) (1952) l. 4054 Darie hyȝt..Remuwe his tentis..And setten his [c1400 Laud hem] by syde Estrage.

a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) 1916 (MED) Bot whethen he cometh & houdere he wolle, þou shaltus not knawe.

c1450 (?a1300) Stations of Rome (Calig.) l. 154 Ther sprong welles þre—Who so ys þere well may his se.

?c1450 in Anglia (1896) 18 297 Take rwe [and] heysele and meng ys with hony.

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

hisadj.

Brit.

/hɪz/,

/ɪz/, U.S.

/hɪz/,

/ɪz/

Forms: 1.

α. Old English (rare, perhaps transmission error)–Middle English hes, Old English–1600s (1700s archaic) hys, Old English– his, early Middle English hic (transmission error), early Middle English hif (transmission error), early Middle English þis (see note below), Middle English heis, Middle English heys, Middle English hihis (transmission error), Middle English hiis, Middle English hijs, Middle English hisse, Middle English hus (chiefly south-western and south-west midlands), Middle English hyss, Middle English (1900s– Newfoundland) hees, Middle English–1600s hiss, late Middle English hese (chiefly East Anglian), late Middle English hysse, late Middle English–1500s hyse, late Middle English–1600s hise, 1800s– he's (regional and nonstandard); English regional 1800s ho's (Cumberland), 1800s– hees (Kent), 1800s– hes; U.S. regional 1900s– hees (American Indian English); Scottish pre-1700 hes, pre-1700 heys, pre-1700 heyss, pre-1700 hus, pre-1700 hysse, pre-1700 1700s– his, pre-1700 1800s hys, 1800s hiz (Shetland), 1900s– hees, 1900s– heez. eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 787 On his dagum cuomon ærest iii scipu.OE Stowe Psalter xxiv. 14 Testamentum ipsius ut manifestetur illi[s]: cyðnys hes þæt heo sy geswutelod heom.lOE Metrical Prayer (Julius A.ii) 18 Se byð eadig, se..drihtne hyræð and a hys willan wyrcð.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 84 He sennde uss sone hiss word. hiss witt. Hiss sune. hiss mahht. hiss kinde.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 1476 He clepede Gornoille, hes guðfulle dohter.a1300 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 2 Blickied his [?c1335 Harl. is] brest nacked and bledet hiis side.a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) cxlviii. 8 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 273 Blaste ofe stormes, þat makes worde hisse [L. verbum ejus].a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 17890 All-mighti godd es fader hiss.c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xix. l. 267 Thus haue ich beo hus heraude. ▸ 1440 Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 241 Hyse, or hys, suus.c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 48 Þe worschipful sir Nicol pope in heys holi seynez, he haþ be-tane me of autorite of þe gospel.a1500 (a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 347 He is fals to god, & tristiþ not to hijs treuthe.1569 T. Stocker tr. Diodorus Siculus Hist. Successors Alexander iii. ii. 105 He enpaled his Campe with hys carriages.a1657 J. Balfour Hist. Wks. (1824) I. 95 This poet..was hes auen prissoner.a1770 T. Chatterton Compl. Wks. (1971) I. 210 Blacke hys cryne as the wyntere nyghte.1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian iii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. IV. 57 ‘A sture woife, and a dour,’ said one Cumbrian peasant... ‘She has gone to ho master, with ho's name in her mouth,’ said another.1887 J. C. Harris Free Joe & Other Georgian Sketches 292 I dunner who my young marster would 'a' got ter do he's cookin' en he's washin'.1925 C. P. Slater Marget Pow 198 He's name is Duncan.1990 S. Stephen in J. Hendry Chapman 60 51 Eh ran ti the windy ti see if Eh could see heez van cumin.

β. Old English (Northumbrian, rare) Middle English–1600s is, Middle English es, Middle English isse, Middle English us (south-west midlands), Middle English–1500s ys, 1900s– 'e's (Newfoundland); English regional 1800s as (Yorkshire), 1800s es (Devon), 1800s ez (Devon), 1800s 'iz, 1800s– ee's (Surrey), 1800s– is, 1800s– 'is, 1800s– iz; Scottish pre-1700 is, 1900s– ees, 1900s– ee's, 1900s– eez, 1900s– eis, 1900s– iz. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. i. 21 Uocabis nomen eius iesum : genemne ðu noma is haelend.c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Royal) 126 He schal for swelten ant for reden þe efter eswille.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2851 He bar hise gerde forð in is hond.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 1369 He let an monþe in þe ȝere clupie after is [c1425 Harl. ys] name.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4677 Depe selers..Thoru es aun scel-wis red, He fild wit wines, quite and red.a1400 Psalter (Harl.) iii. 3 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 132 Nis hele þai in god isse [a1400 Vesp. his, a1400 Egerton hisse].c1475 Gregory's Chron. in J. Gairdner Hist. Coll. Citizen London (1876) 203 Mayster Wylliam Ive at that tyme beyng at Wynchester in Wycham ys college.1537 in J. Bain & C. Rogers Glasgow Rental Bk. (1875) 110 Landis..vacand be decesse of..is gudeschir.1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 68 He was dyschargyd ys byschopryge and all hys londes.1609 Sir R. Shirley in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 88 Man can receiue is birth but from one place.1839 A. Bywater Sheffield Dial. (new ed.) 2 Gret fat brussen gamekeepers at as heels.1890 A. C. Bickley Midst Surrey Hills I. iii. 35 I'll trundle the mop round ee's head.a1917 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick (1927) 9 The man at A was followin eis leed.1993 in Sc. National Dict. New Suppl. (Electronic text) at Upsides He's a jealous body, aye likes tae be upsides doon wi eez neebors.

γ. 1500s–1600s 's; Scottish 1700s–1800s 's, 1900s– 'z; U.S. regional 1900s– s (in African-American usage). c1592 C. Marlowe Jew of Malta iv. iii Look how his brains drop out on 's nose.a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 296 I cut off 's head.1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 75 He..must lift up 's head.1728 A. Ramsay Poems II. 190 Auld Homer sang for 's daily Bread.1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlv. 311 Sir Simon wunts to vrang no man o' 's money.1901 W.A. Craigie in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1902) III. 175/2 Rarely cut down to 'z even after vowels.1970 J. A. Emanuel in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 241 WhatCHU know bout Daddy comin home fired cause crackers tricked m out s job, and broodin in s broken chair.

2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word Middle English -es, Middle English -is, Middle English -ys, 1500s–1700s (1800s– regional and nonstandard) -'s. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 163 Þe lewede man wurðeð his spuse mid cloðes more þane mid him seluen, and prest naht sis chireche, þe is his spuse.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 1740 Heo me leouede swa feire swa monnes [c1300 Otho man his] fader scolde.c1300 Evangelie (Dulwich Coll.) 420 in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1915) 30 573 Bote godis [emended to god is in ed.; c1425 Bodl. Add. god his] tunge þan gan unbinde.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) 2539 Pharao kinges rigte name [N]ephres, he dede ðe ebris frame.c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 881 Attes nauel þe dent a-stod.1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia ii. sig. B8^v Another [poet] with his supple passion..Makes puisne Lucius in a simpathy In loue with's pibald Laundres.1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 13 In Argos the chaste Violon For's absent Soueraigne doth graue-sweetly groan.1683 Satyr by way of Dial. between Lucifer & Ghosts of Shaftsbury & Russell 4 But's Hand is out, 'ts long since he kist the Book, Which makes me fear his Oaths will ne'er be took.1704 W. Nicolson London Diaries 20 Nov. (1985) 230 A Chancery-Clerk..had gotten an Annuity for's Life.1785 Select Coll. Poems Buchan Dial. 24 Thersites, Wha for's ill-scrappit tongue..got on his back Puss wi' the nine tails hung.1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 84 A hurl o' stanes cam doon on's back.1941 E. R. Eddison Fish Dinner vii. 103 Should a been unlorded long since, outed of all his hopes, for's misgovernment.1998 S. Blackhall Bonsai Grower 79 The auld warlord..sune dee'd in's bed o a hoast.

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: his pron.¹

Etymology: < his pron.¹, the genitive personal pronoun form corresponding to the nominative forms (masculine) he pron. and also (originally) to (neuter) it pron., adj., and n.¹, used as possessive adjective (determiner) corresponding to these pronoun forms. Form history. Like the personal pronouns (compare discussion at he pron., n.¹, and adj.), the forms of the possessive adjective tend to show the effect of reduction in low stress, including loss of initial h- (see Forms 1β), loss of the vowel (see Forms 1γ), and development of contracted forms (see Forms 2). Old English (late West Saxon) hys (see Forms 1α and also hys at his pron.¹ Forms) probably chiefly reflects laxing of i in low stress. However, Middle English (south-western) hus perhaps continues an earlier form with rounding. Middle English forms such as hes (see Forms 1α and also forms at his pron.¹) are perhaps of more than one origin. They may be influenced by forms of he pron., in which case perhaps they sometimes represent a long vowel and sometimes a short vowel (see Forms 1α at he pron., n.¹, and adj. and discussion at that entry). Forms with a long vowel (compare also the form hees ) could also have developed in some areas by open syllable lengthening of short i to long close ē (presumably originally in the inflected form hise , discussed below). Forms with a short vowel perhaps could also be due to the association of unstressed forms with the genitive singular ending -es (compare sense 5). With forms such as hiis perhaps compare Forms 1γ of he pron. The early Middle English form þis (see Forms 1α) is from a manuscript (Arundel 248) in which þ is not infrequently written for h . Use with reference to a female person. Occasional apparent examples of use of his for a female referent (instead of her adj.²) in Middle English are probably better interpreted as scribal or typographical errors:a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 235 La lief maȝie wiman forȝeten his oge cild, þat hi ne milsi hire barn of hire ogen innoð.?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 248 Þat ilk ȝere þe quene died in Lyndseie, At Westmynster, I wene, his [=her] body did þei leie.1577 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Chron. 115 Secretly he gaue poyson vnto his wife Sabina, whereby she finished his life.However, in quot. a1225 the use has alternatively been explained as reflecting the grammatical gender of the Old English noun. Compare the discussion of Old English and Middle English grammatical gender at he pron., n.¹, and adj. Compare also (much later) sense 4. Inflected forms. Compare the following attestations of late Old English hise, early Middle English hise, apparently functioning as a plural form (compare the Old English adjectival (masculine and feminine) plural ending -e):lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1070 He..wæs cumen þa into Stanforde mid ealle hise frencisce menn.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1123 Se kyng..bed hise biscopes & hise abbates & hise þeignes ealle þet hi scolden cumen to his gewitenemot.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1124 He sende norð & suð to hise casteles.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 14343 To shæwenn hise mahhtess..Þurrh hiss goddcunnde kinde.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 93 Ure louerd..fulste us..þat we mo ben on þe holie procession þe he wile maken a domes dai mid hise chosene.a1250 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Titus) (1981) 286 He..clepede an of hise [c1225 Bodl. his, c1225 Royal his] men dearneliche to him.1258 Proclam. Henry III in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1868–9) 19 Henr'..Send igretinge to alle hise holde ilærde and ileawede. In the following attestations where it modifies a singular noun, hise perhaps shows inflection for an oblique case (in late Old English, dative or accusative singular):lOE Canterbury Psalter ix. 32 Avertit faciem suam ne videat : he acyrde ansyne hise þiles he geseo.lOE Canterbury Psalter xlv. 6 Deus in medio eius non commovebitur : god on midle hise ne bið onwenden. ▸ c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 568 Hise croune he þer crakede Ageyn a gret ston.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1300 Hise weie he tok sone bi nigt.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2713 A modi stiward he ðor fond, Betende a man wid hise wond.However, occasional late Middle English attestations of hise (and hese), modifying both singular and plural nouns, are probably rather to be interpreted as inverted spellings due to general loss of word-final -e.

I. Possessive adjective (determiner) corresponding to he pron. and it pron. (originally the possessive use of the genitive of the pronoun).

1. Of him; which belongs or relates to him. Also reflexive: of himself; which belongs or relates to himself.

a. Referring to a male person.

(a) Modifying a noun indicating something possessed by the person, or a verbal noun with which his is in subjective or objective relation (as ‘his defence of his actions’, ‘his defeat at the hands of the French’).No special provision exists in the language for the distinction of the subjective genitive and the objective genitive, except by context (cf. ‘his dismissal of the envoys was blamed; he received his (own) dismissal soon after’); but in some cases the objective genitive is expressed periphrastically by of him (e.g. ‘his defence, I mean your defence of him, was well conducted’). The periphrastic form sometimes occurs also for the possessive genitive, as ‘for the life of him’.

ΘΚΠ

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 787 On his dagum cuomon ærest iii scipu.

OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) vii. 7 Hwæt ða Noe eode into ðam arce, & his ðry suna & his wif & his sunu [read suna] wif [L. filii eius, uxor eius et uxores filiorum eius].

OE King Ælfred tr. Psalms (Paris) (2001) xxxix. 4 Eadig byð se wer þe his tohopa byð to swylcum Drihtne.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1101 Se cyng syddan scipa ut on sæ sende his broðer to dære & to lættinge.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1953 His lond he huld half ȝer.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1737 Wið is wiues he takeð red.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. i. 25 He..clepide his name Jhesus.

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 241 Hyse, or hys, suus.

?1441 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 217 Þe Holy Trenyte haue yow in hese kepyng.

1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) i. vi. sig. e.vi The fourtyest daye after his resurreccyon.

1589 R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations i. 19 Thinking to auoid by the swiftnes of his horse.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. vii. 15 His Host, Who should against his Murtherer shut the doore.

1643 J. Angier Lancashires Valley of Achor 36 Which God forbid for his Christs sake.

1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd i. 92 Man he seems In all his lineaments, though in his face The glimpses of his Fathers glory shine.

1714 N. Rowe Jane Shore iii. i His bold defence of me.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. xii. 197 He now therefore entered, handsomely drest in his regimentals.

1832 Ld. Tennyson To J. S. 49 His memory long will live alone In all our hearts.

1835–7 R. Southey in W. Cowper Wks. III. 220 Cowper manifested no pleasure at his sight.

1849 G. Grote Hist. Greece V. ii. xlv. 442 His friends retained his panoply.

1900 G. Ade Fables in Slang 155 He took her riding in his new Runabout every Evening.

1936 J. Grenfell Let. Jan. in Darling Ma (1989) 10 What we heard on the radio was really the announcement of his death.

2001 Times 9 Feb. ii. 11 Dehumanised, monsterfied by his own huge success.

(b) Modifying a noun denoting something with which one has a less immediate or definite relation (such as a target or objective, a field of study, an honour or award, or an academic qualification).

ΚΠ

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 98 (MED) Hvanne me zet a child to lettre [c1450 Bk. Vices & Virtues lettrure], ate begynnynge me him tekþ his pater noster.

c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 81 (MED) Þis husband..baldlie went in hand with his pater noster & sayde it.

1532 T. More Confut. Tyndales Answere ii. p. cxxi As connynge as Tyndale wold seme therin wyth his greke & all.

1611 Bible (King James) 1 Kings xx. 20 And they slew euery one his man [Hebrew ‘a man his man’] .

1679 J. Dryden Troilus & Cressida ii. iii. 23 If Hector be to fight with any Greeke, He knows his Man.

1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 39. ⁋36 A good Marks-man will be sure to hit his Man at 20 Yards Distance.

1827 Ld. Eldon in S. Walpole Hist. Eng. (1878) I. 158 A sportsman was thought nothing of unless he could kill his thousand birds a day.

1863 C. Kingsley Water-babies iii. 123 He knows his Bewick.

1882 Daily News 18 Jan. 2/2 Ainslie, of Oriel..may be successful in winning his blue.

1884 E. A. Freeman Methods Hist. Study (1886) 33 The historian of Teutonic nations..cannot afford wholly to shut up his Tacitus, his Strabo, and his Caesar.

1903 T. W. H. Crosland Five Notions 85 He likes his news frequent and newsy and neat, And he's right on the nail.

1998 G. Phinn Other Side of Dale (1999) xviii. 196 He knows his alphabet and his words and can do some of his tables.

(c) Modifying a verbal noun, gerund, or gerundival clause, forming an embedded phrase corresponding to a clause consisting of he and a main verb.

ΚΠ

1442 T. Bekington Let. in G. Williams Mem. Reign Henry VI (1872) II. 192 (MED) He never spak with hym in al his being there.

1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 547/1 His generacion (that is to wyt his being borne of God by the seed of god..) doth preserue and kepe hym.

1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. B3^v Far from the purpose of his comming thither, He makes excuses for his being there.

1623 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1622–3 (1908) 231 At his putting into the grave 3 volles of smale shotte.

1697 E. Halley Let. 30 Dec. in I. Newton Corr. (1967) IV. 254 There to answer to his throwing the standish at Mr Weddell.

1735 Lives Most Remarkable Criminals III. 354 To deliver him..in order to his being hanged for a Pirate.

1784 Hist. Proc. & Deb. House of Commons Ireland III. 18 Many advantages would accrue to the nation by his retracting from..the other errors of his predecessor.

1821 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. 51 35 It..occasioned his being invited to a pastorship at Riga.

1882 Harper's Mag. June 102/1 To insure his carrying them out in every particular another officer was appointed.

1978 E. Blishen Sorry, Dad i. ii. 10 She remembered his making a doll's house for his daughters.

1996 J. Lanchester Debt to Pleasure (1997) 110 I once personally witnessed his eating an entire quart jar of Mitthaug's cocktail onions.

b. Referring to an animal.his (or her) now varies with its, according to the subjective pronoun used: see he pron. 1a(b), it pron. 1a(a).

ΘΚΠ

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

hisOE

itselfa1400

itc1400

its1577

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xvii. 27 Nim þone ærestan fisc & hys muþ geopena [L. aperto ore eius].

OE Prose Charm: Against Theft (Corpus Cambr. 190) in G. Storms Anglo-Saxon Magic (1948) 202 Gyf hit sy hors, sing on his feteran oþþe on his bridele.

lOE tr. Alcuin De Virtutibus et Vitiis (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 102 Petrus cwæð..þæt hit wære gelicost, þan se hund wære eft gecerred to his spywðen.

c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 781 Ne mai his [sc. a horse's] strenþe hit ishilde.

a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 32 His [sc. an eagle's] bec is alto wrong.

a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 2 Ðe leun stant on hille, & he man hunten here, Oðer ðurȝ his nese smel smake ðat he neȝȝe.

c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 794 Set me be-for þe on is [sc. the horse's] bak.

1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xxvi. 561 The horse..smote his mussell in to the erth.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Lev. xi. 29 The Wesell, the Mouse, the Tode, euery one with his kynde.

1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. iii. G vj It hath cruell teeth and scaly back, with very sharpe clawes on his feete.

1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler xi. 196 The Barbell is so called..from or by reason of his beard, or wattles at his mouth, his mouth being under his nose or chaps.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 108 The fearful Stag dares for his Hind engage.

1733 A. Pope Ess. Man iii. 32 Is it for thee the Lark ascends and sings? Joy tunes his Voice, Joy elevates his Wings.

1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 83 The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold.

1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyrical Poems 115 The callow bird unfilm'd his fervent eyes.

1907 J. H. Patterson Man-eaters of Tsavo xviii. 199 As we moved, the lion also twisted round and so always kept his head full on us.

2001 Independent 6 Jan. (Time Off section) 5/4 I recall my onanistic cat Wolfgang stickily-treading his comfort blanket, his eyes open yet lightless.

c. In relation to a singular noun or pronoun of undetermined gender. Cf. their adj. 2.

ΚΠ

OE West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) ix. 42 Swa hwa swa gedrefð ænne of þyssum lytlingum..betere him wære þæt an cweornstan wære to his swuran gecnyt & wære on sæ beworpen.

c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 40 (MED) Hwa se witeð wel his muð, he witeð..his sawle.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 32 Þe childe þet ne dar naȝt guo his way uor þe guos þet blauþ.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. x. 38 He that takith nat his crosse, and sueth me, is not worthi of me.

1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Confirmacion f. x*^v That euerye childe maye haue a wittenesse of hys confirmacion.

1657 E. Hyde Christian Legacy ii. ii. 173 A good Christian may farther see also a positive liberty, To have his soul and his spirit enlarged.

1749 J. Wesley Plain Acct. Methodists 9 I cou'd not easily see, what the Behaviour of each Person in his own Neighbourhood was.

1836 London Med. Gaz. 22 Oct. 117/2 The patient has pains in his limbs.

1864 W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 397 The player who fails to take a trick with his hand.

1880 B. Disraeli Endymion II. xiii. 137 Everyone has his ways.

1937 Life 26 July 76/4 As indecent and indelicate as if someone were to take off all his clothes in Piccadilly Circus.

2011 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 28 Apr. 59/1 Each of us can argue for his own understanding of justice.

2. Referring to a thing: its. In early use, referring to a thing grammatically masculine or neuter; subsequently, to any inanimate thing; since the 17th cent. (except in some regional use (now rare)), chiefly to something personified or conventionally treated as male.his was often replaced by thereof in later Middle English and early modern English (see thereof adv. 1c). From the 17th cent. onwards it was gradually superseded, except in the case of personification and regional use, by its adj.For overlap and contrast with the similar use of her, see her adj.² 1b.

ΚΠ

OE Ælfric De Temporibus Anni (Cambr. Gg.3.28) (2009) x. 94 Se ðridda heafodwind hatte Zephirus.., & ðurh his blæd acuciað ealle eorðlice blæda.

OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) i. 11 Sprytte seo eorðe..æppelbære treow wæstm wyrcende æfter his cynne [L. iuxta genus suum].

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) vi. 34 Æghwylc dæg hæfð genoh on hys agenum ymbhogan [L. ipse sufficit diei malitia sua].

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1110 On þære fiftan nihte on Maies monðe ætywde se mona on æfen beorhte scinende, & syððan litlan & litlan his leoht wanode.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4357 Seffne daȝhess brinngenn aȝȝ Þe wuke till hiss ende.

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 49 (MED) Non claudit super te puteus os suum..þe put ne tuneð noht lihtliche his muð ouer us.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 327 For is fruit sired mannes mood To witen boðen iwel and good.

c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) ciii. 19 (MED) Þe sonne knewe hys goingdoun.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. vi. 34 It sufficith to the day his malice [1611 King James sufficient vnto the day is the euill thereof].

?1403 in T. F. Simmons Lay Folks Mass Bk. (1879) 65 That the erthe may bring forthe his fruyt.

c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Ellesmere) (1868) l. 1 Aprille with hise shoures soote.

1417 Guildhall Let.-bk. in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 69 It hath stonde..in as gret pees and tranquillite as euer ded Cite in absence of his most soueraign and excellent lord.

c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 10 It longith not to Holi Scripture, neither it is his office.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccx. 251 Euery batayle had his vawarde.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) John iii. f. cxxij And thou hearest his sounde [1539 Great the sounde therof].

1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 34 Into whiche [sc. tropic of winter] whan he [sc. the sun] doth enter, he maketh his wynterly retorne backwarde.

1561 J. Daus tr. H. Bullinger Hundred Serm. vpon Apocalips xv. 102 It semeth to haue kept his olde wonte.

1563 2nd Tome Homelyes Whitsunday i, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) ii. 454 This feast hath his name, to be called Pentecost.

1608 T. Hudson tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Ivdith iv. 59 in J. Sylvester Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) The tree that bends his eldren braunch That way where first the stroke hath made him launch.

1611 Bible (King James) Exod. xxxix. 33 The tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his barres, and his pillars, and his sockets.

1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. viii. 93 The Preposition must be ioyned with his case.

1634 W. Wood New Englands Prospect i. x. 37 Boston is two miles North-east from Roxberry: His situation is very pleasant.

1647 N. Nye Art of Gunnery Contents How to renew and make good any sort of Gun-powder that hath lost his strength.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 652 The Sun Had first his precept so to move.

1670 J. Smith England's Improvem. Reviv'd 225 Goutwort..easeth the pains of the Gout, and..had not his Name for nothing.

1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xi. 195 The wide sea with all his billows raves.

1726 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey IV. xvii. 688 The sun obliquely shot his dewy ray.

1763 J. Woodforde Diary 11 May in Woodforde at Oxf. (1969) 126 The Harpsichord..was carried away this Morning.., and a Spinnet brought in his Place.

1807 J. Barlow Columbiad i. 41 Saw proud Potosi lift his glittering head.

1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. v. v. 530 Famine now raged in all his horrors.

1883 Cent. Mag. Aug. 495/1 When fierce along his ocean-path The North wind rushes in his wrath.

1982 W. L. Heat Moon Blue Highways 70 We drinks water what come up of his own mind.

2007 Clash July 131/2 One desirable festival suspect noticeably absent was the sun, which obviously chose to stay in his tent all day.

3. Used in certain honorific forms of address, as his highness, his lordship, his majesty, etc., which act as a formal substitute for he or him: see the nouns.

ΚΠ

a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 3455 (MED) She hath offended his highnesse Not wilfully, but of reklesnesse.

1528 E. Foxe Let. in N. Pocock Rec. Reformation (1870) I. liii. 143 His holiness was..much propence to satisfy his majesty therein.

1563 J. Foxe Actes & Monuments 1714/2 The Cooke said his lordship should pardon him for that matter.

1625 J. Mede Let. 17 June in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. III. 199 Tomorrow His Majesty will be present..to begin the Parliament which is thought shall be removed to Oxford.

a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) i. 199 His Highness Read the Charges, and admir'd at the virulency; with the Anti-scripts of the Keeper, which were much commended.

1738 D. Neal Hist. Puritans IV. iii. 139 His Highness girt the Laws close upon the Papists.

1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1781 II. 365 He has not owned to whom he was obliged; so that the acknowledgement is unappropriated to his Grace.

1802 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) III. 473 His Highness..hereby assigns and cedes in perpetuity to the Honorable East India Company, all the territories detailed.

1880 A. Trollope Duke's Children I. xvii. 200 Within that little body there was a high-mounting heart, and that heart had been greatly wounded by his Lordship's treatment.

1904 F. Rolfe Hadrian VII xvii. 326 His Holiness had sent a cardinal-ablegate to place the Golden Rose, the pontifical tribute to virtuose queens, on Her Majesty's tomb in the mausoleum at Frogmore.

1972 Times 12 Feb. 14/8 His Lordship had not failed to observe the practice in some metropolitan courts.

2008 N.Y. Times 5 Dec. 8/5 It is possible that His Majesty did not want to be used by one side or another.

4. English regional (south-western) and U.S. regional (southern). Referring to a female person or animal: her. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. His, the usual possessive used for a female as well as a male... How is the cow? Well he idn no better; I sim I do want to zee un chow 'is queed.

1918 E. C. Parsons Folk-Tales Andros Island, Bahamas 12 Get my wife ring off his finger.

1928 J. M. Peterkin Scarlet Sister Mary 343 His [sc. Mary's] soul might be clean but his body ought to be baptized again.

II. Other uses.

5. After a noun (esp. a personal name): substituting for the genitive inflection -s. Cf. her adj.² 3, their adj. 6.Usually after a noun that is naturally, grammatically, or conventionally masculine, but occasionally after a noun with female reference.First attested in early Middle English, but most prevalent from c1400 to 1750; sometimes identified with the genitive inflection -es, -is, -ys, esp. in the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was chiefly (but not exclusively) used with names ending in -s, or when the inflectional genitive would have been awkward. Quots. OE¹ and OE², cited by N.E.D. (1898), are not instances of this phenomenon: in the former Gode should probably be taken as a dative of possession (compare B. Mitchell Old Eng. Syntax (1985) §307); the latter is a simple misreading. N.E.D. (1898) states: ‘Archaically retained in Book-keeping and for some other technical purposes.’

ΚΠ

OE Paris Psalter (1932) xcviii. 6 Þa Gode his naman neode cigdan [L. qui invocant nomen eius].

OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Num. (Laud) xiii. 29 We gesawon Enachis cynryn [misread Enac his cynryn in N.E.D.].]

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4221 Þatt daȝȝ þatt teȝȝ þe cnape child. Hiss shapp himm ummbeshærenn.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13999 Ich igrap mi sweord leofe..and smæt of Modred is [c1300 Otho his] hafd.

c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) 5635 Þo was in Norweie his erþ a king þat hehte Compert.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) 493 Of seth, ðe was adam is sune, Cam enos.

c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 3130 (MED) Þay kemen atte laste to Amyral ys pauyloun.

c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 10 To forsake Syr Sathanas his werkus euerychon.

c1475 Gregory's Chron. in J. Gairdner Hist. Coll. Citizen London (1876) 203 Beyng at Wynchester in Wycham ys college.

1551 R. Robinson in tr. T. More Vtopia sig. ✠ii The twoo principal secretaries to the kyng his moste excellent maiestie.

a1575 N. Harpsfield Treat. Divorce Henry VIII (1878) (modernized text) 178 Since Christ his birth.

1579 E. K. in E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Jan. 60 Gloss. Julia, themperor Augustus his daughter.

1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. B3^v When Pharao the king of Egypt his sinne was ripe.

1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 425 Epicures and Atheists..who place Nature in God his stead.

1599 F. Thynne Animaduersions (1875) 64 Wordes are curteyled for the verse his cause.

a1612 J. Harington Brief View Church of Eng. in Nugæ Antiquæ (1804) II. 238 Mrs. Sands his maid.

a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) v. ii. 320 If you finde in it another explication then Amintas his, then mine, then what all your subjects give it.

1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. (1655) i. 2 Fit mates for the Horseleech his two daughters, crying, Give, give.

1662 Bk. Common Prayer Prayer for all Conditions of Men And this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake.

1667 S. Pepys Diary 12 Aug. (1974) VIII. 383 Do hear Mr. Cowly mightily lamented his death by Dr. Ward..as the best poet of our nation.

1671 H. M. tr. Erasmus Colloquies 377 Whether of the two his death seemed to be more Christian?

1694 R. Franck Northern Mem. 26 Job's Patience, Moses his Meekness, Abraham's Faith.

1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 409. ¶7 In examining Æneas his Voyage by the Map.

1746 Rep. Cond. Sir J. Cope 13 The Orders contained in ‘the Marquis his letter’.

1767 H. Walpole Hist. Doubts (1768) 66 King Edward the Fourth his death.

1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present iv. i. 330 It were better for you..to keep out of Pandarus his neighbourhood.

1922 St. Nicholas Feb. 342/2 He may paste into each book in his library a bookplate, with some such wording as..‘John, His Book’.

2007 B. Kirton & K. McMillan Just Write 147 In earlier centuries one way of indicating possession was to use expressions such as ‘William, his book’.

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

† hisv.

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: his adj.

Etymology: < his adj.

Obsolete.

transitive. To use ‘his’ of, to qualify with ‘his’.Apparently an isolated use.

ΚΠ

1621 R. Montagu Diatribæ Hist. Tithes i. 167 Yet Colossus was no man nor woman that you His it. [Referring to Selden's ‘upon a Colossus his backe’.]

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online September 2019).

n.1945

pron.¹eOE

pron.²a1200

pron.³a1200

adj.eOE

v.1621

单词	his
释义	Hisn. Brit. /ˌeɪtʃʌɪˈɛs/, U.S. /ˌeɪtʃˌaɪˈɛs/ Forms: also with lower-case initial. Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: histidine n. Etymology: Shortened < histidine n., as a graphic abbreviation. Biochemistry. The amino acid histidine. ΚΠ 1945 E. Brand et al. in Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 67 1531/2 The empirical formula in terms of amino acid residues is (using the first 3 letters of each as the symbol for the amino acid residues): Gly₈Ala₂₉Val₂₁Leu₅₀Ileu₂₇Pro₁₅Phe₉CySH₄(CyS-)₈Met₉Try₄Arg₇His₄Lys₃₃Asp₃₆Glu₂₄(Glu-NH₂)₃₂Ser₂₀Thr₂₁Tyr₉(H₂O)₄. 1963 Progress Nucleic Acid Res. 2 241 Binding involves a group other than His 119. 1990 Protein Engin. 4 199/2 In the so-called charge relay system the catalytic Asp residue accepts a proton from the His. 2006 Respiratory Physiol. & Neurobiol. 154 167/1 His side chains are the major buffer groups. This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022). hispron.¹ Brit. /hɪz/, /ɪz/, U.S. /hɪz/, /ɪz/ Forms: Old English–1500s hys, Old English– his, Middle English hijs, Middle English hjs, Middle English hus (chiefly south-west midlands), Middle English hyss, Middle English hysse, Middle English is, late Middle English hese, late Middle English hesse, late Middle English hise, late Middle English hisse, late Middle English hyse; English regional (Devon) 1800s hees, 1800s hee's. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Originally the genitive singular third person masculine and neuter personal pronoun form, corresponding to the nominative forms (masculine) he pron. and also (originally) to (neuter) it pron., adj., and n.¹ With the use as possessive pronoun (see II.) compare the use of the same form also as possessive adjective (see his adj.). On the further etymology see discussion at he pron., n.¹, and adj. Parallel in inflection are Old Dutch is (beside sīn), Old Saxon is, es (Middle Low German is, es), Old High German es (beside sīn), Gothic is. Several other early West Germanic languages use in the function of the genitive singular masculine and neuter personal pronoun the reflex of an (originally reflexive) possessive adjective the Old English cognate of which is sīn (rare and occurring chiefly in verse); compare Old Frisian sīn, Old Dutch sīn, Old Saxon sīn, Old High German sīn.In use as possessive pronoun, in early Middle English sometimes with plural inflection in -e (as hise ); compare quots. c1225, ?a1400 at sense 4a and see discussion at his adj. For discussion of forms see his adj. This pronoun (like the more recent formation its pron.) is unusual among the set of possessive pronouns in modern English in showing no formal differentiation from the corresponding possessive adjective his adj.; compare the pairs mine pron. and my adj., yours pron. and your adj. (also thine pron. and thy adj.), hers pron.¹ and her adj.¹, ours pron. and our adj., theirs pron. and their adj. Compare hisis pron. for a (rare and obsolete) form analogous to hers pron.¹, ours pron., yours pron., theirs pron., and compare his'n pron. for a form analogous to mine pron. and thine pron. †I. As genitive case of the personal pronoun. 1. The genitive case of the third person singular masculine personal pronoun he pron. (in original use also of the third person singular neuter pronoun it pron.): of him; of it. Also reflexive: of himself, of itself. Obsolete. Π eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) lviii. 443 Hwæt magon we his nu don? OE Genesis B 616 Nu scineð þe leoht fore..þæt ic from gode brohte hwit of heofonum; nu þu his hrinan meaht. OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) i. 32 Gedrinc his [?a1200 Harl. 6258B drinc hit, L. bibat] þonne on niht nistig þreo full fulle. lOE Laws: Pax (Rochester) 390 Ðus feor sceal beon þæs cinges grið fram his burhgeate.., on feower healfe his, ðæt is iii mila & iii furlang & iii æcera bræde [L.] & ix fota. c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 199 Ac þenne þe deaþ cymæð, þenne sceolen heo forlæten heoræ æhtæ heoræ unðancæs, and heo his þenne nan þing nabbæð. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 4373 His hit ware no resoun tille our lorde do suche tresoun. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4305 (MED) And, maugre his, he dos him lute. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3874 Bisid lya [= Leah] al night he lai, His vnwitand. ?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 12 Þe dragoun..tuke þe knyght and bare him maugree his [Fr. maugree luy] til a cragg of þe see. II. As possessive pronoun. 2. Predicatively: that which belongs to him. ΘΠ the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > that which is one's own > that which is mine, ours, his, hers, or yours oureOE hisOE mineOE thineOE hernc1230 hersa1250 ourna1382 yourna1382 oursa1400 his'nc1425 yours1526 OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) ix. 252 Ealle þing syndon his, ægþer ge heofon ge eorðe & sæ & ealle þa ðing þe on ðam wuniað. OE Paris Psalter (1932) xcix. 2 He us geworhte and we his syndon [L. ipsius sumus]. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 85 Ȝef he mare speneð of his, hwense he aȝein cherreð, al he hit him wule ȝelden. c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 47 A forward fast þai bond Þat ich aman schul ioien his. a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Job xxxix. 16 He [sc. the ostrich] is maad hard to hise briddis, as if thei ben not hise [a1382 E.V. She..hir..hiris]. 1591 R. Greene Second Pt. Conny-catching sig. A2^v They..offer to depose, that they know the horse to be his. 1611 Bible (King James) Song of Sol. ii. 16 My beloued is mine, and I am his . View more context for this quotation 1674 J. Howe Treat. Delighting in God ii. 294 So as that you truly take him for your God,..giving up your self absolutely and without reservation to him as his. 1710 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 13 Oct. (1948) I. 54 Harrison..has written some mighty pretty things; that in your 6^th Miscellanea, about the Sprig of an Orange, is his. 1785 W. Cowper Task v. 343 He is ours..We are his. 1880 Harper's Mag. July 277/1 The house that once was his. 1971 I. Metzker & D. L. Levy tr. Bintel Brief 47 He loved me so much that he would waste away if I didn't become his. 2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic xxv. 363 I..sheered off the whole back of a red motorbike which happened to be his. 3. a. Equivalent to his with a noun supplied from the context. Frequently paired or contrasted with another possessive. Π OE Dispute between Wynflæd & Leofwine (Sawyer 1454) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 138 Þa cwæþ hio þæt hio ne mihte [swerian] hyre dæles ne he his. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 17 He..þrouwede deð for al moncun al for ure neode nawiht for his. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 121 Uor to confermi oure loue to his. a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 115 Philip sold his prisoneres, Richard hing his. 1509 Parlyament Deuylles sig. A.vi He is out of our bokes, and we out of his. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. sig. Gg3 My true loue hath my hart, and I haue his. 1693 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. III. 342 To have our Wills intirely Conformable, and as it were Perpendicular to his. 1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero (1742) III. xi. 241 Nothing was more common, than to have sayings forged for his. 1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 41 [He] saw the babe Hers, yet not his, upon the father's knee. 1891 R. Routledge Discov. & Inventions 19th Cent. (ed. 8) 626 This hypothesis was revived by Ampère a few years later, and sometimes is called his. 1922 ‘R. Crompton’ More William (1924) viii. 131 Her capacity for cakes exceeded even William's, and his was no mean one. 1996 Guardian 7 Sept. (Weekend Suppl.) 55/4 His is white, but John Lewis has the bizz in chrome, as well as other colours. b. Usually in combination with or in opposition to hers. Denoting an article, room (e.g. a lavatory), etc., intended for males. Π 1949 Good Housek. June 26/2 With color contrasts in towels and washcloths, it's easy to distinguish ‘his’ from yours. 1950 Charm Apr. 82 Among your wedding gifts..may be a set of bath towels labelled with beautiful equity and foresight: ‘His’ and ‘Hers’. 1953 Imagination June 115/1 Almost before Crae brought the car to a gravel-spraying stop..Ellena had the door open and was out and around the corner marked His and Hers. 1962 J. Blackburn Gaunt Woman x. 156 ‘His’ was a gloomy little room, laid with dirty grey lino. 1985 New York 25 Nov. 6/1 (advt.) Stainless steel and 14K gold [watches]. His, $1,950. Hers, $1,650. 4. a. Those who are his; esp. those to whom he is closely related, his family or kindred. Frequently in him (also he) and his . Π OE Rule St. Benet (Tiber.) (1888) lxii. 103 Si quis abbas sibi presbiterum vel diaconem ordinari petierit, de suis eligat : gif ænig him sylfan mæssepreost oððe diacon beon gehadod geornð of his geceose. a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 231 Þa cweð se hlafor[d] to his. c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Bodl.) (1981) 507 Hwi ne hihi we forte beon ifulhet, as he het hise [c1225 Royal his], ear we faren heonne? c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9259 He..ladde ost gret ynou aȝen þe king & his. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 57 Edward him granted..Þat neuer þe Dangilde for [him] ne non of hise, Suld be chalenged for man of Danes lond. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lv. 185 All y^e domages that thou hast done him & his. 1576 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Queen Elizabeth (1908) 414 It is an accion of accompt..like to be the vtter vndooing both of him and his. 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. i. iii. 522 We will not relent,..till we haue confounded him and his. 1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. xl. 270 I..must go to him, and to his, as an obliged, and half-fortun'd person. 1828 J. Porter Field of Forty Footsteps 160 The portion of blood-guiltiness was indeed entailed on him and his! 1929 B. Gould Sky Larking 205 If that battle is waged from the skies, as it will assuredly be, he and his are doomed from the start, for there will be no defense. 1986 J. S. Reed Southern Folk, Plain & Fancy iii. 42 He and his are often regarded as another social class. b. of his: that is (or are) his; belonging to him (see of prep. 32). Π 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 54 (MED) Tuo mesures makeþ be wyȝte ymad: þe mesure of wombe in oþre-manne house..þe mesure of þe purse of his. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 3004 The Pope..scholde ryde..Unto Pontsorge, the which is A Castell in Provence of his. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6480 (MED) Þi neghbur wijf ȝerne noght at haue, Ne aght of his. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Richard III f. xlvj As though he had gone secretely to visite a familier frende of his. 1680 H. More Apocalypsis Apocalypseos 332 If there be not more rhythme than Reason in those drolling verses of his. 1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle II. lxviii. 242 Methinks the doctor was in a pestilent hurry with that message of his. 1827 W. Scott Life Napoleon II. iv. 127 Blood..shed..without command of his. 1890 M. A. Craig tr. G. Verga House by Medlar-tree xiii. 236 One time or another, I'll beat it about his head, that sabre of his. 1917 A. Cahan Rise of David Levinsky (1993) ii. i. 29 This he did with such simple alacrity and kindly modesty as to make me feel a chum of his. 2005 G. M. Flynn Currach Race & Other Stories xii. 117 He was a great thatcher; just look at that house of his. c. colloquial and British regional. His home, his house, ‘his place’. Cf. mine pron. 3d. ΚΠ 1917 Trans. Yorks. Dial. Soc. 3 23 There is a peculiarity of speech by which an Essex man may often be detected—..the use of the word ‘his’ or ‘mine’ instead of ‘his house’, or ‘my house’. ‘Are you going to his to-night? No, he is coming to mine, unless we both come round to yours.’ 1998 R. Newman Manners 104 He invited me to dinner round at his a few days later. He picked me up from mine. 2004 Sugar Nov. 86/1 If there's a lad you fancy, pop round to his when you're glammed up. Compounds his and hers adj. designating a pair of matching items intended for a man and a woman (esp. a husband and wife). Π 1940 Portsmouth (New Hampsh.) Herald 30 Nov. 2/1 (advt.) His and Hers, Mr. and Mrs., Pure Linen Guest Towels.] 1941 Rhinelander (Wisconsin) Daily News 23 June 3/2 Everyone favors ‘His and Hers’ linens. 1962 Life 16 Feb. 12 Win! ‘His and Hers’ Planes (or equivalent in cash). 1970 New Yorker 14 Mar. 34/3 He wore His-'n-Hers flowered at-home jams. 1991 Horse & Horseman July 12/3 His and Hers shirts..are made from a polyester cotton fabric and feature solid front yokes with silver ponderosa stitching. 2001 Toronto Star 13 Jan. m11/5 (advt.) Three ensuites! The grandest is the master bedroom's, with roman tub featuring columns, a separate custom-look shower stall and his and hers vanities. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022). † hispron.² Forms: 1. Middle English as, Middle English es, Middle English hes, Middle English hies, Middle English his, Middle English hise, Middle English hys, Middle English hyse, Middle English is, Middle English ys. 2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word early Middle English -es, early Middle English -is. Origin: Of uncertain origin. Etymology: Origin uncertain. Apparently an extended or compounded form of hi pron.¹, although if so the identity of the second element is uncertain. Perhaps compare third person singular feminine subjective and objective forms with initial s- in other West Germanic languages (in both full and cliticized forms) listed at hoo pron. and hi pron.¹ However, neither the hypothesis that such forms were inherited also in English but failed to be attested until the 13th cent., nor the hypothesis of borrowing of cliticized forms from another West Germanic language, are entirely convincing. Compare also the apparent parallel of his pron.³ and see discussion at that entry.It is uncertain whether some of the instances in quot. a1225² show full forms or contracted forms (with preceding he he pron.). Obsolete. The objective case of the feminine third person singular pronoun: = her pron.² ΚΠ a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 159 (MED) An edie meiden..was iferen bispused þe heuenliche kinge, and..he hes fette hom. a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 235 Þer efter arerde god þas lage þurh moysen..and wrate his himself in stanene wax bredene, and si ȝeleste sume wile. a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 55 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 163 (MED) Þe þet echte wile habben wel hwile þe he muȝe es [a1200 Trin. Cambr. hes muȝe, a1225 Egerton he mei his, a1300 Jesus Oxf. he may him] welden, Giue hies [a1200 Trin. Cambr. hes, a1225 Egerton his, a1300 Jesus Oxf. hit] for godes luue; þenne deþ hes [a1225 Egerton he his, a1300 Jesus Oxf. he hit] wel ihalden. c1300 St. Michael (Harl.) in T. Wright Pop. Treat. Sci. (1841) 140 Thulke soule nymeth his [a1325 Corpus Cambr. is; c1300 Laud hire] in and bileveth i-wis In the childes brayn an heȝ. c1300 Ministry & Passion of Christ (Laud) (1873) l. 64 Ho so wole is soule sauui, he as mot allinge for leose; And ho so leost is soule, he as sauez; nou may ech man cheose. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 6595 (MED) He..is kinges croune nom & sette is [a1400 Trin. Cambr. hure, ?a1425 Digby it] vpe þe rode heued. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 179 Ase deþ þe cat mid þe mous þanne he his heþ ynome, and huanne he heþ mid hire longe yplayd: þanne he his eth. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 191 Þe prest his [i.e. a cow] nom bleþeliche, and hise zente to þe oþren. c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 74 Þaȝ he by hyre ne ligge nouȝt, Oþer halt hys ine hys house. c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 131 (MED) Þe erthe hys heuy..Ho halt ys op? c1425 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Harl.) 349 Ac vorþ chyrche vnhalwed was..He þoȝte lete hys [v.r. hur] halwy to mydewynter. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022). † hispron.³ Forms: 1. Middle English as, Middle English es, Middle English hes, Middle English his, Middle English hise, Middle English hys, Middle English hyse, Middle English is, Middle English ys. 2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word (chiefly East Anglian, south-east midlands, and south-eastern) Middle English -as, Middle English -es, Middle English -is, Middle English -s, Middle English -us. Origin: Of uncertain origin. Etymology: Origin uncertain. Apparently an extended or compounded form of hi pron.², although if so the identity of the second element is uncertain; it may perhaps show the plural ending -s . Compare the apparent parallel of his pron.² and see discussion at that entry. Obsolete. The objective case of the third person plural pronoun: = them pron. ΚΠ a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 145 (MED) Hie his fet lauede mid hire hote teres and wipede his þer after mid hire faire here. a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 259 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 228 Þe waren swo lease men þat mes [a1225 Egerton me hi] ne mihte leuen. a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 237 (MED) Eter gate me his scyft, and þer me hi to ȝesceodeð. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 23 Seððen comen to ðe ða werȝede gastes of giuernesse, of drunkenesse..and manie oðre... Nu ðurh godes grace þu hes hafst forsaken. a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 55 Þa bodes he beodeð þer inne, Bute weo hes halden, we doð sunne, and uwilc mon hes undernim to halden wel anundes him. c1275 Kentish Serm. in J. Hall Select. Early Middle Eng. (1920) I. 220 (MED) Þos laste on ure habbeþ i travailed and þu his makest velaghes to us. a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 586 Ðe culuer haueð costes gode: Alle wes oȝen to hauen in mode. c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 970 He bouthe him boþe hosen and shon, And sone dide him dones on. c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 1174 He ys hire yaf, and she as tok. c1300 Ministry & Passion of Christ (Laud) (1873) l. 185 (MED) For ȝwan heo iseoth swuch pine and wo, Heore Joye and blis is wel þe more, ȝwane heo as habbuth for go. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3025 It so bi-cam, Ðat moyses askes up-nam, And warpes vt til heuene-ward. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1700 Bala two childre bar bi him, Rachel caldes dan, neptalim. And zelfa two sunes him ber, Lia calde is Gad, and asser. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 943 Vndelt hes leide quor-so hes tok. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 135 He knowned one ilc sterre name: He settes in ðe firmament. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9165 Þe bones hii bere..& bured is þere vaire inou. c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 3850 (MED) He oxed his armes hastiliche, And men es him brouȝt sikerliche. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 71 Þe dyaþ hise heþ, and neuremo his nele þe yelde. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 100 He his byat, and his chasteþ. c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 88 Ten hestes haueþ y-hote god..In ston ich wot þat he hys wrot. a1425 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Linc. Inn) (1952) l. 4054 Darie hyȝt..Remuwe his tentis..And setten his [c1400 Laud hem] by syde Estrage. a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) 1916 (MED) Bot whethen he cometh & houdere he wolle, þou shaltus not knawe. c1450 (?a1300) Stations of Rome (Calig.) l. 154 Ther sprong welles þre—Who so ys þere well may his se. ?c1450 in Anglia (1896) 18 297 Take rwe [and] heysele and meng ys with hony. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022). hisadj. Brit. /hɪz/, /ɪz/, U.S. /hɪz/, /ɪz/ Forms: 1. α. Old English (rare, perhaps transmission error)–Middle English hes, Old English–1600s (1700s archaic) hys, Old English– his, early Middle English hic (transmission error), early Middle English hif (transmission error), early Middle English þis (see note below), Middle English heis, Middle English heys, Middle English hihis (transmission error), Middle English hiis, Middle English hijs, Middle English hisse, Middle English hus (chiefly south-western and south-west midlands), Middle English hyss, Middle English (1900s– Newfoundland) hees, Middle English–1600s hiss, late Middle English hese (chiefly East Anglian), late Middle English hysse, late Middle English–1500s hyse, late Middle English–1600s hise, 1800s– he's (regional and nonstandard); English regional 1800s ho's (Cumberland), 1800s– hees (Kent), 1800s– hes; U.S. regional 1900s– hees (American Indian English); Scottish pre-1700 hes, pre-1700 heys, pre-1700 heyss, pre-1700 hus, pre-1700 hysse, pre-1700 1700s– his, pre-1700 1800s hys, 1800s hiz (Shetland), 1900s– hees, 1900s– heez. eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 787 On his dagum cuomon ærest iii scipu.OE Stowe Psalter xxiv. 14 Testamentum ipsius ut manifestetur illi[s]: cyðnys hes þæt heo sy geswutelod heom.lOE Metrical Prayer (Julius A.ii) 18 Se byð eadig, se..drihtne hyræð and a hys willan wyrcð.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 84 He sennde uss sone hiss word. hiss witt. Hiss sune. hiss mahht. hiss kinde.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 1476 He clepede Gornoille, hes guðfulle dohter.a1300 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 2 Blickied his [?c1335 Harl. is] brest nacked and bledet hiis side.a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) cxlviii. 8 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 273 Blaste ofe stormes, þat makes worde hisse [L. verbum ejus].a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 17890 All-mighti godd es fader hiss.c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xix. l. 267 Thus haue ich beo hus heraude. ▸ 1440 Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 241 Hyse, or hys, suus.c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 48 Þe worschipful sir Nicol pope in heys holi seynez, he haþ be-tane me of autorite of þe gospel.a1500 (a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 347 He is fals to god, & tristiþ not to hijs treuthe.1569 T. Stocker tr. Diodorus Siculus Hist. Successors Alexander iii. ii. 105 He enpaled his Campe with hys carriages.a1657 J. Balfour Hist. Wks. (1824) I. 95 This poet..was hes auen prissoner.a1770 T. Chatterton Compl. Wks. (1971) I. 210 Blacke hys cryne as the wyntere nyghte.1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian iii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. IV. 57 ‘A sture woife, and a dour,’ said one Cumbrian peasant... ‘She has gone to ho master, with ho's name in her mouth,’ said another.1887 J. C. Harris Free Joe & Other Georgian Sketches 292 I dunner who my young marster would 'a' got ter do he's cookin' en he's washin'.1925 C. P. Slater Marget Pow 198 He's name is Duncan.1990 S. Stephen in J. Hendry Chapman 60 51 Eh ran ti the windy ti see if Eh could see heez van cumin. β. Old English (Northumbrian, rare) Middle English–1600s is, Middle English es, Middle English isse, Middle English us (south-west midlands), Middle English–1500s ys, 1900s– 'e's (Newfoundland); English regional 1800s as (Yorkshire), 1800s es (Devon), 1800s ez (Devon), 1800s 'iz, 1800s– ee's (Surrey), 1800s– is, 1800s– 'is, 1800s– iz; Scottish pre-1700 is, 1900s– ees, 1900s– ee's, 1900s– eez, 1900s– eis, 1900s– iz. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. i. 21 Uocabis nomen eius iesum : genemne ðu noma is haelend.c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Royal) 126 He schal for swelten ant for reden þe efter eswille.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2851 He bar hise gerde forð in is hond.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 1369 He let an monþe in þe ȝere clupie after is [c1425 Harl. ys] name.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4677 Depe selers..Thoru es aun scel-wis red, He fild wit wines, quite and red.a1400 Psalter (Harl.) iii. 3 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 132 Nis hele þai in god isse [a1400 Vesp. his, a1400 Egerton hisse].c1475 Gregory's Chron. in J. Gairdner Hist. Coll. Citizen London (1876) 203 Mayster Wylliam Ive at that tyme beyng at Wynchester in Wycham ys college.1537 in J. Bain & C. Rogers Glasgow Rental Bk. (1875) 110 Landis..vacand be decesse of..is gudeschir.1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 68 He was dyschargyd ys byschopryge and all hys londes.1609 Sir R. Shirley in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 88 Man can receiue is birth but from one place.1839 A. Bywater Sheffield Dial. (new ed.) 2 Gret fat brussen gamekeepers at as heels.1890 A. C. Bickley Midst Surrey Hills I. iii. 35 I'll trundle the mop round ee's head.a1917 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick (1927) 9 The man at A was followin eis leed.1993 in Sc. National Dict. New Suppl. (Electronic text) at Upsides He's a jealous body, aye likes tae be upsides doon wi eez neebors. γ. 1500s–1600s 's; Scottish 1700s–1800s 's, 1900s– 'z; U.S. regional 1900s– s (in African-American usage). c1592 C. Marlowe Jew of Malta iv. iii Look how his brains drop out on 's nose.a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 296 I cut off 's head.1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 75 He..must lift up 's head.1728 A. Ramsay Poems II. 190 Auld Homer sang for 's daily Bread.1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlv. 311 Sir Simon wunts to vrang no man o' 's money.1901 W.A. Craigie in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1902) III. 175/2 Rarely cut down to 'z even after vowels.1970 J. A. Emanuel in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 241 WhatCHU know bout Daddy comin home fired cause crackers tricked m out s job, and broodin in s broken chair. 2. Combined (in contracted form) with a preceding word Middle English -es, Middle English -is, Middle English -ys, 1500s–1700s (1800s– regional and nonstandard) -'s. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 163 Þe lewede man wurðeð his spuse mid cloðes more þane mid him seluen, and prest naht sis chireche, þe is his spuse.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 1740 Heo me leouede swa feire swa monnes [c1300 Otho man his] fader scolde.c1300 Evangelie (Dulwich Coll.) 420 in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1915) 30 573 Bote godis [emended to god is in ed.; c1425 Bodl. Add. god his] tunge þan gan unbinde.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) 2539 Pharao kinges rigte name [N]ephres, he dede ðe ebris frame.c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 881 Attes nauel þe dent a-stod.1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia ii. sig. B8^v Another [poet] with his supple passion..Makes puisne Lucius in a simpathy In loue with's pibald Laundres.1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 13 In Argos the chaste Violon For's absent Soueraigne doth graue-sweetly groan.1683 Satyr by way of Dial. between Lucifer & Ghosts of Shaftsbury & Russell 4 But's Hand is out, 'ts long since he kist the Book, Which makes me fear his Oaths will ne'er be took.1704 W. Nicolson London Diaries 20 Nov. (1985) 230 A Chancery-Clerk..had gotten an Annuity for's Life.1785 Select Coll. Poems Buchan Dial. 24 Thersites, Wha for's ill-scrappit tongue..got on his back Puss wi' the nine tails hung.1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 84 A hurl o' stanes cam doon on's back.1941 E. R. Eddison Fish Dinner vii. 103 Should a been unlorded long since, outed of all his hopes, for's misgovernment.1998 S. Blackhall Bonsai Grower 79 The auld warlord..sune dee'd in's bed o a hoast. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: his pron.¹ Etymology: < his pron.¹, the genitive personal pronoun form corresponding to the nominative forms (masculine) he pron. and also (originally) to (neuter) it pron., adj., and n.¹, used as possessive adjective (determiner) corresponding to these pronoun forms. Form history. Like the personal pronouns (compare discussion at he pron., n.¹, and adj.), the forms of the possessive adjective tend to show the effect of reduction in low stress, including loss of initial h- (see Forms 1β), loss of the vowel (see Forms 1γ), and development of contracted forms (see Forms 2). Old English (late West Saxon) hys (see Forms 1α and also hys at his pron.¹ Forms) probably chiefly reflects laxing of i in low stress. However, Middle English (south-western) hus perhaps continues an earlier form with rounding. Middle English forms such as hes (see Forms 1α and also forms at his pron.¹) are perhaps of more than one origin. They may be influenced by forms of he pron., in which case perhaps they sometimes represent a long vowel and sometimes a short vowel (see Forms 1α at he pron., n.¹, and adj. and discussion at that entry). Forms with a long vowel (compare also the form hees ) could also have developed in some areas by open syllable lengthening of short i to long close ē (presumably originally in the inflected form hise , discussed below). Forms with a short vowel perhaps could also be due to the association of unstressed forms with the genitive singular ending -es (compare sense 5). With forms such as hiis perhaps compare Forms 1γ of he pron. The early Middle English form þis (see Forms 1α) is from a manuscript (Arundel 248) in which þ is not infrequently written for h . Use with reference to a female person. Occasional apparent examples of use of his for a female referent (instead of her adj.²) in Middle English are probably better interpreted as scribal or typographical errors:a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 235 La lief maȝie wiman forȝeten his oge cild, þat hi ne milsi hire barn of hire ogen innoð.?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 248 Þat ilk ȝere þe quene died in Lyndseie, At Westmynster, I wene, his [=her] body did þei leie.1577 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Chron. 115 Secretly he gaue poyson vnto his wife Sabina, whereby she finished his life.However, in quot. a1225 the use has alternatively been explained as reflecting the grammatical gender of the Old English noun. Compare the discussion of Old English and Middle English grammatical gender at he pron., n.¹, and adj. Compare also (much later) sense 4. Inflected forms. Compare the following attestations of late Old English hise, early Middle English hise, apparently functioning as a plural form (compare the Old English adjectival (masculine and feminine) plural ending -e):lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1070 He..wæs cumen þa into Stanforde mid ealle hise frencisce menn.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1123 Se kyng..bed hise biscopes & hise abbates & hise þeignes ealle þet hi scolden cumen to his gewitenemot.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1124 He sende norð & suð to hise casteles.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 14343 To shæwenn hise mahhtess..Þurrh hiss goddcunnde kinde.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 93 Ure louerd..fulste us..þat we mo ben on þe holie procession þe he wile maken a domes dai mid hise chosene.a1250 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Titus) (1981) 286 He..clepede an of hise [c1225 Bodl. his, c1225 Royal his] men dearneliche to him.1258 Proclam. Henry III in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1868–9) 19 Henr'..Send igretinge to alle hise holde ilærde and ileawede. In the following attestations where it modifies a singular noun, hise perhaps shows inflection for an oblique case (in late Old English, dative or accusative singular):lOE Canterbury Psalter ix. 32 Avertit faciem suam ne videat : he acyrde ansyne hise þiles he geseo.lOE Canterbury Psalter xlv. 6 Deus in medio eius non commovebitur : god on midle hise ne bið onwenden. ▸ c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 568 Hise croune he þer crakede Ageyn a gret ston.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1300 Hise weie he tok sone bi nigt.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2713 A modi stiward he ðor fond, Betende a man wid hise wond.However, occasional late Middle English attestations of hise (and hese), modifying both singular and plural nouns, are probably rather to be interpreted as inverted spellings due to general loss of word-final -e. I. Possessive adjective (determiner) corresponding to he pron. and it pron. (originally the possessive use of the genitive of the pronoun). 1. Of him; which belongs or relates to him. Also reflexive: of himself; which belongs or relates to himself. a. Referring to a male person. (a) Modifying a noun indicating something possessed by the person, or a verbal noun with which his is in subjective or objective relation (as ‘his defence of his actions’, ‘his defeat at the hands of the French’).No special provision exists in the language for the distinction of the subjective genitive and the objective genitive, except by context (cf. ‘his dismissal of the envoys was blamed; he received his (own) dismissal soon after’); but in some cases the objective genitive is expressed periphrastically by of him (e.g. ‘his defence, I mean your defence of him, was well conducted’). The periphrastic form sometimes occurs also for the possessive genitive, as ‘for the life of him’. ΘΚΠ 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 787 On his dagum cuomon ærest iii scipu. OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) vii. 7 Hwæt ða Noe eode into ðam arce, & his ðry suna & his wif & his sunu [read suna] wif [L. filii eius, uxor eius et uxores filiorum eius]. OE King Ælfred tr. Psalms (Paris) (2001) xxxix. 4 Eadig byð se wer þe his tohopa byð to swylcum Drihtne. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1101 Se cyng syddan scipa ut on sæ sende his broðer to dære & to lættinge. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1953 His lond he huld half ȝer. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1737 Wið is wiues he takeð red. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. i. 25 He..clepide his name Jhesus. Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 241 Hyse, or hys, suus. ?1441 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 217 Þe Holy Trenyte haue yow in hese kepyng. 1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) i. vi. sig. e.vi The fourtyest daye after his resurreccyon. 1589 R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations i. 19 Thinking to auoid by the swiftnes of his horse. a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. vii. 15 His Host, Who should against his Murtherer shut the doore. View more context for this quotation 1643 J. Angier Lancashires Valley of Achor 36 Which God forbid for his Christs sake. 1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd i. 92 Man he seems In all his lineaments, though in his face The glimpses of his Fathers glory shine. View more context for this quotation 1714 N. Rowe Jane Shore iii. i His bold defence of me. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. xii. 197 He now therefore entered, handsomely drest in his regimentals. 1832 Ld. Tennyson To J. S. 49 His memory long will live alone In all our hearts. 1835–7 R. Southey in W. Cowper Wks. III. 220 Cowper manifested no pleasure at his sight. 1849 G. Grote Hist. Greece V. ii. xlv. 442 His friends retained his panoply. 1900 G. Ade Fables in Slang 155 He took her riding in his new Runabout every Evening. 1936 J. Grenfell Let. Jan. in Darling Ma (1989) 10 What we heard on the radio was really the announcement of his death. 2001 Times 9 Feb. ii. 11 Dehumanised, monsterfied by his own huge success. (b) Modifying a noun denoting something with which one has a less immediate or definite relation (such as a target or objective, a field of study, an honour or award, or an academic qualification). ΚΠ 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 98 (MED) Hvanne me zet a child to lettre [c1450 Bk. Vices & Virtues lettrure], ate begynnynge me him tekþ his pater noster. c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 81 (MED) Þis husband..baldlie went in hand with his pater noster & sayde it. 1532 T. More Confut. Tyndales Answere ii. p. cxxi As connynge as Tyndale wold seme therin wyth his greke & all. 1611 Bible (King James) 1 Kings xx. 20 And they slew euery one his man [Hebrew ‘a man his man’] . View more context for this quotation 1679 J. Dryden Troilus & Cressida ii. iii. 23 If Hector be to fight with any Greeke, He knows his Man. 1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 39. ⁋36 A good Marks-man will be sure to hit his Man at 20 Yards Distance. 1827 Ld. Eldon in S. Walpole Hist. Eng. (1878) I. 158 A sportsman was thought nothing of unless he could kill his thousand birds a day. 1863 C. Kingsley Water-babies iii. 123 He knows his Bewick. 1882 Daily News 18 Jan. 2/2 Ainslie, of Oriel..may be successful in winning his blue. 1884 E. A. Freeman Methods Hist. Study (1886) 33 The historian of Teutonic nations..cannot afford wholly to shut up his Tacitus, his Strabo, and his Caesar. 1903 T. W. H. Crosland Five Notions 85 He likes his news frequent and newsy and neat, And he's right on the nail. 1998 G. Phinn Other Side of Dale (1999) xviii. 196 He knows his alphabet and his words and can do some of his tables. (c) Modifying a verbal noun, gerund, or gerundival clause, forming an embedded phrase corresponding to a clause consisting of he and a main verb. ΚΠ 1442 T. Bekington Let. in G. Williams Mem. Reign Henry VI (1872) II. 192 (MED) He never spak with hym in al his being there. 1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 547/1 His generacion (that is to wyt his being borne of God by the seed of god..) doth preserue and kepe hym. 1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. B3^v Far from the purpose of his comming thither, He makes excuses for his being there. View more context for this quotation 1623 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1622–3 (1908) 231 At his putting into the grave 3 volles of smale shotte. 1697 E. Halley Let. 30 Dec. in I. Newton Corr. (1967) IV. 254 There to answer to his throwing the standish at Mr Weddell. 1735 Lives Most Remarkable Criminals III. 354 To deliver him..in order to his being hanged for a Pirate. 1784 Hist. Proc. & Deb. House of Commons Ireland III. 18 Many advantages would accrue to the nation by his retracting from..the other errors of his predecessor. 1821 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. 51 35 It..occasioned his being invited to a pastorship at Riga. 1882 Harper's Mag. June 102/1 To insure his carrying them out in every particular another officer was appointed. 1978 E. Blishen Sorry, Dad i. ii. 10 She remembered his making a doll's house for his daughters. 1996 J. Lanchester Debt to Pleasure (1997) 110 I once personally witnessed his eating an entire quart jar of Mitthaug's cocktail onions. b. Referring to an animal.his (or her) now varies with its, according to the subjective pronoun used: see he pron. 1a(b), it pron. 1a(a). ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > owning > [adjective] > own > his, her, its, or their > its hisOE itselfa1400 itc1400 its1577 OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xvii. 27 Nim þone ærestan fisc & hys muþ geopena [L. aperto ore eius]. OE Prose Charm: Against Theft (Corpus Cambr. 190) in G. Storms Anglo-Saxon Magic (1948) 202 Gyf hit sy hors, sing on his feteran oþþe on his bridele. lOE tr. Alcuin De Virtutibus et Vitiis (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 102 Petrus cwæð..þæt hit wære gelicost, þan se hund wære eft gecerred to his spywðen. c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 781 Ne mai his [sc. a horse's] strenþe hit ishilde. a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 32 His [sc. an eagle's] bec is alto wrong. a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 2 Ðe leun stant on hille, & he man hunten here, Oðer ðurȝ his nese smel smake ðat he neȝȝe. c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 794 Set me be-for þe on is [sc. the horse's] bak. 1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xxvi. 561 The horse..smote his mussell in to the erth. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Lev. xi. 29 The Wesell, the Mouse, the Tode, euery one with his kynde. 1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. iii. G vj It hath cruell teeth and scaly back, with very sharpe clawes on his feete. 1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler xi. 196 The Barbell is so called..from or by reason of his beard, or wattles at his mouth, his mouth being under his nose or chaps. View more context for this quotation 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 108 The fearful Stag dares for his Hind engage. View more context for this quotation 1733 A. Pope Ess. Man iii. 32 Is it for thee the Lark ascends and sings? Joy tunes his Voice, Joy elevates his Wings. 1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 83 The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold. 1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyrical Poems 115 The callow bird unfilm'd his fervent eyes. 1907 J. H. Patterson Man-eaters of Tsavo xviii. 199 As we moved, the lion also twisted round and so always kept his head full on us. 2001 Independent 6 Jan. (Time Off section) 5/4 I recall my onanistic cat Wolfgang stickily-treading his comfort blanket, his eyes open yet lightless. c. In relation to a singular noun or pronoun of undetermined gender. Cf. their adj. 2. ΚΠ OE West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) ix. 42 Swa hwa swa gedrefð ænne of þyssum lytlingum..betere him wære þæt an cweornstan wære to his swuran gecnyt & wære on sæ beworpen. c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 40 (MED) Hwa se witeð wel his muð, he witeð..his sawle. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 32 Þe childe þet ne dar naȝt guo his way uor þe guos þet blauþ. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. x. 38 He that takith nat his crosse, and sueth me, is not worthi of me. 1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Confirmacion f. x^v That euerye childe maye haue a wittenesse of hys confirmacion. 1657 E. Hyde Christian Legacy* ii. ii. 173 A good Christian may farther see also a positive liberty, To have his soul and his spirit enlarged. 1749 J. Wesley Plain Acct. Methodists 9 I cou'd not easily see, what the Behaviour of each Person in his own Neighbourhood was. 1836 London Med. Gaz. 22 Oct. 117/2 The patient has pains in his limbs. 1864 W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 397 The player who fails to take a trick with his hand. 1880 B. Disraeli Endymion II. xiii. 137 Everyone has his ways. 1937 Life 26 July 76/4 As indecent and indelicate as if someone were to take off all his clothes in Piccadilly Circus. 2011 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 28 Apr. 59/1 Each of us can argue for his own understanding of justice. 2. Referring to a thing: its. In early use, referring to a thing grammatically masculine or neuter; subsequently, to any inanimate thing; since the 17th cent. (except in some regional use (now rare)), chiefly to something personified or conventionally treated as male.his was often replaced by thereof in later Middle English and early modern English (see thereof adv. 1c). From the 17th cent. onwards it was gradually superseded, except in the case of personification and regional use, by its adj.For overlap and contrast with the similar use of her, see her adj.² 1b. ΚΠ OE Ælfric De Temporibus Anni (Cambr. Gg.3.28) (2009) x. 94 Se ðridda heafodwind hatte Zephirus.., & ðurh his blæd acuciað ealle eorðlice blæda. OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) i. 11 Sprytte seo eorðe..æppelbære treow wæstm wyrcende æfter his cynne [L. iuxta genus suum]. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) vi. 34 Æghwylc dæg hæfð genoh on hys agenum ymbhogan [L. ipse sufficit diei malitia sua]. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1110 On þære fiftan nihte on Maies monðe ætywde se mona on æfen beorhte scinende, & syððan litlan & litlan his leoht wanode. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4357 Seffne daȝhess brinngenn aȝȝ Þe wuke till hiss ende. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 49 (MED) Non claudit super te puteus os suum..þe put ne tuneð noht lihtliche his muð ouer us. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 327 For is fruit sired mannes mood To witen boðen iwel and good. c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) ciii. 19 (MED) Þe sonne knewe hys goingdoun. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. vi. 34 It sufficith to the day his malice [1611 King James sufficient vnto the day is the euill thereof]. ?1403 in T. F. Simmons Lay Folks Mass Bk. (1879) 65 That the erthe may bring forthe his fruyt. c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Ellesmere) (1868) l. 1 Aprille with hise shoures soote. 1417 Guildhall Let.-bk. in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 69 It hath stonde..in as gret pees and tranquillite as euer ded Cite in absence of his most soueraign and excellent lord. c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 10 It longith not to Holi Scripture, neither it is his office. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccx. 251 Euery batayle had his vawarde. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) John iii. f. cxxij And thou hearest his sounde [1539 Great the sounde therof]. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 34 Into whiche [sc. tropic of winter] whan he [sc. the sun] doth enter, he maketh his wynterly retorne backwarde. 1561 J. Daus tr. H. Bullinger Hundred Serm. vpon Apocalips xv. 102 It semeth to haue kept his olde wonte. 1563 2nd Tome Homelyes Whitsunday i, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) ii. 454 This feast hath his name, to be called Pentecost. 1608 T. Hudson tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Ivdith iv. 59 in J. Sylvester Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) The tree that bends his eldren braunch That way where first the stroke hath made him launch. 1611 Bible (King James) Exod. xxxix. 33 The tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his barres, and his pillars, and his sockets. View more context for this quotation 1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. viii. 93 The Preposition must be ioyned with his case. 1634 W. Wood New Englands Prospect i. x. 37 Boston is two miles North-east from Roxberry: His situation is very pleasant. 1647 N. Nye Art of Gunnery Contents How to renew and make good any sort of Gun-powder that hath lost his strength. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 652 The Sun Had first his precept so to move. View more context for this quotation 1670 J. Smith England's Improvem. Reviv'd 225 Goutwort..easeth the pains of the Gout, and..had not his Name for nothing. 1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xi. 195 The wide sea with all his billows raves. 1726 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey IV. xvii. 688 The sun obliquely shot his dewy ray. 1763 J. Woodforde Diary 11 May in Woodforde at Oxf. (1969) 126 The Harpsichord..was carried away this Morning.., and a Spinnet brought in his Place. 1807 J. Barlow Columbiad i. 41 Saw proud Potosi lift his glittering head. 1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. v. v. 530 Famine now raged in all his horrors. 1883 Cent. Mag. Aug. 495/1 When fierce along his ocean-path The North wind rushes in his wrath. 1982 W. L. Heat Moon Blue Highways 70 We drinks water what come up of his own mind. 2007 Clash July 131/2 One desirable festival suspect noticeably absent was the sun, which obviously chose to stay in his tent all day. 3. Used in certain honorific forms of address, as his highness, his lordship, his majesty, etc., which act as a formal substitute for he or him: see the nouns. ΚΠ a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 3455 (MED) She hath offended his highnesse Not wilfully, but of reklesnesse. 1528 E. Foxe Let. in N. Pocock Rec. Reformation (1870) I. liii. 143 His holiness was..much propence to satisfy his majesty therein. 1563 J. Foxe Actes & Monuments 1714/2 The Cooke said his lordship should pardon him for that matter. 1625 J. Mede Let. 17 June in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. III. 199 Tomorrow His Majesty will be present..to begin the Parliament which is thought shall be removed to Oxford. a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) i. 199 His Highness Read the Charges, and admir'd at the virulency; with the Anti-scripts of the Keeper, which were much commended. 1738 D. Neal Hist. Puritans IV. iii. 139 His Highness girt the Laws close upon the Papists. 1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1781 II. 365 He has not owned to whom he was obliged; so that the acknowledgement is unappropriated to his Grace. 1802 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) III. 473 His Highness..hereby assigns and cedes in perpetuity to the Honorable East India Company, all the territories detailed. 1880 A. Trollope Duke's Children I. xvii. 200 Within that little body there was a high-mounting heart, and that heart had been greatly wounded by his Lordship's treatment. 1904 F. Rolfe Hadrian VII xvii. 326 His Holiness had sent a cardinal-ablegate to place the Golden Rose, the pontifical tribute to virtuose queens, on Her Majesty's tomb in the mausoleum at Frogmore. 1972 Times 12 Feb. 14/8 His Lordship had not failed to observe the practice in some metropolitan courts. 2008 N.Y. Times 5 Dec. 8/5 It is possible that His Majesty did not want to be used by one side or another. 4. English regional (south-western) and U.S. regional (southern). Referring to a female person or animal: her. Now rare. ΚΠ 1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. His, the usual possessive used for a female as well as a male... How is the cow? Well he idn no better; I sim I do want to zee un chow 'is queed. 1918 E. C. Parsons Folk-Tales Andros Island, Bahamas 12 Get my wife ring off his finger. 1928 J. M. Peterkin Scarlet Sister Mary 343 His [sc. Mary's] soul might be clean but his body ought to be baptized again. II. Other uses. 5. After a noun (esp. a personal name): substituting for the genitive inflection -s. Cf. her adj.² 3, their adj. 6.Usually after a noun that is naturally, grammatically, or conventionally masculine, but occasionally after a noun with female reference.First attested in early Middle English, but most prevalent from c1400 to 1750; sometimes identified with the genitive inflection -es, -is, -ys, esp. in the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was chiefly (but not exclusively) used with names ending in -s, or when the inflectional genitive would have been awkward. Quots. OE¹ and OE², cited by N.E.D. (1898), are not instances of this phenomenon: in the former Gode should probably be taken as a dative of possession (compare B. Mitchell Old Eng. Syntax (1985) §307); the latter is a simple misreading. N.E.D. (1898) states: ‘Archaically retained in Book-keeping and for some other technical purposes.’ ΚΠ OE Paris Psalter (1932) xcviii. 6 Þa Gode his naman neode cigdan [L. qui invocant nomen eius]. OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Num. (Laud) xiii. 29 We gesawon Enachis cynryn [misread Enac his cynryn in N.E.D.].] c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4221 Þatt daȝȝ þatt teȝȝ þe cnape child. Hiss shapp himm ummbeshærenn. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13999 Ich igrap mi sweord leofe..and smæt of Modred is [c1300 Otho his] hafd. c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) 5635 Þo was in Norweie his erþ a king þat hehte Compert. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) 493 Of seth, ðe was adam is sune, Cam enos. c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 3130 (MED) Þay kemen atte laste to Amyral ys pauyloun. c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 10 To forsake Syr Sathanas his werkus euerychon. c1475 Gregory's Chron. in J. Gairdner Hist. Coll. Citizen London (1876) 203 Beyng at Wynchester in Wycham ys college. 1551 R. Robinson in tr. T. More Vtopia sig. ✠ii The twoo principal secretaries to the kyng his moste excellent maiestie. a1575 N. Harpsfield Treat. Divorce Henry VIII (1878) (modernized text) 178 Since Christ his birth. 1579 E. K. in E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Jan. 60 Gloss. Julia, themperor Augustus his daughter. 1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. B3^v When Pharao the king of Egypt his sinne was ripe. 1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 425 Epicures and Atheists..who place Nature in God his stead. 1599 F. Thynne Animaduersions (1875) 64 Wordes are curteyled for the verse his cause. a1612 J. Harington Brief View Church of Eng. in Nugæ Antiquæ (1804) II. 238 Mrs. Sands his maid. a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) v. ii. 320 If you finde in it another explication then Amintas his, then mine, then what all your subjects give it. 1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. (1655) i. 2 Fit mates for the Horseleech his two daughters, crying, Give, give. 1662 Bk. Common Prayer Prayer for all Conditions of Men And this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake. 1667 S. Pepys Diary 12 Aug. (1974) VIII. 383 Do hear Mr. Cowly mightily lamented his death by Dr. Ward..as the best poet of our nation. 1671 H. M. tr. Erasmus Colloquies 377 Whether of the two his death seemed to be more Christian? 1694 R. Franck Northern Mem. 26 Job's Patience, Moses his Meekness, Abraham's Faith. 1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 409. ¶7 In examining Æneas his Voyage by the Map. 1746 Rep. Cond. Sir J. Cope 13 The Orders contained in ‘the Marquis his letter’. 1767 H. Walpole Hist. Doubts (1768) 66 King Edward the Fourth his death. 1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present iv. i. 330 It were better for you..to keep out of Pandarus his neighbourhood. 1922 St. Nicholas Feb. 342/2 He may paste into each book in his library a bookplate, with some such wording as..‘John, His Book’. 2007 B. Kirton & K. McMillan Just Write 147 In earlier centuries one way of indicating possession was to use expressions such as ‘William, his book’. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022). † hisv. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: his adj. Etymology: < his adj. Obsolete. transitive. To use ‘his’ of, to qualify with ‘his’.Apparently an isolated use. ΚΠ 1621 R. Montagu Diatribæ Hist. Tithes i. 167 Yet Colossus was no man nor woman that you His it. [Referring to Selden's ‘upon a Colossus his backe’.] This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online September 2019). < n.1945pron.¹eOEpron.²a1200pron.³a1200adj.eOEv.1621
随便看	trichobranchiate trichocarpous trichocephalid trichocephaloid trichocephalus trichocladose trichoclasia trichocryptosis trichocyst trichocystic trichocysts trichodal trichodectes trichodontid trichodontoid trichogen trichogenic trichogenous trichoglossine trichogyne trichogynes trichogynial trichogynic trichoid trichological

Hisn.

hispron.1

Compounds

† hispron.2

† hispron.3

hisadj.

† hisv.

hispron.¹

† hispron.²

† hispron.³