▪ I. his, poss. pron., 3rd sing. masc. and † neut.
(hɪz, -ɪz)
[OE. his (hys), genitive of personal pron. he and hit, it. The cognate langs. have only the parallel forms without h, Goth. and OS. is, OHG. is, es, in later stages supplanted by the originally reflexive sîn, sein, zîn, zijn. In OE., on the contrary, the refl. possessive s{iacu}n was already obsolescent, and usually replaced by his, hire, hira. About the 11th c., the genitive his began, after the earlier analogy of m{iacu}n, ðin, {uacu}re, eower, to be treated as an adj. (with pl. hise, occurring till the 15th c.). Like the other possessive pronouns also, his tended to develop absolute derivative forms, of which hisis, hysen (like hiris, hiren), occur in ME. The former did not take root (see next word), and the latter is only dialectal (see hisn).]
A. Forms.
1. sing. 1– his; 1–6 hys, (2–7 is, 3 ys, hise, 3–4 hiss, hesse, 4 hes, heys, hisse, hijs, hus, 4–5 hese, 5 hyse, heis, 6 ys), 6–7 's.
| a 855– His [see B. passim]. a 1000 Hymns ii. 11 (Gr.) Se byð eadiᵹ se..a hys willan wyrcð. c 1200 Ormin 84 He sennde uss sone hiss word, hiss witt, Hiss Sune, hiss mahht, hiss kinde. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2713 A modi stiward he ðor fond Betende a man wid hise wond. Ibid. 2851 He bar hise ȝerde forð in is hond. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 59 He let a moneþ of þe ȝer clepye aftur ys owne name. a 1300 Christ on Cross 5 in E.E.P. (1862) 20 Bihold to is brest nakid, and is blodi side. a 1300 Cursor M. 62 (Gött.) Hijs fal is neist at hand. Ibid. 12685 (Cott.) Hes knes war bolnd sua. Ibid. 17890 (Gött.) All-mighti godd es fader hiss. 13.. E.E. Psalter cxlviii. 8 (Mätz.) Blaste of stormes, þat makes worde hisse [verbum ejus]. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 347 He..tristiþ not to hijs treuthe. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 881 Attes nauel þe dent a-stod. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xix. 267 Thus haue ich beo hus heraude. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 68 He was dyschargyd ys byschopryge and all hys londes. c 1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta iv. iii, Look how his brains drop out on 's nose. 1609 Sir R. Shirley in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 88 Man can receiue is birth but from one place. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 294, I cut off 's head. 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler 85 He..must lift up 's head. |
† 2. pl. 2–5 hise, 5 hese. Obs.
| a 1100 O.E. Chron. an. 1070 Abbot Turolde..wæs cumen..mid ealle hise Frencisce menn. a 1131 Ibid. an. 1123 Se kyng..bed hise biscopes, and hise abbates, and hise þeiᵹnes ealle þet hi scolden cumen to his ᵹewitene mot. Ibid. an. 1124 He sende..to hise casteles. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 93 Þe holie procession þe he wile maken a domes dai mid hise chosene. c 1200 Ormin 14343 To shæwenn hise mahhtess..þurrh hiss goddcunnde kinde. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 406 An of hise [v.r. his] men. 1258 Proclam. Hen. III, Henr'..Send igretinge to alle hise holde ilærde and ileawede. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 1 Men shulden trowe bi hise wordis þat þei ben soþe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6892 Henex, with hese men. |
B. Signification.
† 1. as gen. case of pers. pron.: a. masc. Of him; of the male being or thing in question, L. ejus; b. neut. of it; c. refl. of himself, of itself, L. sui.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past lviii. 443 Hwæt maᵹon we his nu don? a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 616 (Gr.) Nu þu his [i.e. þæs leohtes] hrinan meaht. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 74 Gedrinc his..þreo ful fulle. a 1300 Cursor M. 3874 Bisid lya al night he lai, His vnwitand. Ibid. 4305 And, maugre his, he dos him lute. c 1340 Ibid. 4373 (Fairf.) His hit ware no resoun Tille our lorde do suche tresoun. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) iv. 12 Þe dragoun..bare him maugree his til a cragg of þe see. |
2. poss. adj. pron. masc. (orig. poss. gen., and then, like L. ejus, often following its n.). a. Referring to a person: Of or belonging to him, that man's, the male being's; also refl. of or belonging to himself, his own (L. suus).
This includes the simple possessive relation as in ‘his money, his lands’, the subjective genitive as ‘his defence of his doings’, and the objective genitive as in ‘his defeat, his murder, his murderer’. No special provision exists in the language for the distinction of the latter two, except by context (cf. ‘his dismissal of the envoys was blamed; he received his (own) dismissal soon after’); but in some cases the objective genitive is expressed periphrastically by of him (e.g. ‘his defence, I mean your defence of him, was well conducted’). But the periphrastic form occurs also for the possessive genitive, as ‘for the life of him’.
| a 855 O.E. Chron. an. 787 On his daᵹum cuomon ærest .iii. scipu. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xxxix. [xl.] 4 Se wer þe his to-hopa byð to swylcum Drihtne. c 1000 ælfric Gen. vii. 7 Hwæt þa Noe eode into þam arce and his þri suna and his wif and his suna wif. a 1123 O.E. Chron. an. 1101 Se cyng..sende his broðer. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1737 Wið is wiues he takeð red. 1382 Wyclif Matt. i. 25 He..clepide his name Jhesus. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 241/2 Hyse, or hys, suus. 1477 Marg. Paston in P. Lett. No. 809 III. 215 The Holy Trenyte have yow in Hese kepyng. 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. vii. 15 His Host, Who should against his Murtherer shut the doore. 1643 J. Angier Lanc. Vall. Achor 36 Which God forbid for his Christs sake. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 92 Man he seems In all his lineaments, though in his face The glimpses of his Father's glory shine. 1714 Rowe Jane Shore iii. i, His bold defence of me. 1832 Tennyson To J. S. 49 His memory long will live alone In all our hearts. 1835–7 Southey in Cowper's Wks. III. 220 Cowper manifested no pleasure at his sight. 1847 Grote Greece ii. xlv. (1862) IV. 79 His friends retained his panoply. |
b. Also used with objects which are not one's property, but which one ought to have, or has specially to deal with (e.g. to kill his man, to gain his blue), or which are the common possession of a class, in which every one is assumed to have his share (e.g. he knows his Bible, his Homer, his Hudibras, he has forgotten his Greek, his arithmetic, etc.).
| 1709 Steele Tatler No. 39 ¶36 A good Marks-man will be sure to hit his Man at 20 Yards Distance. 1827 Ld. Eldon in S. Walpole Hist. Eng. I. 158 A sportsman was thought nothing of unless he could kill his thousand birds a day. 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. iii. 132 He knows his Bewick. 1870 H. Smart Race for Wife vi, He'd like to see him well through ‘his smalls’, to begin with. 1882–4 [see blue n. 9]. 1884 Freeman Methods Hist. Study (1886) 33 The historian of Teutonic nations..cannot afford wholly to shut up his Tacitus, his Strabo, and his Caesar. |
c. In reference to inferior animals his (or her) now varies with its, according to the nominative pronoun used: see he, it.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xvii. 27 Nim þone ærestan fisc, and hys muþ ᵹeopena [Rushw. Ontyn muð his]. c 1220 Bestiary 3 Ðe leun stant on hille, And he man hunten here, Oðer ðurȝ his nese smel. Ibid. 58 His [an eagle's] bec is al to⁓wrong. a 1250 Owl & Night. 779 Ne mai his [a horse's] strenthe hit ishilde. c 1380 Sir Ferumb 794 Set me be-for þe on is [the horse's] bak. 1535 Coverd. Lev. xi. 29 The Wesell, the Mouse, the Tode, euery one with his kynde. 1623 Cockeram iii. G vj, It hath cruell teeth and scaly back, with very sharpe clawes on his feete. 1653 Walton Angler xi. 196 The Barbell is so called..from or by reason of his beard, or wattles at his mouth, his mouth being under his nose or chaps. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 418 The fearful Stag dares for his Hind engage. 1733 Pope Ess. Man iii. 32 Is it for thee the lark ascends and sings? Joy tunes his voice, joy elevates his wings. 1820 Keats St. Agnes i, The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold. |
¶ Examples of his for hir, her, are app. errors, scribal or typographical.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 248 That ilk ȝere the quene died in Lindseie, At Westminster, I wene, his [i.e. her] body did thei leie. 1577 Hellowes tr. Gueuara's Chron. 115 Secretly he gaue poyson vnto his wife Sabina, whereby she finished his life. |
3. Referring to neuter nouns or things inanimate.
Here are to be distinguished four groups: a. Names of inanimate things of masculine gender in OE. b. Nouns of neuter gender in OE. Both these had his in OE., resulting in ME. in c. a general use of his for all names of inanimate things, exc. in those instances where her was used, either traditionally from OE., or under the influence of translation (the n. being fem. in Latin, etc.), or by personification. In this use, his was often exchanged for thereof in 16th c., and was gradually superseded by its from c 1600 onwards, though the historical his lingered in some writers till late in the 17th c. d. In modern use, esp. since 1700, the use of his with things implies personification.
| a. c 1000 Treat. Astron. in Sax. Leechd. III. 248 Þis is þæs monan ᵹear, ac his monað is mare. Ibid. 274 Se þridda heafod wind hatte zephirus..þurh his blæð acuciað ealle eorðlice blædu. |
| b. c 1000 Treat. Astron. in Sax. Leechd. III. 246 ælc ðæra twelf tacna hylt his monað. c 1000 ælfric Gen. i. 11 æppelbære treow wæstm wircende æfter his cinne. |
| c. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 327 Is fruit sired mannes mood, To witen boðen iwel and good. c 1325 Prose Psalter ciii[i]. 19 Þe sonne knewe hys going doun. 1382 Wyclif Matt. vi. 34 It sufficith to the day his malice. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 1 Aprille with hise shoures soote. c 1405 Bidding Prayer in Lay Folks Mass Bk. 65 That the erthe may bring forthe his fruyt. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. ii. 10 It longith not to Holi Scripture, neither it is his office. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccx. 251 Euery batayle had his vawarde. 1526 Tindale John iii. 8 And thou hearest his sounde [1539 (Great Bible), the sounde therof]. 1561 J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 47 b, It seemeth to haue kept his olde wonte. 1563 Homilies ii. Whitsunday 1. (1859) 454 This feast hath his name, to be called Pentecost. 1611 Bible Exod. xxxix. 33 The tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his barres, and his pillars, and his sockets. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. 93 The Preposition must be ioined with his case. 1634 W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. (1865) 41 Boston is two miles North-east from Roxberry: His situation is very pleasant. 1644 Nye Gunnery Contents, How to renew and make good any sort of Gun-powder that hath lost his strength. 1670 J. Smith Eng. Improv. Reviv'd 225 Goutwort..easeth the pains of the Gout, and..had not his Name for nothing. |
| d. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 652 The Sun Had first his precept so to move. 1725 Pope Odyss. xi. 195 The wide sea with all his billows raves. Ibid. xvii. 688 The sun obliquely shot his dewy ray. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. i. 437 Saw proud Potosi lift his glittering head. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. v. 530 Famine now raged in all his horrors. |
4. After a n., used instead of the genitive inflexion. Cf. the similar use of her, their. Chiefly with proper nouns, but also with others.
Found already in OE., but most prevalent from c 1400 to 1750; sometimes identified with the genitive inflexion -es, -is, -ys, esp. in 16–17th c., when it was chiefly (but not exclusively) used with names ending in -s, or when the inflexional genitive would have been awkward. Archaically retained in Book-keeping and for some other technical purposes.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xcviii[i]. 6 Þa Gode his naman neode ciᵹdan. c 1000 ælfric Num. xiii. 29 We ᵹesawon Enac his cynryn. c 1275 Lay. 29589 Amang þe king his cnihtes. Ibid. 11296 Þo was in Norweie his erþ. Ibid. 19630 Ine Winchestre his toun. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 3130 Þay kemen atte laste to Amyral ys pauyloun. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 203 To fore Noe is flood. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 3944 To by-reue holy chirche his possessione. 1426 Audelay Poems 11 To forsake syr Sathanas his werkus everychon. a 1460 Gregory's Chron. in Hist. Coll. Citizen Lond. (Camden) 203 Beyng at Wynchester in Wycham ys college. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. Ep., The twoo principall secretaries to the kyng his moste excellente maiestie. c 1555 Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 178 Since Christ his birth. 1568 R. Franck North. Mem. (1821) 31 Job's patience, Moses his meekness, Abraham's faith. 1579 E. K. Gloss. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Jan. 60 Julia, themperor Augustus his daughter. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 3 When Pharao the king of Egypt his sinne was ripe. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 425 Epicures and Atheists..who place Nature in God his stead. 1599 Thynne Animadv. (1875) 64 Wordes are curteyled for the verse his cause. 1648 Gage West Ind. i. (1655) 2 Fit mates for the Horseleech his two daughters, crying, Give, give. 1662 Bk. Com. Prayer, Pr. for all Conditions of Men, And this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake. 1667 Pepys Diary 12 Aug., Do hear Mr. Cowly mightily lamented his death, by Dr. Ward..as the best poet of our nation. 1671 H. M. tr. Colloq. Erasm. 377 Whether of the two his death seemed to be more Christian? 1712 Addison Spect. No. 409 ¶7 In examining æneas his Voyage by the Map. 1746 Rep. Cond. Sir J. Cope 13 The Orders contained in ‘the Marquis his letter’. 1767 H. Walpole Historic Doubts etc. (1768) 66 King Edward the Fourth his death. 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. iv. i, It were better for you..to keep out of Pandarus his neighbourhood. |
¶ Sometimes an erroneous expansion of 's.
| 1607 Harington in Park Nug. Antiq. (1804) II. 238 Mrs. Sands his maid. |
5. his one, Sc. his lane, for earlier him one: see one, lone. his own: see own. his self: see himself IV. and self.
Hence his v. trans. nonce-wd., to use his of, to qualify with his.
| 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ i. 167 Yet Colossus was no man nor woman that you His it. [Referring to Selden's ‘upon a Colossus his backe’.] |
▪ II. his, absol. poss. pron.
(hɪz)
[The 3rd pers. sing. masc. member of the series mine, thine, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, formed or differentiated in various ways from the adjective possessives my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their. In OE. and early ME., no such distinction existed; the simple possessive prons. m{iacu}n, þ{iacu}n, {uacu}re, éower, and the genitive cases hir, hire, hira (with ME. þeȝȝre), were used in both constructions. The differentiation app. began about 1300, but was not complete till much later. In min, þin (mine, thine) the original forms remained when used absolutely; when followed by a n., they were gradually reduced to mi, thi, now my, thy. In her, our, your, their, an absolute pron. was formed by the addition of -is, -es, -'s, -s (see hers, etc.) In his, which already ended in s, although a form hisis was tried in ME., the additional -is, -es, -'s, did not take root, and the absolute his (= le sien, il suo, der seinige), (although it may perhaps be considered as standing for his's, his', as in possessives like Jesus', Moses'), remains identical in form with the simple or adjective possessive. The more recent its, also ending in s, has followed the example of his. For another type of the absolute pronoun see hisn.]
a. The absolute form of prec., used when no noun follows: = His one, his ones.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xcix. 2 [c. 3] We his syndon. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 231 Þa cweð se hlaford to his. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1392 As he het hise. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 451 He..ladde ost gret ynou aȝe þe kyng & hys. a 1300 Cursor M. 1058 For-þi was he wit his for-lorn. Ibid. 6479 Þi neghbur wijf ȝerne noght at haue, Ne aght of his. c 1300 Beket 1578 And strivede for holi churche aȝen the King and his. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 57 Edward him granted..Þat neuer þe Dangilde for ne non of hise, Suld be chalenged for man of Danes lond. 1388 Wyclif Job xxxix. 16 He [the ostriche] is maad hard to hise briddis, as if thei ben not hise [1382 She..hir..hiris]. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 146 Philip sold his prisoneres: Richard hung his. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lv. 185 All y⊇ domages that thou hast done him & his. 1611 Bible Song Sol. ii. 16 My beloued is mine, and I am his. 1784 Cowper Task v. 343 He is ours..We are his. 1827 Scott Napoleon Introd. Wks. 1870 IX. 49 Blood..shed..without command of his. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 756 [He] saw the babe, Hers, yet not his, upon the father's knee. |
b. Used, normally in combination with or in opposition to hers, of an article, room (e.g. a W.C.), etc., intended for males. Occas. used before a following noun.
| 1949 Good Housekeeping June 26/2 With color contrasts in towels and washcloths, it's easy to distinguish ‘his’ from yours. 1950 Charm Apr. 82 Among your wedding gifts..may be a set of bath towels labelled with beautiful equity and foresight: ‘His’ and ‘Hers’. 1953 Imagination June 115/1 Almost before Crae brought the car to a gravel-spraying stop..Ellena had the door open and was out and around the corner marked His and Hers. 1962 J. Blackburn Gaunt Woman x. 156 ‘His’ was a gloomy little room, laid with dirty grey lino. 1964 Guardian 10 Oct. 5/2 We halve the available space..under the primitive his and hers law... There is usually a his chair and a her chair. 1965 New Statesman 21 May 790/3 What I call a His/Her double bedroom. 1967 Guardian 4 Jan. 7/4 His and Hers. J. R. L. Andersen reports on the Boat Show. Women's influence in the world of small boats is now almost dominant. |
▪ III. † his, hise, pers. pron., 3rd sing. fem. acc. Obs.
Forms: 3 hes, es, 3–4 his, is, as, 4 hys, ys, hise, hyse.
[This and the next are identical in form, and are intimately associated in their history, as well as in the obscurity of their origin. They appear together in south and s.e. of England before 1200, and continue in use there for about 200 years. They each take the place of an OE. h{iacu}, h{yacu} acc. (hi1 and hi2), when this was being displaced elsewhere by the dative (hire and hem); they each answer to OS. sia, sea, sie, OFris. se, MDu. si, se, MLG. se, OHG. sia, sie, MHG. sie, si, sî, Ger. sie ‘her’ and ‘them’, to which they appear to be in some way related. They are also enclitically combined as -es, -s, with a vb. or another pronoun: e.g. dide-s, calde-s, sette-s, warp-es, he-s, me-s, we-s.
Morsbach (Anglia, Mar. 1897, 331), founding on the fact that OFris. and MDu. se ‘her, them’, is an unemphatic form, often enclitic, and then in OFris. reduced to -s in combination with the vb., e.g. bunden-s, bifuchten-s (for bunden + se, etc.), suggests a like origin for these ME. pronouns. He would find the earliest extant form in the enclitic -s of calde-s, sette-s, he-s, me-s, etc., which he takes to represent, as in OFris., an earlier se, an unemphatic form from the pronominal base se, séo; this, after its origin was forgotten, is conjectured to have been expanded, as a separate word, to es, is, hes, his, on the analogy of such combinations as madim = made him, torndem = tornde hem. The form hise of the Ayenbite might be explained as similarly developed from the enclitic -se. But it is doubtful whether the chronology of the forms, as preserved to us, supports this development.]
= her, it; refl. herself. (See also as, es prons.)
| a 1200 Moral Ode 55 (Trin. Coll. Hom.) Se þe aihte wile holde wel þe while hes muȝe wealden Ȝieue hes for godes luue þanne doð hes wel ihealden. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 159 An edie meiden..he hes fette hom. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 107 He is isali ðe hes [temperantia] halt. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6595 He..is kinges croune nom & sette is vpe þe rode heued. a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) 363 Þulke soule nymeþ his in, and bileveþ i-wis In þe childes brayn an heȝ. c 1315 Shoreham 77 Thaȝ he by hyre ne ligge nouȝt Other halt hys ine hys house. Ibid. 136 The erthe hys hevy..Ho halt ys op. 1340 Ayenb. 179 Ase deþ þe cat mid þe mous þanne he his heþ ynome; and huanne he heþ mid hire longe yplayd, þanne he his etþ. Ibid. 191 Þe prest his [i.e. a cow] nom bleþeliche, and hise zente to þe oþren. |
▪ IV. † his, hise, pers. pron., 3rd pl. acc. Obs.
Forms: 2–3 hes, 3 es, 2–4 his, 3–4 is, hys, ys, as, 4 hise.
[See prec. This took the place of OE. h{iacu}, h{yacu} plural, and was equivalent in sense to ME. hem.]
= them. (See also as, es prons.)
| a 1175 Cott. Hom. 237 Eter gate me his scyft, and þer me hi to ȝesceodeð. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 55 Þa bodes he beodeð þer inne, Bute weo hes halden, we doð sunne, and uwilc mon hes undernim to halden wel. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 23 Nu ðurh godes grace þu hes hafst forsaken. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 145 Hie his fet lauede..and wipede his þer after mid hire faire here. c 1200 Moral Ode 259 Ibid. 228 Þe waren swo lease men, þat mes ne mihte leuen. c 1220 Bestiary 786 Alle wes oȝen to hauen in mode. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 135 He settes in ðe firmament. Ibid. 943 Vndelt hes leide quor-so hes tok. Ibid. 1700 Bala two childre bar bi him, Rachel caldes dan, neptalim. Ibid. 1702 Lia calde is Gad and asser. Ibid. 3025 Moyses askes up-nam, And warpes vt til heuene-ward. c 1250 Old Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 34 Þu his makest velaghes to us. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9163 Þe bones hii bere..And yburede ys þere vayre ynou. c 1300 Havelok 1174 He ys hire yaf, and she as tok. c 1315 Shoreham 92 In ston ich wot that he hys wrot. 1340 Ayenb. 71 Þe dyaþ hise heþ and neuremo his nele þe yelde. Ibid. 100 He his byat and his chasteþ. 13.. K. Alis. 4088 Darie hyght..Remuwe his tentis..And setten his bysyde Estrage. |
▪ V. his
obs. spelling of is: see be v.