▪ I. he, pers. pron., 3rd sing. masc. nom.
(hiː, hɪ)
Forms: see below.
[The simplest form of the (orig. demonstr.) base hi-, which supplies not only the pronoun forms him, his, her, (h)it, (h)em, but also the adverbs here, hence, hither. OE. he, hē was cogn. with OFris. hi, he (fem. hiu, neut. hit), OS. hi, he, hie. The other old Teutonic langs. (with OS. in the oblique cases) have parallel forms from stem i-: OHG. ir, er, Goth. is. Fragments of a hi- stem, in sense ‘this’, are found, however, in Gothic, in dat. himma, acc. m. and n. hina, hita; they differ only in the initial h from the corresponding inflexions of is ‘he’. In OHG. the East Franconian had also her in place of the usual OHG. er, ‘he’. In English, the typical form in all ages has been he, from which emphasis probably produced heo, hye, hee, and tonelessness hă, ă, which last long prevailed in representations of familiar speech, as in the dramatists, and is still a prevalent dialect form. In OE. the base he supplied all parts of the third personal pronoun, singular and plural; it was thus inflected:
sing.masc.fem.neut.plural
Nom.he, heh{iacu}o, héo, h{iacu}e, h{iacu}hith{iacu}, h{iacu}e, héo, hiᵹ
Acc.hiene, hine (hyne)hie, h{iacu} (héo)hith{iacu}, h{iacu}e, héo, hiᵹ
Dat.him (hym)hiere, hire (hyre)himhim, heom (hym)
Gen.his (hys)hiere, hire (hyre)hishiera, hira, heora
1. In all the cognate languages, even in the early period, certain parts of the hi- or i- stem were lost, and supplied by the corresponding parts of the demonstrative base syă, a derivative of să, se. This extended to English also in the 11th or 12th c. when the fem. hio, heo, became supplanted by the fem. demonstrative sio, syo, which appears as sco, scho = sho in northern, and scæ = shæ in midl., now she, q.v. In the south and west heo (ho, hoo) survived in literature till the 15th c. and is still native in the dialects in various forms; but she has been the only literary Eng. form since the introduction of printing. In the oblique cases her remains.
2. The original plural has been supplanted by a plural of the demonstrative that. In the northern dial. c 950, the OE. þá, plural of þæt, was often used instead of hia, hi; within the next two centuries the equivalent ON. þei-r must have been adopted, as it appears c 1200 in full use in Orm. as þeȝȝ, whence the later they, thei, thay, thai, which gradually spread south, and before 1500 superseded hi, hy, first in the nominative, and then also in the other cases, so that the plural forms are now they, them, their. But a relic of the earlier pronoun survives, in southern dialect and colloquial use, in the dat.-accus. hem, commonly written 'em.
3. The original accusative forms have everywhere, except in the neuter, been replaced by an extended use of the dative: this began in the midl. dial. before 1000, and was completed in the southern by 1350. In this change, the analogy of the 1st and 2nd persons was followed (see me). Traces of the original acc. sing. masc. hine remain as en, 'n (un), in southern dialects: see hin.
4. In the neuter the acc. hit remained, and also displaced the dative him; in all constructions hit lost its initial h between 12th and 15th c. in Standard English; and in 16–17th c. the original neuter genitive his was displaced first by it, and then by it's, its.
5. The genitive cases his, hire, hire, (their), were treated after 1100, on the earlier analogy of mine, thine, our, your, as adjectives, and inflected to agree with substantives; the plurals his-e, hir-e were still used by Wyclif. Like the other possessives, they also developed two forms, an adjective and an absolute, the latter being hers, theirs (the -s of which was originally the possessive 's); hisis was used by Wyclif, but in mod.Eng. his and its take no additional s in the absolute form. Hisn, hern, theirn (perhaps by false analogy with my, mine) appear in 16th c. in midl. counties, but are now only dialectal. The changes which these, originally genitives of the Personal Pronoun, have undergone, make it more convenient in modern grammar to treat them separately as Possessive Pronouns.
The present inflexion of this pronoun (with its derived possessives) is therefore:
sing.masc.fem.neut.plural
Nom.he[she]it[they]
Acc.him herit[them]
Dat.him herit[them]
Poss. Pron.
adj.his herits[their]
absol.hishersits[theirs]
The following explanations and illustrations refer only to the nominative singular masculine he; the other inflexional parts are treated separately, each in its alphabetical place. So also the now colloq. 'em, formerly hem ‘them’, the obs. or dial. heo (hoo) ‘she’, hi ‘they’, hin (dial. 'en, 'un) ‘him’, the ME. hemen (dial. min, mun) ‘them’, the early ME. hise ‘her’, and hise ‘them’, and the dial. hisn, hern, theirn.]
A. Forms. (α) 1– he (6–7 h'); (β) 2–3 hi; (γ) 2 heo, 3–4 ȝe, ghe; (δ) 3 hæ; (ε) 3–4 ha, 4 ho; (ζ) 3 e, 3–9 (dial.) a; (η) 4–5 hye, 6 hie; (θ) 4–7 hee.
| α c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §13 He cwæð þæt he bude on þæm lande. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 636 Thanne wolde he speke and crie as he were wood. 1598 Marston Sco. Villanie x. H iij b, H'ath made a common-place booke out of plaies. 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler 85 And when h' hath done, 'tis good to lay 't aside. |
| β c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 29 And cweðen in his þonke þar hi bið. a 1200 Moral Ode 221 Neure in helle hi com. |
| γ a 1175 Cott. Hom. 217 Heo [God] is hefone liht. Ibid. 225 Heo and his wif þa bearn ȝestriende. a 1250 Owl & Night. 874 Mid mine songe ich hine pulte That ghe groni for his gulte. c 1315 Shoreham 123 Tho ȝe [Jesus] was bote twelf wynter ald. |
| δ c 1205 Lay. 23113 Hæ hafeð al his kineriche bi-queðe her Loððe. |
| ε c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 27 Goþ, ha seide, into bethleem. Ibid. 30 Ha maket of þo watere wyn. c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 573 Þey hye hym, and ho goþ withoutyn any stryfe. 1340 Ayenb. 30 Ha beat and smit and wyf and children,..ase ha were out of his wytte. |
| ζ c 1205 Lay. 15636 E [c 1275 he] wende þat he ilad weore limen for to leosen. c 1250 Meid. Maregrete lxiv, E cleped forð malcus is monquellere. 1250–1610 [a pron.]. 1756 A. Murphy Apprentice i. i, I got as far as the jesuit before a went out of town. 1864 Tennyson North. Farmer (Passim). |
| η 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 6376 And for he him so miseise y-seye Of prisoun aschaped, bliþe was hye. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) iii. 40 Maist witt hes hie that moniest owrsylis. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 50 The hie Salmonte haueng castne the meltis, and the sche salmonte the Rounis. |
| θ a 1300 Cursor M. 17288 + 165 His name neuend hee. c 1386 Chaucer Cook's T. 2 Of a craft of vitailliers was hee. c 1440 [see B 2]. 1567 [see B 7]. 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 23 Hee waz so loth to cum forward. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 1 Hee was no babe, but a great clearke. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 37 That whereof before hee was so scrupulous. |
B. Senses and constructions. I. As proper masculine pronoun of the third person, nominative case.
1. a. The male being in question, or last mentioned: Used of persons and animals of the male sex.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §13 Ohthere sæde..þæt he ealra Norðmonna norþmest bude. He cwæð þæt he bude on þæm lande norþweardum wiþ þa Westsæ. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) ix. [x.] 8 Drihten þurhwunað on ecnesse. And he ᵹearwað his dom-setl, and he demð ealre eorþan swyðe emne. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 7 Þis witeȝede dauid..Þis he witeȝede bi drihtene þurh þene halie gast. c 1220 Bestiary 146 Ðe neddre..If he naked man se, ne wile he him noȝt neggen, oc he fleð fro him als he fro fir sulde. 1388 Wyclif Gen. iii. 6 And sche..eet, and ȝaf to hir hosebonde, and he eet. a 1400–50 Alexander 1141 Þan drafe he sa to Damac with dukis and princes. c 1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 28 He is the noat of the male; as, he is a gud judge; he is a wyse man; he is a speedie horse. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 297 For contemplation hee and valour form'd, For softness shee and sweet attractive Grace; Hee for God only, shee for God in him. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. i. §40. 49 He will go about to prove that there is something besides He-knows-not-what. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 700 He first, and close behind him follow'd she. 1835 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) I. viii. 122 Our Saviour spake of man as he is. |
b. In some northern dialects (Westmorland, Cumberland, etc.), he is used instead of thou or you, in addressing a boy or inferior (cf. Ger. Er so used): e.g. ‘Well, Joe! where has he been? what is this he has brought me?’
2. Of things not sexually distinguished: † a. Things grammatically masculine. Obs. b. Things personified as masculine, as mountains, rivers, oak-trees, etc.
It is not easy to say when grammatical gender ceased to be used, this differing according to dialect. In dialect speech, he is still used for most things of definite shape, without any feeling of personification.
| a 1200 Moral Ode 144 Swines brede is swiðe swete . swa is of wilde dore . alto dore he is abuh[t]. c 1320 Cast. Love 40, Ichulle tellen him Wherfore þe world was i-wrouht, And aftur how he was bi-tauht. c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 314 The Philosophres stoon Elixer clept..With al oure sleighte he wol nat come vs to. c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. v. 1379 Yet was this fyre soo horryble that hee..Brent men eke. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 4 This present book..he schal have v. principal parties. Ibid. 8 An argument if he be ful and foormal..is mad of twey proposiciouns. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §126 The better the stake wyll be dryuen whan he is well bounden. 1551 Turner Herbal i. C vj a, Dyll..hath..a spokye top as fenell hath, whome he doth represent wonders nere. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iii. 65 The blushing discontented Sunne..When he perceiues the enuious Clouds are bent To dimme his glory. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Descr. Germanie iv. 265 That, euerie nation as he was strong, should not set himselfe in possession. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 409 Jove's own Tree..Full in the midst of his own Strength he stands..His Shade protects the Plains, his Head the Hills commands. 1823 Byron Island iii. i, The flashing..Which robes the cannon as he wings a tomb. 1832 Tennyson New-Year's Eve ii, Tonight I saw the sun set: he set and left behind The good old year. |
3. Peculiar constructions: a. Used pleonastically along with its noun. Common in ballad style, and now in illiterate speech.
| c 1000 Prose Life St. Guthlac v. (1848) 32 Moyses ærest and Helias hi fæston, and swylce eac se Hælend.. he fæste. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 120 Þe kyng he sende aftur hem. a 1300 Cursor M. 4055 Ioseph he sagh a night in sueuen. c 1430 Syr Tryam. 744 The kyngys sone of Armony..To Tryamowre he ranne. 15.. Chevy Chase 74 The first man that did answer make, Was noble Percy hee. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 85 ‘Fair and softly’, John he cried, But John he cried in vain. 1839 Longfellow Wreck of Hesperus iii, The skipper he stood beside the helm. |
¶ b. Erroneously for objective him.
| 1560–2 Whitehorne Arte Warre (1573–4) II. 36 a, These instrumentes helpeth much more him that besiegeth a towne then he that is besieged. 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido v. ii, Yet he, whose heart['s] of adamant or flint, My tears nor plaints could mollify a whit. 1642 tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. xi. §770. 338 It behoveth not he to be ready upon the land to make the feoffment. |
c. In s.w. dialects he is the emphatic objective, beside the unemphatic 'en, 'un. ‘I zeed un drow it tu hee’, I saw him throw it to him.
| 1863 Barnes Dorset Dial. 23 Gi'e the money to I, not he. 1878 Elworthy Grammar of W. Somerset 34 Our objective him is always un, n, unless it is emphatic, when it is ee..uur ded·n zai noa·ŭrt tŭ ee, ‘she did not say anything to he’. |
d. he self: earlier form of himself nom., he himself: see self.
II. As Antecedent pronoun. followed by relative, etc.: = OE. se, þe; Fr. celui; Ger. derjenige, der. (The neuter is that, the plural they or those.)
4. a. The or that man, or person of the male sex (that or who{ddd}). Hence Indefinitely, Any man, any one, one, a person (that or who).
| a 1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 259 He sit on heh þat is ow on helpe. a 1300 Cursor M. 3693 If þou be he i luue sa wele. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2186 Þis is he þat fader myn ordeyneþ my lord to be. 1382 Wyclif Ps. xciii[i]. 9 He that plauntede the ere, shal he not heren? c 1400 Mandeville Prol. (1839) 2 He that wil pupplische ony thing. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ix. 8 As he that was yong and lusty desiryng all honoure. 1526 Tindale Matt. xi. 15 He that hath eares to heare, let him here. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 77 There is not he, who is not glad with all his heart to be honoured. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 43 He that the stubborne Sprites can wisely tame. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 34 Are you not hee, That frights the maidens of the Villagree? 1712 Addison Spect. No. 441 ¶4 He who considers himself abstractedly. 1842 Tennyson Vision of Sin 127 He that roars for liberty. 1859 ― Elaine 1083 He makes no friend who never made a foe. |
b. Followed by a prepositional phrase; as ‘he of Modena’, ‘he of the sevenfold shield’, ‘he with the scar on his face’. arch.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 173 He in the red face had it. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 39 If he of the bottomlesse pit had not long since broke prison. a 1821 Keats 2nd Sonn. to Haydon, Great spirits now on earth are sojourning; He of the cloud, the cataract, the lake. |
III. As demonstrative pronoun.
5. he and he: this and that, the one and the other, both. arch.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 16161 For he and he had samen ben, forwit selcuth wrath. c 1381 Chaucer Parl. Foules 166 It likyth hym at wrastelyng for to be, And demyn ȝit wher he do bet or he. 1513 Douglas æneis vi. xii. 68 And gan begyn desyre, baith he and he, In bodeis ȝit for to returne agane. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 371 Talkand thai raid togidder to the toun, Hand for hand rycht hamelie he and he. c 1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue vii. (1865) 18 He snapped me on this hand and he on that. 1848 Clough Bothie iii. 20 Arthur..Leapt from the ledges with Hope, he twenty feet, he thirty. 1876 Tennyson Harold Introd. Sonn., But he and he, if soul be soul, are where Each stands full face with all he did below. |
IV. As n. (not changing in the objective).
6. a. Man, person, personage. any he: any person whatever. arch. and poet.
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 979 And nat so sone departed nas That he fro him, thoo he ne mette With the thrid. 1472 Sir John Paston in Lett. No. 703 III. 59, I mente weell by my trowthe to hyr..as any he that owythe heer best wyll in Ingelond. 1538 Bale Thre Lawes 1439, I am no other but euen the very he. 1574 tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 25 The way, truth, and lyfe, and to be short, the only he that can saue vs for euer. 1652–62 Heylin Cosmogr. iii. (1673) 150/1 Who..challenged the proudest He of the Macedonians, to a single combat. 1682 Bunyan Holy War (Cassell) 275 He has shewed as much honesty and bravery of spirit as any he in Mansoul. 1742 Fielding J. Andrews (L.), The best he in the kingdom. 1880 G. Meredith Trag. Com. (1881) 230 He—that great he—covers all. |
b. = it pron. 1 f. Also a game of this type.
| 1810 Gammer Gurton's Garland iii. 31 One-ery, two-ery, Ziccary zan; Hollow bone, crack a bone, Ninery ten:.. Stick, stock, stone dead, Blind man can't see, Every knave, will have a slave, You or I must be He. 1863 Boy's Handy Bk. of Sports i. 8 Touch is a very simple game... One of the ten or twelve..is chosen..to use the approved schoolboy expression..‘he’. 1893 Funk's Stand. Dict., He, sometimes, the leader of a game, or one who takes some special part in it. 1900 E. V. & E. Lucas What shall we do Now? 113 For a short time ‘He’ is a good warming game. It is the simplest of all games. The ‘He’ runs after the others until he touches one. The one touched then becomes ‘He’. 1902 Little Folks Aug. 113/1 Let's play ‘Touch last’. Look out, I'm ‘He’! 1924 W. de la Mare Ding Dong Bell 23 'Twas life's bright game And Death was ‘he’. 1937 Hull & Whitlock Far-Distant Oxus ii. 40 It was not real hide-and-seek..but..a wild game of ‘he’. 1960 S. H. Courtier Gently dust Corpse iv. 43 The youngsters had played a game of hide-and-seek. In the course of one of Pete's turns as ‘he’..he sallied into the hall. 1969 I. & P. Opie Children's Games ii. 64 We played He and I was had, so I had to be he. |
7. a. Opposed to she: Male. (Also as adj.: see 8.)
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark x. 6 From fruma..scæftes woepen mon vel hee and hiuu vel wifmon worhte hia god. ― Luke ii. 23 Eᵹhuelc he vel woepen-mon to-untynes hrif..haliᵹ drihtne ᵹe-ceiᵹed. c 1000 ælfric Gram. vii. (Z.) 18 ælc nyten byð oððe he oððe heo. Ibid. 19 Hic coruus ðes hremn, swa hwæðer swa hit byð, swa he, swa heo. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 105 It is also carefull in laying vp store for Winter, both the Hee and Shee. 1888 Sat. Rev. 20 Oct. 467/1 Any one not a poet, whether he or she, might toil, [etc.]. |
b. A male. (With pl. hes, he's, † hees.)
| 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 53 The hées to sum laughing, but the shées to more sport. 1649 Milton Eikon. x. Wks. (1851) 415 The dissolute rabble of all his Courtiers..both Hees and Shees, if ther were any Males among them. 1701 Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. iv. i. 1725 The greatest he..Must have confest Woman's superior Wit. 1776 S. J. Pratt Pupil of Pleasure I. 225 Unprotected by some ostensible he or she. 1801 C. K. Sharpe Corr. 12 Jan. I. 102 Good spouses to the shes, and none at all to the hes! 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 331 Do we divide dogs into hes and shes, and take the masculine gender out to hunt? |
V. attrib. (Now generally hyphened to following noun; sometimes written separately like an adjective.)
8. a. Male. (Now confined to the lower animals, as he-goat; in 16–18th c. with nouns denoting persons; this is now contemptuous.) † he-she: see quots. 1661, 1754.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6067 A clene he lambe, wit-vten sake. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 571/24 Catta, a hecatte. 1509 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) 10 Oon he swan. 1535 Coverdale Dan. viii. 5 Then came there an hegoate from the west. 1579 Fulke Refut. Rastell 759 Be there hee Angels and she Angels also? 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Vn Amoureux, a hee louer. Amoureuse, a shee louer. Ibid., Barbier, a hee barber. 1596 [see A η]. 1605 Jeronimo in Hazl. Dodsley IV. 357 I'll be the he-one then, and rid thee soon Of this dull, leaden, and tormenting elf. 1620 Shelton Quix. IV. xxi. 171 Thou and thy Wife, with two of thy He-friends, and two of her She-friends. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. iv. 15 Pope Joan..this He-she..is generally believed born at Metz. 1665 Pepys Diary 11 June, My aunt James and he-cosen Harman. 1692 Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. viii. (1851) 193 You now make He-Saints, and She-Saints, at your pleasure, as if you were a true genuine Pope. 1734 Fielding Univ. Gallant i. Wks. 1882 X. 44 A woman..may speak to one of her husband's he-friends there. 1754 J. Shebbeare Matrimony (1766) II. 88 A He-she Thing! a Disgrace to his Sex. 1813 Moore Post-bag iii. 8 A He-cook, of course!..ne'er keep a She-cook. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay xxii, Great he-fellows of footmen. 1836 Hansard's Parl. Deb. Ser. iii. XXXII. 1201 The appropriate language of a noble Lord..who..said, ‘I have not risen to defend these he-pensioners, and she-pensioners, whom I find in this list’. 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 46 Safe is thy he-goat. |
b. Sometimes with names of plants. he-oak, an Australian tree, Casuarina stricta; also C. suberosa. Cf. she-oak, applied to other species.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §608 For the difference of Sexes in Plants, they are oftentimes by name distinguished; as Male-Piony, Female-Piony..He-Holly, She-Holly. 1876 Forest & Stream 13 July 375/3 ‘Wattle’ in large variety, he-oak, she-oak, and very many others. 1880 Fison & Howitt Kamilaroi 252 They chose a tall He-oak, lopped it to a point. |
c. Of things. Cf. male and female screw.
| 1816 Specif. J. Welch's Patent No. 4052 The claws or prongs of the he part received or inserted in the she part. |
d. spec. he-man orig. U.S., a particularly strong, virile, or masterful man. Also attrib. So he-male; he-mannish a.
| 1832 J. K. Paulding Westward Ho! I. 101 A young fellow who could..tree a rackoon with any he man that ever breathed in all out of doors. 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng., He-male, a full shape of male, and resulting from calling female she-male. 1922 C. E. Mulford Tex xiv. 207 Yo're about th' best he-man I've seen since I looked into a looking-glass. 1924 A. J. Small Frozen Gold vii, He's such a great big he-male-masculine man. 1926 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Feb. 147/4 That was in the late nineties, when the ‘real he-men’..had not attained the softer exterior of the civilization they despised. 1926 S. Lewis Mantrap v. 48 Woodbury was a zealot at showing how lusty and he-mannish he could be. 1931 W. Holtby Poor Caroline vi. 111 ‘And how was our friend Johnson?’ asked Basil. ‘More he-mannish, dirty and businesslike than ever.’ 1931 L. Steffens Autobiogr. I. 406 The rulers of his city, who knew what he knew and knew also what a he man was, held him to be the First Citizen of Pittsburgh. 1931 Punch 22 July 60/1 One of their [sc. the Americans'] hundred-per-cent he-men. 1934 N.Z. Alpine Jrnl. V. xxi. 412 Mt Whitcombe is the ‘he-man’ peak of the Ramsay and Lyell Valleys. 1937 D. L. Sayers Busman's Honeymoon v. 93 Strong, he-man stuff. 1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions i. vi. 204 That wonderful he-man aroma that girls really go for. 1961 Times 2 Mar. 15/5 Why is the American way of life now so infantilist..when it was notoriously he-mannish? |
e. He Bible: the first of the two issues of the Bible printed in 1611, so called from its rendering of Ruth iii. 15.
| 1878 [see She Bible (she pers. pron. 13)]. 1888 J. R. Dore Old Bibles (ed. 2) 329 A ‘He’ Bible used as ‘copy’ at one printing office, and a ‘She’ Bible at another. 1911 A. W. Pollard Records English Bible iii. 72 The first edition of the translation is frequently called the He-Bible and the second the She-Bible. |
Hence he v. trans., to speak to or of (a person) as ‘he’.
| 1741 Richardson Pamela I. 17, I must he and him him now; for he has lost his Dignity with me. |
▪ II. † he, int.1 Obs.
[Cf. F. hé, and heh.]
An exclamation used to draw attention or express emotion.
| 13.. K. Alis 880 He! fyle asteynte horesone! To misdo was ay thy wone. |
▪ III. he, int.2
(hiː)
[A natural exclamation: cf. L. he, hæ, Ger. he, etc.; also ha, ho.]
Repeated, as he, he, or in combination with ha, ha, etc.: A representation of laughter expressing a closer utterance than ha, ha, or ho, ho, usually affected or derisive.
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. xlviii. (Z.) 279 Ha ha and he he ᵹetacniað hlehter on leden and on englisc. 1567 Triall Treas. E iij, We, he, he, he, he! ware the horse heles, I saye. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iv. i. 23 How now! interiections? why then, some be of laughing, as ha, ha, he. 1675 Wycherley Country Wife ii, He! he! he! he's my wife's gallant; he! he! he! 1831 T. L. Peacock Crotchet Castle ii, Pray, sir, what do you mean by Ha! ha!?.. Precisely, sir, what you mean by He! he!.. You need not dispute about terms; they are two modes of expressing merriment. 1854 Thackeray Rose & Ring vii, ‘O, ho, ho! ha, ha, ha! he, he, he!’ And he nearly choked himself with laughing. |
Hence he-he v., to utter he he in laughter.
| 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxxii, This was said with much archness and he-he-ing. |
▪ IV. he
obs. form of eye, high.