him, pers. pron., 3rd sing. masc. (and † neut.), dat.-acc.
(hɪm, enclitic -ɪm)
Forms: 1– him; also 1–6 hym (rarely 2–4 heom, 4–5 hem, hime, hom, 5 ham, 5–6 hyme).
[OE. him, dat. sing., masc. and neuter, of he, it: cognate with OFris. him (MDu. heme, hem, him, Du. hem), and parallel in inflexion to OS. and OHG. imu, imo (MLG. ime, eme, MHG. im(e, Ger. ihm), Goth. imma. In 10th c. (as in the parallel her, hem), the dative appears to have begun to be used for the accus. hine in north-midl. dialect; by 1150 him had supplanted hine in north and midl., and before 1400 had become the general literary form, though some south-western writers of the 15th c. retained hin, hen, which, in the form en, un, 'n, is still current in southern dialect speech: see hin. (So in late OFris. him took the place of hine, hin; and in MDu., the dat. heme, hem, him, intruded upon the orig. accus. hin, hen; and mod.Du. has only the dat.-acc. hem.) But while him thus became both dative and accusative in the masculine, in the neuter the accusative hit, it survived, and at length superseded the dative, as in the modern ‘give it a push’. Thus, from being originally dative masc. and neuter, him is now dat. and acc. masculine, having received extension in case, restriction in gender. Cf. the mod.Ger. restriciton of ihm to living beings.]
I. 1. As proper masculine pronoun of the third person sing., dative and accusative (objective indirect and direct) of he. Also as antecedent pron. followed by relative or prepositional phrase (cf. he 4). Used of persons and animals of male sex. a. dat. or indirect obj. = to him. (= L. ei, illi, Ger. ihm.)
| 855 O.E. Chron., Him þa Carl Francna cyning his dohtor ᵹeaf him to cuene. 971 Blickl. Hom. 111 Eall..þæt him..wæs..leofost to aȝenne. c 1000 Gosp. Nicod. vi, Se Hælend hym and swarode and cwæþ. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 221 Uton wircan him ȝemace him to fultume. c 1205 Lay 143 Þe king heuede ane douter, þe him was swiþe deore. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 31 Þe kyng of France..bad hire fader graunt hym þe gode Cordeille. a 1300 Cursor M. 1360 (Gött.) Þis es þe oyle þat was hight hime [v.r. hyme]. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 368 Him repenteth outrely of this. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1854 Iff ye send hom þat semly þat I sew fore. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys. (1874) I. 56 Wel is hym that wyth pacience can indure. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 8 b, [To] cary and transport such thinges as him listeth. 1671 Milton P.R. ii 266 Him thought, he by the brook of Cherith stood. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 433 Ten acres of land which are worth him five pounds a year. 1852 Tennyson Ode Wellington vi. 13 O give him welcome, this is he Worthy of our gorgeous rites. |
b. Governed by a preposition.
| a 855 O.E. Chron. an. 838 Herebryht aldormon..ond moniᵹe mid him. c 1020 Rule St. Benet (Logeman) 29 Þonne ic beo unᵹewemmed toforan heom. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 237 Þer cumeð þe hali engles him to. c 1300 Cursor M. 22498 (Edin.) Þoru dred of hem was don on rod. 1340 Ayenb. 62 He heþ zuich a lac ine him. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 99 Holden with hem and with heore [B. wiþ him & with hir]. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 460 Fflemere of feendes out of hym and here. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 3 And wolde not gyue to hym the due honour. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 4734 The Landis Lord..cleiks tyll him ane herield hors. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) II. 116 From him whom I trust God defend me. 1710 Hearne Collect. 28 Mar. (O.H.S.) II. 368 We have..a folio Edition of him. 1856 Sat. Rev. II. 274/1 We have little to add to the knowledge of him which readers..already possess. |
† c. absol. constr. After L. ablative absolute: now expressed by nominative.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark v. 35 Him þa ᵹyt sprecendum hi comon. c 1160 Hatton Gosp. ibid., Hym þa ȝyt spræcenden hio comen. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 280 Hym willynge þat alle men wende he were þat he is nouȝte. 1382 Wyclif John viii. 30 Him spekinge thes thingis, many men bileueden in to him. |
d. acc. or direct obj. (= L. eum, illum, Ger. ihn, OE. hine.)
(The 10th c. instances were probably felt as dat.)
| [c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Matt. xvii. 5 Him ᵹe ᵹeherað [Lindisf., Hatt., hine; Ags. G., hyne]. Ibid. xviii. 32 Þa ᵹecæᵹde him dryhten his [L., H., hine; Ags. G., hyne.] c 1132 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 654 Him luuede al þeode. Ibid. an. 1114 Þæt he sceolde him læden to Cantwarabyriᵹ and blætson him to biscop. c 1154 Ibid. an. 1140 ¶11 He helde him for fader and he him for sune. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 59 Þe lauerd þet him wrohte. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 209 God bar him in-to paradis. 1375 Barbour Bruce ix. 465 He held euir agane the king, And hatit hyme atour all thing. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 18 Take a Capoun, and make hem clene, & sethe hym in Water. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 222 b, Shyppes, for to transport hym and hys over the sea into Fraunce. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 32 And him, O wondrous! him, O Miracle of Men! Him did you leaue..vn-seconded by you. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. v. 32 What has he done that mas'r should sell him? |
† e. Redundant before n. Obs. rare.
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 475 For Ialousie and fere of hym Arcite. ― Merch. T. 124 She goddes peple kept And slow hym Olofernus whil he slepte. |
2. Formerly put also for other than male beings. † a. him was in OE. the dative of the neuter hit, it, as well as of he. This use came down to the 17th c. esp. with a preposition; later use substitutes it.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 83 Oli haueð huppen him lihtnesse and softnesse. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 43 Þe see goþ al abouten hym [Ireland] eke as ich vnderstonde. Ibid. 49 Þer nes in al þe world swerd hym yliche. c 1325 Lai le Freine 210 A litel maiden-childe..And a pel him about. c 1400 Mandeville i. (Roxb.) 4 It takes in to him xl oþer ryuers. c 1425 Craft Nombrynge (E.E.T.S) 26 Þou schalt write þe digitte ouer þe hede of þe neþer figure..and sett þe articulle next hym toward þe lyft side. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 41 The Fire conteyneth in him the Aëre. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. viii. (1627) 93 Construe first the Nominative Case: and if there be an Adiectiue or Participle with him, then I must English them next. |
b. him occurs also as accusative for things (in ME.) grammatically masculine, or (in later use) spoken of with the masc. pronoun. Still common in southern dial. In standard Eng. now only with things personified as masculine: cf. he 2.
| c 1420 Chron. Vilod. st. 486 Lord God! y betake my soule to þe; Bryng hym to þy joy. 1526 Tindale Matt. xviii. 9 Yff..thy fote geve the an occasion of evyll, cut hym of and cast hym from the. ― 1 Cor. ix. 27, I tame my body and brynge hym into subieccion. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 119 Take hede yat your bowe stande not to nere a stone wall, for that wyll make hym moyste and weke. 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. (1568) 25 b, This herbe..If you cannot get him alwayes greene, ye maye kepe him drie. 1639 in C. Kerry Ch. St. Lawrence, Reading (1883) 54 For mooving the pulpit and setting him lower. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 48 The Sun was sunk, and after him the Starr Of Hesperus. Mod. (personif.) Winter had wrapped his mantle about him. Mod. dial. (Gardener says of mowing-machine) ‘He wants sharpening, sir; it's two years since he was done; I remember their putting him on the trolly just here, and taking him to the foundry’. |
3. For the nom.: esp. after than, as, and in predicate after be.
Common in colloquial lang. from end of 16th c. Dialectally the use of him for he extends to all constructions in which French uses lui for il. The construction than him is sometimes a reminiscence of the Latin ablative.
| c 1381 Chaucer Parl. Foules 623 Hym that she chesith he shal hire han a swithe. c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. 4 Here is gylys Iogeler of ayebery And hym sougelder of lothebery. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. viii. 34 And damn'd be him, that first cries hold, enough. 1610 ― Temp. v. i. 15 The King, His Brother, and yours, abide all three distracted..but chiefly Him that you term'd Sir, the good old Lord Gonzallo. 1698 Vanbrugh Prov. Wife ii. i, But sure it can't be him. 1759 Johnson Dissert. Grk. Comedy Wks. 1816 III. 20 No man had ever more discernment than him, in finding out the ridiculous. 1764 Wesley Jrnl. 5 Feb., Why then does not Jacob speak as plain as him? 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 137 What anybody else can do better or worse than him. 1797 Burke Regic. Peace iii. Wks. VIII. 310 Is it him? 1840 Barham Ingold. Leg., Jackdaw, Heedless of grammar, they all cried, ‘That's him!’ 1893 Northumbld. Gloss. s.v., Him an' me's gannin’. |
II. 4. refl. = himself, to himself. (= L. sibi, se, Ger. sich.) a. dat. with trans. vb., or objective with prep. (Still in current use, when not ambiguous.)
| c 855 O.E. Chron. an. 853 He..hiene him to biscep suna nam. c 1000 ælfric Gen. vi. 2 Godes bearn..namon him wif. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 227 He wolde of þise cynne him moder ȝeceosen. c 1205 Lay. 6356 Þes Damus on his deie ane chiuese him ichæs. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 437 He made him maniȝe fon. ? 1370 Robt. Cicyle 55 The aungelle before hym made hym to stande. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. iv. 4 Let euery Souldier hew him downe a Bough, And bear't before him. 1716 Addison Freeholder No. 41 (Seager) By this means he reconciled to him the minds of his subjects. Mod. He put the thought from him. He will take it with him in the carriage. |
b. Formerly much used with intrans. verbs of motion or posture (including be), sometimes also with trans. verbs, app. in the sense ‘for’ or ‘as to himself’; where, according to modern notions, it is superfluous. Obs. (or rare archaism.)
| c 993 Battle of Maldon 11 Eac him wolde Eadric his ealdre ᵹelæstan. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xviii. 8 Abraham stod him under þam treowe. ― Deut. xxiv. 5 Beo him æt ham. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 27 Þe unclene gast þe geð him of þan sunfulle mon. c 1200 Ormin 229 Zacariȝe for himm ham. c 1205 Lay. 532 Þe king him com riden. Ibid. 25555 Þa þe king him awoc. a 1225 St. Marher. 4 He..ferde him soððen into antioche. a 1300 Cursor M. 5235 (Gött.) Ioseph had him sonis tuin. c 1300 Havelok 286 Quanne the Erl godrich him herde Of þat mayden, hw wel she ferde. c 1340 Cursor M. 4055 (Fairf.) Ioseph him saghe a niȝt in squeuen. Ibid. 14333 (Fairf.) Ihesus him loked vn-to þe lift. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 5045 Þar as þat schryn hym was. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. st. 865 Þis tempest obeyeth hym no more me to, Shipmon, þen hit dothe to þe. c 1630 Milton Passion 21 Then lies him meekly down fast by his brethren's side. |
c. acc. or direct object. arch. and poetic.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 109 Þe alde mei him witan iwis þone deð. c 1275 Lay. 30574 Brian him [c 1205 hine] bi-þohte. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 551 He chaunged his array And cladde hym as a poure laborer. c 1450 Lydg. Secrees 1153 So shulde a kyng..Shewe hym gracyous to hihe and lowe degre. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 482 Richarde the duke of normandy..recomendeth hym humbly to you. 1549 Compl. Scot. 118 Quhou he suld vse hym touart his maister. 1620 Frier Rush 6 Rush went forth to sport him. 1813 Byron Giaour 68 He who hath bent him o'er the dead. 1820 Keats St. Agnes xiii, He found him in a little moonlight room. |
5. quasi-n. Male person, man. Cf. he 6.
| 1880 Trollope Duke's Children (Tauchn.) I. 94 That other him is the person she loves. 1884 Gilbert Orig. Plays 129 ‘Mr. F. shall introduce him.’ ‘It ain't a him, it's a her.’ 1898 Daily News 14 Mar. 4/7 The chances against her ‘getting him’, and her disinclination to wed any other ‘him’. |
6. him one, him alone, by himself, alone: see one, alone. him self: see himself, self.