he

HE

pronoun

pl. they

the man, boy, or male animal (or, sometimes, the thing regarded as male) previously mentioned: masculine personal pronoun in the third person singular: he is the nominative form, him the objective, his the possessive, and himself the reflexive and intensive; his is the possessive pronominal adjective
the person; the one; anyone: he who laughs last laughs best
the person just mentioned: used following such antecedents as everyone, somebody, or no one[everyone ran just as fast as he could]

Origin of he

Old English (where it contrasts with heo, she, hie, they from same base) from Indo-European an unverified form ko-, an unverified form k?-, this one from source here, hither, Classical Latin cis, on this side: origin, originally a demonstrative

noun

pl. hes

a man, boy, or male animal

the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet (?)

Origin of he

Heb, literally , window

He

Bible Hebrews

He

helium

HE

Her (or His) Excellency
high explosive
His Eminence

he-

male: used in hyphenated compounds: he-dog

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"he." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/HE>.

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he. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/HE

he

pron.

Used to refer to the male person or animal previously mentioned or implied.
Usage Problem
a. Used to refer to a person whose gender is unspecified or unknown: Someone left his umbrella in the lobby.
b. Anyone: “He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence” ( William Blake )

noun

A male person or animal. Sometimes used in combination: Is the cat a he? We saw a he-goat cross the road.

Origin of he

Middle English from Old English hē ; see ko- in Indo-European roots.

Usage Note: Historically, the pronouns he, him, and his have been used as generic or gender-neutral singular pronouns, as in A novelist should write about what he knows best and No one seems to take any pride in his work anymore. Since the early 1900s, however, this usage has been criticized for being sexist in its assumption that the male is representative of everyone. As long ago as 1987, a majority of the Usage Panel indicated that they preferred to avoid the generic use of he. Certainly the avoidance of this usage has become common at all levels of formality. Typical strategies for doing so include using the plural (that is, avoiding the singular entirely), so they is used instead of he. This is probably the easiest solution. (The matter of using they to refer to singular antecedents is addressed in the usage note at the entry for they in this dictionary.) Writers can also employ compound and coordinate forms such as he/she or he or she, though these constructions can be cumbersome in sustained use. Some writers, especially in academic contexts, use she in alteration with he to balance the genders, or they use she exclusively, in what might be seen as a pointed overturning of tradition. The writer who chooses to use generic he and its inflected forms in the face of the strong trend away from that usage may be viewed as deliberately calling attention to traditional gender roles or may simply appear to be insensitive. • In certain sentences, the generic pronoun can simply be dropped or changed to an article with no change in meaning. The sentence A writer who draws on personal experience for material should not be surprised if reviewers seize on that fact is complete as it stands and requires no pronoun before the word material. The sentence Every student handed in his assignment is just as clear when written Every student handed in the assignment. See Usage Note at each. See Usage Note at every. See Usage Note at neither. See Usage Note at one. See Usage Note at she. See Usage Note at they.

noun

The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. alphabet

Origin of he

Hebrew hē of Phoenician origin

He

The symbol for helium

HE

abbreviation

Her (or His) Excellency
high explosive
His Eminence

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"he." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/HE>.

APA Style

he. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/HE

The symbol for helium

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MLA Style

"he." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/HE>.

APA Style

he. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/HE

Pronoun

(third-person singular, masculine, nominative case, accusative him, reflexive himself, possessive his)

(personal) Refers to a male person or animal already known or implied.
(personal) Refers to a person whose gender is unknown.
(personal) Refers to an animal whose gender is unknown.

Usage notes

See inflection for other personal pronouns.
he is traditionally used as a gender-neutral pronoun, but since the mid-20th century such usage is considered sexist by some.
Some use he and she arbitrarily for an indefinite person in order to avoid being sexist.
For transsexual people the newly established gender is considered to be more politically correct rather than the biological gender.

Noun

(uncountable)

The game of tag, or it, in which the player attempting to catch the others is called "he".
(informal) A male person.
Alex totally is a he.

Origin

From Middle English he, from Old English hē (“he”), from Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this, here”). Cognate with Scots he (“he”), North Frisian hi (“he”), Saterland Frisian hie (“he”), West Frisian hy (“he”), Dutch hij (“he”), German Low German he (“he”), Danish han (“he”). Related to here.

Noun

The name of the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).

Anagrams

eh eH, EH

Origin

Transliteration of various Semitic letters, such as Phoenician (h), Hebrew ה (h) and Syriac ܗ (h, “hē”).

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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Link to this page

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MLA Style

"he." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/HE>.

APA Style

he. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/HE

Synonyms

SentencesSentence examples

he

He

He

HE

he-

he

He

HE

Sentence Examples

Related

WORDS NEAR he IN THE DICTIONARY

he

He

He

HE

he-

he

He

HE

Sentence Examples

Related

WORDS NEAR he IN THE DICTIONARY

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