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they definition

they (t̸hā)

pronoun sing. he, she, it

  1. the persons, animals, or things previously mentioned: personal pronoun in the third person plural: they is the nominative form, them the objective, theirs the possessive, and themselves the reflexive and intensive; their is the possessive pronominal adjective
  2. people they say it's so
  3. the person or group just mentioned: used sometimes as a generic form with a collective antecedent such as everyone, somebody, or no one to avoid the masculine implications of generic he everyone thinks they are right about this issue

Etymology: ME thei < ON thei-r, nom. masc. pl. of the demonstrative pron.; like their & them (ME theim), also < the ON demonstrative forms, thei replaced earlier ME he (hi) because the native pronouns were phonetically confused with the forms of the pers. pron. (ME he, hire, hem, him, etc.): cf. their, them, she

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:
they Synonyms

they

pron.

people, men, those people, all, others, he and she, both; see also everybody.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"they." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/they>

APA Style

they. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/they

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