- The definition of a pronoun is a part of speech that replaces a noun in a sentence, assigning people or things as the subject.
- An example of pronoun is them.
- An example of pronoun is I.
- An example of pronoun is he.
noun
Gram. any of a small class of relationship or signal words that assume the functions of nouns within clauses or phrases while referring to other locutions within the sentence or in other sentences: I, you, them, it, ours, who, which, myself, anybody, etc. are pronouns
Origin: altered (infl. by noun) from Middle French pronom from Classical Latin pronomen from pro, for plush nomen, noun
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
noun Abbr. pron. or pr.
- The part of speech that substitutes for nouns or noun phrases and designates persons or things asked for, previously specified, or understood from the context.
- Any of the words within this part of speech, such as he or whom.
Origin: Late Middle English pronoun, pronoune, partial translation of Latin prōnōmen (translation of Greek antōnumiā, interchange of names, pronoun) : prō-, pro- + nōmen, name, noun; see noun.
pronoun - Cultural Definition
A word that takes the place of a noun. She, herself, it, and this are examples of pronouns. If we substituted pronouns for the nouns in the sentence “Please give the present to Karen,” it would read “Please give it to her.”