▪ I. she, pers. pron., 3rd sing. fem. nom.
(ʃiː, ʃɪ)
Forms: α. 2 scæ, 3 sse, 3–7 sche, 4 shae, 4–5 se, 4–6 che, 4–7, (8) shee, 9 dial. zhe(e, sheea, sheh, shey, sha, etc., 3– she; 3 sȝe. β. Chiefly Sc. and north. 3 sso, 3–5 sco, 3–7, 9 dial. scho, 4, 6 schoe, 4–5 schow, 4–7, 9 dial. sho, 5 shoy, 6 schew, schw, 5, 9 dial. shoo, 6–7, 9 dial. shoe, 9 dial. shou, shu, su, etc. γ. 4–5 scheo, 4–6 sheo. δ. Combined with a following verb, as 4 shere = she were; 5 shalighte = she alight; 6 shase, 7 sh'has, 8 sh'as = she has; 6 schois, 7 shees = she is; 7 sh'ad = she had; 7 sheele, shele = she will. See also sh', sh-.
[Of difficult etymology; but prob. an altered form of the OE. fem. dem. pron. s{iacu}o, séo, s{iacu}e: see the dem. pron. A. 1 b.
It would appear that in some dialects of late OE. the diphthong in this word underwent a change of stress, the older pronunciations (siːo) and (siːe) being replaced by (sjoː) and (sjeː). The latter of these variants is represented by the spelling sȝe of the 13th c.; and the phonetic development so far is exactly parallel to that of the OE. fem. pers. pron. h{iacu}o, héo, h{iacu}e (see heo), which in the 13th c. was pronounced in some dialects (hjoː, hjeː), as is shown by the written forms ȝho, ȝhe. As the combination (sj) is acoustically close to (ʃ), and more difficult (according to English habits of articulation) to produce, it is not surprising that (sjeː, sjoː) became (ʃeː, ʃoː), these being the pronunciations expressed by the written forms scæ (midland, c 1150) and sco, scho (northern, a 1300).
It has been objected to this view that in ONorthumbrian the fem. sing. of the demonstrative was not sio, seo, but ðeo, ðiu. Instances of seo, sio are, however, found in the Lindisfarne Gospels and the glosses to the Durham Ritual and Hymnarium; and the extant remains of the dialect represent a very small portion of the Northumbrian territory.
With regard to the substitution of the demonstrative pronoun for the original pers. pron., it may be remarked that the phonetic development of various dialects had in the 12th and 13th c. rendered the pronouns he (masc.) and heo (fem.) almost or wholly indistinguishable in pronunciation. There was therefore where these dialects were spoken a strong motive for using the unambiguous feminine demonstrative instead of the feminine personal pronoun. Further, the districts in which she or sho first appears in the place of heo are marked by the abundance of Scandinavian elements in the dialect and place-names; and in Old Norse the dem. pron. (of all genders) is often used as a personal pron. It is also noteworthy that in OS. and OHG. the fem. pers. pron. nom. sing. was siu (mod.G. sie, Du. zij), corresponding to OE. s{iacu}o (the oblique cases, and the masc. and neut. in the sing., being f. the stems hi-, i-); and in OFris. se ‘she’ occurs beside hiu.
The conjecture that she represents the ON. sjá this (nom. sing. masc. and fem.) is untenable: the initial (ʃ) is sufficiently accounted for otherwise, and the vowels do not agree. It is however possible that the change from the falling to the rising diphthong in the development both of h{iacu}o and s{iacu}o may be due to Scandinavian influence, as in ON. the Germanic eu and iu became rising diphthongs.
Some scholars have maintained that she and its dialectal variants descend directly from the pronunciations (hjeː, hjoː) of heo (referred to above); the contention being that (hj) might naturally develop into (ʃ). This development has occurred in some Norwegian dialects, and it is illustrated by the proper names Shetland and Shapinshay from ON. Hjaltland and Hjalpandis{obar}y. There is slight support for this view in the existence of north. dialect forms such as shoop representing OE héope hip n.2 Other views are that (ʃ) was substituted for the un-English sound ({cced}), developed from (hj), and that it arose from the sequence -s + j- in such contexts as was hió.
The α type (to which the mod. literary form belongs) is in origin East Midland, while the β type is originally northern.]
I. As proper feminine pronoun of the third person, nominative case.
1. The female being in question, or last mentioned. a. Used of persons of the female sex.
| α 1154 OE. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1140, And te Lundenissce folc hire wolde tæcen & scæ fleh. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1444 Sȝe ne bi-spac him neuere a del. Ibid. 1447 Sȝe bar him siðen sex sunen. Ibid. 1698 For rachel non birðe ne nam Sȝe bi-taȝte iacob balaam. Ibid. 1925 She [see 5]. Ibid. 2619 Sche forð-ran. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 709 Ȝwan sse wolde imaried be. c 1300 Havelok 1721 In al denemark nis wimman So fayr so sche, bi seint iohan! c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 843 Se wende þey wulde so serue here sone. a 1340 Hampole Psalter Cant. 523 In synguler ioy shae was glad in cryst. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2317 Ac soþli as che had seide..þei herd an huge route of horse. c 1420 ? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 376 Patronesse of plesaunce, be namyd well se myght. c 1460 Towneley Myst. x. 158 A, hyr body is grete and she with childe! 1567 Trial Treas. (1850) 14 Che can make curchy well enowe. 1569 J. Rogers Glasse Godly Love in Tell-trothes N. Yr's. Gift, etc. (1876) 180 Aboue all thinges, shee is glad and willinge to suffer for Christes sake. 1611 Bible Gen. ii. 23 She shalbe called woman, because shee was taken out of man. a 1699 A. Halkett Autobiog. (Camden) 4 When she came to my sisters house. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xx, Yonder be 's her, mon,—yonder be 's her—Zhe will buy changes an zhe loikes stuffs. 1893 F. Thompson Poems 23 Hers is the face whence all should copied be, Did God make replicas of such as she. |
| β 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 615 So þat sso [þe quene] hadde sone gret poer an honde. a 1300 Cursor M. 75 Hir luue sco haldes lele ilike. Ibid. 20209 Vntil hir chamber scho it bare. c 1300 Havelok 112 A mayden..Þat was so yung þat sho ne couþe Gon on fote, ne speke wit mouþe. 13.. Cursor M. 2731–2 (Gött.) Scho said, ‘for-soth ne smile i noght’; And if schoe [Cott. sco..sco] did it, hir ouerthoght. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Petrus) 64 Quhen men lede hyre to þe stede, quhar schow suld be put to dede, Petir [etc.]. 1436 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 498/1 When itt was asked of hir by ye Prist, if shoo wolde agree her to have the said William Pulle to husbond, and sho saide, nay never by hir wille. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 211 But when þis come to þe qwhene, sco went nyȝ wode wroþ. 1472 Presentm. Juries in Surtees Misc. (1890) 23 As oft as shoy his fone defectyffe. 1533 Gau Richt Vay (1888) 39 And yat schw hayd na payne or trowbel in hir birth as al oder vemen hesz bot schw buir hir sone with Ioi and blythnes. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxiii. 17 For nowdir wald schew rew, Nor beir me at disdane. 1628 in R. M. Fergusson Alex. Hume (1899) 274 Margaret Donaldsoune confessed that shoe gave her the sark. c 1634 Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) 12 And sho dieing, the work of Reformation prospered. c 1730 Ramsay Wyfe of Auchtermuchty iv, Gudeman, quod scho, content am I. 1824 [Carr] Craven Gloss., Shoe, she. 1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights ix. (1850) 75 And Miss Nelly, shoo's a fine lass! shoo sits watching for ye i' t' kitchen. |
| γ 13.. K. Alis. 151 Kyng Phelippes quene scheo is, Theo fairest woman lyvyng y-wis. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2133, & þan wente sheo þe burde briȝt & tok hem vp anone. c 1400 Love Bonavent. Mirr. iii. (Gibbs MS.), Þowe mayste vnderstond [þe] furst ioye þatt scheo hadde. 1440 J. Shirley Dethe K. James 15 Sheo is bot a womane. |
| δ c 1300 Havelok 1250 For she wende she were bi-swike That shere yeuen unkyndelike. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 189 From hir hors she alighte [Harl. MS. shalighte]. 1575, etc. [see sh-, sh']. 1607 E. Sharpham Fleire iv. (1610) G 3 b, Yet in the morning, sheele haue none of them all. 1631 R. Knevet Rhodon & Iris iii. i. E 3, Then to her hips shele have her garments fall. 1637 N. W[hiting] Albino & Bellama 4 For having pow're to conquer, being faire, Sh'ad pow're not to be conquerd, being chaste. 1675 Shadwell Psyche iii. Wks. 1720 II. 37 To Psyche I haue offer'd my whole heart, Sh'has for no other left me the least part. 1697 Vanbrugh Relapse v. ii, Sure there's divinity about her, and sh'as dispensed some portion on't to me. 1724 Ramsay Evergreen (1761) II. 17 Schois fairest payd that gets her Will. |
† b. With adjective prefixed. Obs. rare.
| 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 66 Till proud she repent. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1674 Which speechless woe of his poor she attendeth. |
c. Used of animals of the female sex. Also (esp. in rustic use) of certain animals (e.g. the cat, the hare) the names of which have a quasi-grammatical feminine gender exc. when a male is specifically referred to.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 409 And euere in oon she [the falcon] cryde alwey and shrighte, And with hir beek hir seluen so she prighte, That [etc.]. c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) i, An hare shall dure well iiij. myle or more or lasse, and she be an olde hare mascle. 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Hawking c viii, She puttithouer when she Euoidith hir meete owte of hir goorge in to hir bowillis. 1576 Turberv. Venerie lix. 162 Of the subtilties of an Hare, when she is runne and hunted. 1653 Walton Angler vii[i]. 147 The Melter hovers over her all that time that she [the female pike] is casting her Spawn. 1665 J. North in Extr. S.P. rel. Friends iii. (1912) 234 Tennants and vassalls..who dare not say the Crow is blacke if they say shees white. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. vii, She [a leopard] was chained to the huntsman. 1891 [D. Jordan] (‘Son of Marshes’) On Surrey Hills ii. (1892) 44 He [the sparrow-hawk], or ‘she’, as they say, will fly at anything. |
¶ d. The misuse of she for I (also for you and he) is common in literary representations of Highland English. Cf. nainsell, her pers. pron. 2 b, herself 3 c.
| c 1450 Holland Howlat 797 A bard owt of Irland..Said..‘Raike hir a rug of the rost, or scho sall ryiue the’. c 1707 in Scot. Antiquary (1898) XII. 105 She sall Confin Her nane Speak to te Salt, an te Excise, whilk she far sees will touch Her nane sell Mickle. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxix, She'll speak her mind and fear naebody—She doesna value a Cawmil mair as a Cowan, and ye may tell MacCallum More that Allan Iverach said sae. 1819 ― Leg. Montrose iv, What the deil, man,..can she no drink after her ain master without washing the cup. Ibid., ‘And here she comes,’ said Donald, as Captain Dalgetty entered the hall. |
2. Used (instead of it) of things to which female sex is conventionally attributed. a. Of a ship or boat. Also (now chiefly in colloquial and dialect use), often said of a carriage, a cannon or gun, a tool or utensil of any kind; occas. of other things.
In quots. c 1380 and c 1475 the grammatical gender of the Fr. words rendered may have influenced the translators.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 626 And thar schip thai lychtyt sone..And scho, that swa wes maid lycht, Raykyt slidand throw the se. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2182, & þoȝ þe dore were strong & huge, wiþ þe strok sche fleȝ. c 1475 Partenay 4495 A chambre..full fair wroght & well,..She myght in no wise..more fairer be. 1483 Cely Papers (Camden) 142 Oon Thursday..cam forth a passonger from Dower to Calles ward and sche was chasyd with Frensche men. 1496 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 299 Item, to the men that brocht the clos cart furth of the water, quhen scho stude in the watir all nycht. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 14 b, Roste a rape upon the fyre till she be all black, and eate her warm. 1594 Reg. Privy Council Scot. V. 195 Haveing brocht in thair ship to ane place thair quhair thay thocht sho micht maist convenientlie ly. 1672 J. Roberts Compl. Canonier 36 To cool a Piece of Ordnance, when she is grown hot with over-much fireing. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. iii. (ed. 4) 212 She..was a fine roomy ship. 1821 Scott Pirate viii, I'll give you my fowlingpiece; she will put a hundred swan-shot through a Dutchman's cap at eighty paces. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. vii, Mr. Venus..adjusting the kettle on the fire, remarked to himself..‘She'll bile in a couple of minutes’. 1869 St. James' Mag. III. 309 The certainty of Oriel's bumping Balliol, if she can only hold up as far as the Gut. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., The feminine pronouns she and her are used for many things, as an oven, a ‘stee’, a pianoforte, a ‘suff’, and a church-bell. 1888 Lees & Clutterbuck B.C. 1887 xxxiv. (1892) 372 A sleeping-car was being prepared here for attachment to the train when she should arrive. |
b. Of abstractions, etc. personified as feminine; also of the soul, a city, the church, a country, † an army, etc.
| c 1421 26 Pol. Poems xx. 173 She [the soul] is ashamed, now she is wys; Sche lyued in vowtrye so many a day. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon vi. 136 Whan the cyte vnderstode this, she began to be sore moeved. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xiii. 14 b, [He] told the Ambassadour, that the Turkes army was at Malta, and that she had saccaged the towne. Ibid. i. xvi. 17 Shee is inhabited & peopled with a great number of..Merchants. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 21 Phantasie on the contrary doth take in hand also what shee hath not seene. 1760 Ann. Reg. III. Misc. Ess. 203 With all the pompous titles..bestowed upon France, she is not more than half so powerful as she might be. 1827 Scott Surg. Dau. i, Nature must not be hurried, and she avenges herself of every attempt to do so. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 10 The Church cannot be said to have created pilgrimages, or even to have encouraged them—she suffered them. 1871 Smiles Charac. i. (1876) 22 South Carolina;..if that state went out of the world today, she would not have done so much for the world as Socrates. 1900 G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impressions 252 Stanley had been ridiculing the habit of personifying the Church as a woman, and speaking of it tenderly as she. |
† c. rarely of an immaterial thing without personification.
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2359 To morwe we wolleþ..by-gynne þe sege..& fro þat time she ys by-gunne ne schal heo neuere be laft Til þe tour aȝen be wonne. |
d. Of natural objects considered as feminine, as the moon, or the planets that are named after goddesses; also of a river (now rare), formerly of the sea, a tree, etc.
The two examples (quots. 1483, 15881) of she used of the sun may possibly be due to misprint; survival of the OE. grammatical gender can hardly be supposed, but Caxton may have been influenced by the fact that the sun is fem. in Flemish.
| 1483 Caxton Golden Leg. 112 b/2 The sonne..that day ascended as hye as she is on saynt Iohns day at none. 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 340 They sayle alwayes towards the west, following the sunne when as she departeth from our hemispherie. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. I vj, Conferring..hir [sc. the moon's] rising and setting with ye rysing and setting of ye sone..it salbe easie to knaw how longe scho do schyne. 1614 A. Roberts Sacred Septenarie 169 The Moone cannot shine except shee receiue light from the Sunne. 1657 R. Ligon Barbados 77, I have seen a Negre with two short ropes clyme the tree and gather the fruit, about this time she is 80 foot high. 1673 O. Walker Educ. i. viii. (1687) 73 Demosthenes..strengthened his voice by declaiming near the sea side when she roared. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxv, She [sc. the harvest moon] shed her yellow influence over rich and deep pastures. 1903 A. Adams Log of Cowboy ix. 121 The driftwood..indicated what might be expected when she [the river] became sportive or angry. |
e. Applied colloq. to things (both material and immaterial) to which the female sex is not conventionally attributed (esp. in Austral. and N.Z.). Freq. in idiomatic phrases she's jake (or she's right): see jake a., right a. 15 d.
| 1903 ‘T. Collins’ Such is Life (1944) i. 5 You dunno what you're doin' when you're foolin' with this run. She's hair-trigger at the best o' times, an' she's on full cock this year. 1938 N. Marsh Artists in Crime vi. 81, I went down to the studio... She was locked, but the key's left on a nail. 1941 J. Street Father's House x. 190 A wet spell would ruin us and she was coming rain before long. 1958 N.Z. Listener 18 July 6/2 If you tear the hamstring, in the back of the leg just above the knee, you're gone a million—she's nasty. 1969 Private Eye 25 Apr. 12 She's apples Eric—I don't reckon I feel like brekkie! 1973 P. Wilson N.Z. Jack xxi. 187 ‘Fix it all right?’ I asked. ‘She's jake now, mate,’ he said. ‘There she is, good as new’. |
3. Used pleonastically. a. In apposition with a n. in the nominative case. Now only arch. (poet.) and in uneducated use.
| a 1440 Sir Eglam. 110 Upon the morowe the maydyn smalle, Sche wente before hur fadur in halle, Amonge hur byrdys bryght. 1576 Common Conditions 243 (Brandl) My sister, she the Juell is. ? a 1600 Beggar's Dau. Bednall-Green i. xvi. in Percy Folio MS. II. 282 Then Bessye shee sighed, & thus shee did say. 1806 Jamieson Sir Oluf 44 The bride she cam' wi' the bridal train. 1892 Kipling Barrack-room Ballads 21 My wife she cries on the barrack-gate, my kid in the barrack-yard. 1896 ― Seven Seas 86 The Liner she's a lady by the paint upon 'er face. |
† b. In apposition with a n. in the objective case. Obs.
| 1576 Common Conditions 265 (Brandl) Who can but smile and laugh to see the state of Fortune, shee? 1599 Sir Clyom. in Peele's Wks. (Rtldg.) 501/2 But shall I frame, then, mine excuse by serving Venus she. Ibid. 511/1 Yet though unto Neronis she I may not show my mind. |
4. Used for her, as object or governed by a preposition. a. in literary use. Now rare.
| c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. lxxxi. (1814) 380, I haue no mo chyldren but she. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 469 The Ladies did change Fauours; and then we Following the signes, woo'd but the signe of she. 1592 Daniel Delia xi, ‘Tears, vows & prayers’, Yet will I weepe, vowe, pray to cruell Shee. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. ii. 3 You haue seene Cassio, and she together. 1610 ― Temp. iii. ii. 109, I neuer saw a woman But onely Sycorax my Dam, and she. 1881 Olive Schreiner Story African Farm ii. xiii. (1889) 284, I want no angel, only she. |
b. vulgarly, as an emphatic objective case.
| 1752 Foote Taste i. (1781) 14 The fat Cook..fell out at the Tail of the Waggon; so we left she behind. 1762 Bickerstaffe Love in Village iii. iv, I have got rid of she. 1856 Miss Mulock J. Halifax x, ‘I hope—our presence did not inconvenience—the young lady?’ ‘Bless your heart, sir! nothing ever inconveniences she’. |
II. As antecedent pronoun, followed by relative, etc.: cf. he II.
5. The or that woman, or person of the female sex (that or who{ddd}).
Formerly sometimes instead of her (objective): cf. 3 b.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1925 Hu mai ðis sen..ðat ðine breðere, and ic, and she ðat ðe bar, sulen luten ðe? 1390 Gower Conf. I. 46 Sche that is the Source and Welle Of wel or wo. c 1400 Rule of St. Benet (Prose) 26 And so þat gas vt of þe wuke, and so þat cumis in, sal recaiue þe benichun at morne at matins. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn 186 Goo ayen to Tormaday to see the noble lande of that lady, she of whom thou arte amorouse soo moche. a 1540 Barnes Wks. (1573) 361/2 Faith is shee, whiche by prayer, obtaineth that thing, that the law commaundeth. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. iii, For where is she so faire whose vn-eard wombe Disdaines the tillage of thy husbandry? 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 252 Praise him that got thee, she that gaue thee sucke. 1847 Tennyson Princess iii. 244 There is nothing upon earth More miserable than she that has a son And sees him err. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lviii. 2 That bright Lesbia,..she than whom Catullus Self nor family more devoutly cherish'd. |
III. As demonstrative pronoun.
6. † a. she and she, she and he, etc.: this and that, the one and the other, both. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 1747 And though ye wolde han after merye dayes, Than dar ye nought, and why? for she, and she Spak swich a word. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xviii. 18 Than will thay say, baith scho and hie, That I am jaipit lait and air. 1513 Douglas æneis i. Prol. 317 He or scho Quha takis me nocht, go quhar thai haue ado. 1562 Aberd. Kirk Sess. Rec. (Spalding Club) 7 Quhasumeuer within this toun, he or sche, jniuris..their nychtbour with infamous..wordis. |
b. Followed by a prepositional phrase.
| 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xliv, The Church gave her full solemnities, graced with all the splendour which she of Rome knows how to apply with such brilliant effect. 18.. H. G. Bell Poem, Mary Q. Scots 29 And there walks she of Medici,..the haughty Catherine! a 1849 Poe The Assignation, ‘Ha!’ said he thoughtfully,..‘the Venus of the Medici?—she of the diminutive head and the gilded hair?’ |
IV. As n. (not changing in the objective).
7. a. A female; a woman or girl; a lady-love. (With pl. shes, she's, † shees.)
| 1538 Bale Thre Lawes 422 What! sumtyme thu wert an he? Yea but now ych am a she. 1547 Salesbury Dict. Welsh, Banyw, a she. 1575 [see he 7 b]. 1590 Greene Never too late i. (1600) D 3 b, Bright she was, for twas a she That trac'd her steps towards me. a 1592 ― Jas. IV, i. iii. 679 Her vertues may compare With the proudest she that waits vpon your Queen. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cxxx. 14 And yet by heauen I thinke my loue as rare, As any she beli'd with false compare. 1611 ― Wint. T. iv. iv. 360, I was wont To load my Shee with knackes. 1648 Crashaw Delights of Muses Poems (1904) 160 Who ere she be, That not impossible she That shall command my heart and me. 1671 Westminster Drollery ii. (1875) 80 For every he Has got him a she. 1709 Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1736) II. 228 The lovely She grew calm and tender. 1752 Fielding Amelia x. ii, The domino began to make very fervent love to the she. a 1814 Forgery iv. ii. in New Brit. Theatre I. 472 The very she who took the bracelets from me. 1819 Byron Juan ii. clxxv, The freest she that ever gaz'd on glass. 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story i, I would not change my condition—no, not to be..the luckiest she in England. 1881 ‘Rita’ My Lady Coquette xviii, ‘She's a friend of yours naturally?’ ‘How do you know it's a {oqq}she{cqq}?’ 1894 Fenn Real Gold 40 Those are not shes—they're both men. |
b. A female animal. [So G. sie, Fris. sy.]
| 1556 Aurelio & Isab. G 3, So the moste parte of the sheos [Fr. des femelles], aswell of the birdes as of the beastes, will be praide. 1601 Bp. W. Barlow Eagle & Body (1609) B 2, A Prey to the Eagles of the Epicene gender, both Hees and Shees. 1604 R. C. Table Alph. (1613), Female, the shee in mankinde, or other creatures. 1615 Sylvester Job Triumph. 78 Five hundred yoke of Oxen did hee owe, Five hundred Asse-shees, Camels six times so. 1626 Bacon Sylva §852 He-Lions are Hirsute, and haue great Maines; the She's are smooth like Cats. 1657 G. Thornley Daphnis & Chloe 125 The he-goats had battels for the she's, and every one had his own wives. 1677 A. Behn Adelazer i. i, He..Had better snatch the She from the fierce side Of a young amorous lion, and 'twere safer. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. iv. v. 177 The She [= tigress] brings forth but once in Twelve Years. 1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 39 Especially the shees which are with kid. 1875 [see he 7 b]. |
8. Opposed to he: Female.
| ? a 1500 Chester Pl., Noah's Flood 124 Of cleane fowles seaven alsoe, the hee and shee together. 1567 [see he 7]. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. iv. 25 Any That had a head to hit, either young or old, He or shee, Cuckold or Cuckold-maker. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 24 These and the Date tree thrive not, except the male and female be united, and have copulation: the she is only fruitfull. 1649 Lovelace A Lady with Falcon vi, For y'are in Falcons Monarchy, And in that just Dominion bred, In which the Nobler is the Shee. 1888 Sat. Rev. 20 Oct. 467/1 Any not a poet, whether he or she, might toil [etc.]. |
V. attrib. and Comb.
9. Female. Applied to animals, as in she-ass, she-bear, she-wolf (also fig.), etc.; she-dog, chiefly transf. = bitch 2; she-dragon, a female dragon; also transf. (cf. dragon1 6); she-lion slang, a punning distortion of ‘shilling’; she-stock, -stuff U.S., female cattle.
| 1382 Wyclif Gen. xv. 9 A she gehet of thre ȝeer. ― Lev. xxii. 28 Shee oxe other shee sheep. ― Zech. ix. 9 Thi kyng shal cume to thee..sytinge vpon a she asse, and vpon a fole, sone of the she asse. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶424 A shee ape. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxv. 27 Him meit sall in the air ane scho dragoun. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 259 Generit betuix ane sche beir and a deill. 1587 A. Day Daphnis & Chloe (1890) 6 The sucke it receiued from one of his shee-goates. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 50 The hie Salmonte haueng castne the meltis, and the sche salmonte the Rounis. c 1640 J. Smyth Hund. Berkeley (1885) 319 The Conger alias the conger eele, beinge the hee-fish, and the Shee fish is called a quaver. 1692 Lond. Gaz. No. 2733/4 A..She-Ass, with a light coloured She-Foal. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton (1906) 100 A chase between a she-lion, or lioness, and a large deer. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., She-Lion, a shilling. 1821 Lamb in Coleridge's Lett., etc. (1858) 117 ‘Yet’, said Lamb, ‘Letitia was only just tinted; she was not what the she-dogs now call an intellectual woman’. 1838 Dickens Old C. Shop xxxiv, She-dragons in the business conducting themselves like professional gentlemen. 1843 Marryat M. Violet xl, The she-panther lay dead. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 702 The she-pigs are treated in a different manner. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxix. 392 A stout Esquimaux..fired at a she-bear. 1868 J. S. Northcote Celebrated Sanctuaries of Madonna v. 297 The marriage, doomed to so unhappy an issue, between Edward II. of England, and Isabella, the she-wolf of France. 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. v. 119 Great she-whales slain beside their young. 1923 H. G. Evarts Tumbleweeds 87 The herd would have been worked on the spot,..the she-stuff..being allowed to scatter. Ibid. 88 There were..no she-stock on the range. 1936 Discovery Nov. 333/2 A figure of the Roman she-wolf is being erected in Addis Ababa. 1937 Sun (Baltimore) 15 Nov. 14/6 She stock gathered enough strength to finish around 25c. higher than a week earlier. 1961 Wranglin' Notes (Eaton's Ranch, Wyoming) Nov., Our hay crop was cut, baled and stacked early this year. It is fed to the 200 ‘she stuff’ and calves that winter on the lower ranch. |
10. Female. Applied to persons (now somewhat contemptuous). a. Prefixed to ns. which are otherwise ‘common’, as in she-being, she-cousin, she dancer, she thief, etc.; † she-friend, a female friend, often in bad sense, a mistress; she-saint, a female saint; also transf. and fig.
| c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 918/3 A she thefe, laronesse. 1537 tr. Latimer's Serm. Convoc. ii. C j b, They swere by al he sayntes and she sayntes to. 1579 Fulke Conf. Sanders 615 S. Vncoulber a she Saint. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Amoureuse, a shee louer. a 1586 Sir H. Sidney Let. to Sir P. Sidney in Ussher's Lett. (1686) App. 25 There is nothing more irksom than a She-Fool. a 1592 Greene Thieves falling out (1615) A 3, A Disputation betweene a Hee-Foyst, and a Shee-Foyst. 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits xiv. (1596) 241 There haue been..many she Greeks..specially seen in the Sciences. 1607 Dekker & Marston Westw. Hoe ii. ii. C 3, She..is such an intycing shee witch. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. ii. ii. (1620) D 2, And for that cause [she will] goe liue with her she-friend, or Cosen at the Colledge. 1623 Middleton & Rowley Sp. Gipsy iv. ii. (1653) G 3, This young shee Gipsie. 1624 Heywood Gunaik. vi. 303 One Pharsalia, a Thessalian shee-dancer. a 1625 Fletcher Hum. Lieut. ii. ii, He..Commends his soule to his she-saint and exit. 1664 Pepys Diary 9 Sept., My two she-cozen Joyces. 1668 Sedley Mulb. Gard. ii. ii, And then a Bottle of Wine or two, and a She-Friend is an approv'd Remedy. 1682 A. Behn City Heiress i. i. 4, I have an assignation here at Church with the dearest she-saint, and I hope sinner. 1727 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar Apr. (1893) I. 504 Which naturally attracts all the she and he fools in London. 1754 Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 91 (1756) II. 248 She [i.e. Elizabeth] had no She-Friends in her Cabinet-Council. 1808 Cobbett Polit. Reg. 25 June XIII. 1001, I trust, that mothers and wives and sisters and she-cousins..will have very little to do in the appointing of generals and other officers. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Poor Relations, Your indigent she-relative is hopeless. 1840 Thackeray Paris Sk.-bk. Wks. 1900 V. 87 All the he and she scoundrels of the capital..rush by you. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg., Lay St. Odille Moral, Then let's act like Count Otto, and while one survives, Succumb to our She-Saints—videlicet wives. 1881 G. M. Hopkins Sermons & Spiritual Writings (1959) 170 The woman, that is she-being, not she-man, of the Apocalypse. |
b. Prefixed to ns. which naturally or usually denote a male person.
| 1530 Palsgr. 266/2 Sche devyll, diablesse. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Boulengiére, a she baker. c 1590 Marlowe Faust. iv. 408 There was a hee diuell, and a shee diuell. 1607 R. Wilkinson Merchant Royall 17 Christ did call no she Apostles. a 1613 Overbury A Wife, etc. (1638) 45 At first both sexes were in Man combinde, Man, She-Man did with his body breed. c 1622 Ford, etc. Witch Edmonton iv. ii, [Enter Winnifrede as a page]..Frank... Ah, my She-Page! a 1628 F. Greville Life Sidney (1652) 188 This She-David [Q. Eliz.] of ours ventured to undertake the great Goliath among the Philistins abroad, I mean Spain and the Pope. 1633 Massinger Guardian iii. vi, Would I were a she-Priapus, Stuck up in a garden to fright away the Crows. a 1704 T. Brown Walk round Lond., Quaker's Meet. Wks. 1709 III. iii. 22 [She] makes a compleat She-Preacher, fit to denounce Hell and the Devil. c 1766 Gray Impromptu, Mrs. Keene the she Bishop of Chester [i.e. the bishop's wife]. 1816 Monthly Mag. XLII. 202 This she pope. 1840 Thackeray Catherine ii, I don't think I ever saw such a she-devil. 1846 Dickens Pictures from Italy 25 A gate, which this She-Goblin unlocked. 1874 L. Carr Jud. Gwynne I. iii. 73 A flirtation with a she-costermonger or other female. 1881 She-man [see she-being, sense 10 a above]. 1892 Ch. Q. Rev. July 354 A Salvationist she-captain. 1900 Elworthy Horns of Honour ii. 91 Cecco d'Ascoli was burnt in 1327..for having had illicit intercourse with a succuba, or she-devil. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 48 A shefiend's whiteness under her rancid rags. 1937 E. Pound Fifth Decad Cantos xlii. 12 By Della Rena and M. Magdalene the She Guardian, tutrice. |
c. Prefixed to masculine nouns in place of the (frequently later) feminine noun in -ess. rare.
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Sacerdotissa, a shee priest. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. ii. 231 A French God, whose shee-priestes, vowing perpetuall virginity, are said to be nine in number. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. xxii. (1674) 22 [They] admitted the chief She-Poets, or Poetesses, into Parnassus. 1674 Brevint Saul Endor vii. 161 They took her for their Patroness, and consequently for their she God. a 1679 Earl of Orrery Herod Gt. Prol., Rare Scenes like Opera's, nay, She-Actors too. 1712 W. Rogers Voy. (1718) 279 The other She-Negro (call'd Daphne). 1736 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. iv. s.v. Cithæron, It was sacred to Bacchus, and here his she priests were wont to keep their revels. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas ii. iv. ¶8 The she-adventurer who had played the part of Camilla. |
d. Prefixed, with the sense ‘that is a woman’, to ns. used fig. (chiefly in disparaging use). Also with intensive force, as she-woman. Now somewhat rare.
| 1582 T. Watson Centurie of Love ix, So shuts or sprouts my ioy, as doth this flow're, When my Sheesunne doth either laugh or lowre. 1591 Lodge Catharos 4 b, A filbert is better than a faggot, except it be an Athenian she handfull. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 81 Almost euery common soldior carrying with him his she-baggage, besides his bag and other furniture. 1624 Heywood Captives i. i. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, Shipp all your goods With these shee-chatteyles. 1638 Ford Lady's Trial i. ii, And him have we beleagred to accost This shee-peece, under a pretence of being Grandee of Spain. 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. xxi, His Office was to cast anew those She-pieces of Antiquity. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus vi. 4 Some she-malady, some unhealthy wanton, Fires thee verily. 1904 Dowden R. Browning 246 The lone she-sparrow of the house-top [i.e. a poor girl in a garret]. 1931 Sunday Dispatch 31 May 12/4, I am one hundred per cent. SHE-woman. 1951 B. Russell New Hopes for changing World 162 Correlative to the he-man is the she-woman, who is equally undesirable. |
e. with names of plants. Cf. he 8 b. See also she-oak.
| 1575 Gascoigne Kenelworth Wks. 1910 II. 127 Mary there are two kinds of Holly, that is to say, he Holly, and she Holly. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomenclator 114/1 Abrotonum mas. The hee Southernwood. A. femina. The shee Southernwood. 1626 [see he 8 b]. 1705 Beverley Hist. Virginia (1722) 127 The other..looks shrivell'd, with a Dent on the Back of the Grain, as if it had never come to Perfection; and this they call She-Corn. 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 362 The she-plants throw out their flowers separate. 1884 Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 210 Abies Fraseri, Lindley... Balsam. She balsam. 1898 E. E. Morris Austral Engl. s.v. Beech, She Beech, Cryptocarya obovata. Ibid. s.v. She-Oak, The prefix she is used in Australia to indicate an inferiority of timber in respect of texture, colour, or other character; e.g. She-beech, She-pine. |
f. with names of things = female a. 11.
| 1816 [see he 8 c]. 1876 Papworth in Encycl. Brit. IV. 472/2 The joint joggles made as at a..is called by workmen a he, and that at b a she joggle. |
11. With the sense ‘effeminate’. nonce-use.
| 1821 Byron Sardan. ii. i. 48 The she-king, That less than woman, is even now upon The waters with his female mates. |
12. Of, pertaining to, characteristic of, a woman or women.
| 1602 How Choose Gd. Wife iii. ii. E 3, And since I sware,..To trust no she tongue, that can name a man. a 1625 Fletcher Wife for Month i. Wks. 1907 V. 13 There's no such cure for the she-falling sickness As the powder of a dryed Bawds Skin. 1633 Ford Broken H. ii. i, But this is but she-newes, I had it from a midwife. c 1648–50 R. Brathwait Barnabees Jrnl. i. (1818) 33 Furnish'd with their spritely weapons, She-flesh feeles clarks are no capons. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. vi. 297 Nunneries also were good shee-schools, wherein the Girles, and Maids of the Neighbourhood, were taught to read and work. Ibid. marg., Conveniency of Shee-Colledges. 1713 Rowe Jane Shore Epil., The Poets frequently might move Compassion, And with She Tragedies o'er-run the Nation. 1821 Byron Sardan. iii. i. 220 Lydian Omphale's She-garb. 1831 E. J. Trelawny Adv. Younger Son I. 277 He is as self-willed and obstinate as the she-kind are. 1847 Tennyson Princess Prol. 158 He long'd..for she-society. 1892 Daily Chron. 28 Apr. 3/1 What someone contemptuously phrased as ‘she-poetry’. 1978 N. & Q. Feb. 85/1 As a ‘she-tragedy’ and a history play (of sorts), the choice of Banks's play is an interesting move. |
13. Comb.: She Bible, the second of the two issues of the Bible printed in 1611 (see quot.); † she-calends [tr. L. femineæ kalendæ], the calends of March (when the Matronalia were celebrated); † she-Dunkirk, a privateer; † she-flattery, the act of flattering females; she-house slang (see quot.); she-male (U.S. colloq. and dial.) = female n.; † she-retailing a., trading in women..
| 1878 H. Stevens Bibles Caxton Exhib. 109 This pair..we shall distinguish by calling the first the Great He Bible, and the other the Great *She Bible, from their respective renderings of Ruth iii. 15. Ibid. 111 This [1613–11 ed.] is generally a mixture of the sheets of the He and the She Bible. |
| a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal ix. (1673) 177 A trimme creature, to whom thou might'st send guifts forsooth, such as at the *she-calends they send to women. |
| 1623 Massinger Dk. Milan iii. ii, As he came From a close fight at Sea vnder the Hatches, With a *she Dunckerke. |
| 1637 Nabbes Microcosmus iv. E 2 b, Melancholy hath been some neglected Courtier; hee's perfect in *she-flattery. |
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., *She House, a house where the wife rules, or, as the term is, wears the breeches. |
| 18.. in B. A. Botkin Treas. Amer. Folklore (1944) i. 8 Davy Crockett's hand would be sure to shake if his iron was pointed within a hundred mile of a *shemale. 1917 S. Lewis Job xv. 246 Course you high-strung virgin kind of shemales take some time to learn to get over your choosey, finicky ways. 1941 E. P. O'Donnell Great Big Doorstep 125 How can that one inside be cruel to dogs like that? If they were she-males always dropping pups, I wouldn't say. |
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. 77 b, These *shee retayling bodie-traffiquers. |
VI. As adjective.
14. Female, feminine. rare.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 619 Þe bestes all, bath sco and he, War broght forwit him to see. a 1849 H. Coleridge Ess. (1851) II. 50 He had so little of the woman in him that he could resemble nothing She. |
VII. 15. In catch-phr. who's she—the cat's mother? and varr., said to one (esp. a child) who uses the pronoun of the third person singular impolitely or with inadequate reference.
| 1897 ‘S. Grand’ Beth Bk. xx. 204 Don't call your mamma ‘she’. ‘She’ is the cat. 1913 C. Mackenzie Sinister St. I. i. i. 9 ‘Who's She?’ demanded Nurse. ‘She's the cat's mother.’ 1949 N. Streatfeild Painted Garden ix. 105 ‘She said so.’ Jane looked superior. ‘She, my boy, is the cat's mother.’ 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. iii. 52 To one who keeps saying ‘she’ in an impolite manner the reproof is: ‘Who's she, the cat's mother?’ 1972 Casson & Grenfell Nanny Says 21 Who's she? The cat's grandmother? |
Add: [I.] [4.] c. Black English (chiefly W. Indies). Used for her in the possessive case.
| c 1875 M. McTurk Ess. & Fables in Vernacular (1949) 11 De Paason hab a li'le Daag an ‘Kankah’ was she name. 1973 Word 1970 XXVI. 82 This dog is she own. 1982 Dict. Bahamian Eng. 181/2 She,..her (object, possessive; rare except on the Out Islands). 1984 D. Dabydeen Slave Song 19 Yesterday she womb bin live an stirrin wid clean, bright Blood. 1986 B. Gilroy Frangipani House iii. 11 He like Token when he see she photo. |
[13.] she-male, (b) slang, a passive male homosexual or transvestite.
| 1983 L. R. N. Ashley in Maledicta 1982 VI. 144 Gays use shemale for faggot. 1984 Sunday Times (S. Afr.) Mag. 11 Nov. 14/3 And the cause of Marilyn's misery? Well it appears he has been finally ditched by George in favour of another shemale called Gemma. |
▸ colloq. She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed n. (now usu. mildly depreciative) (also with lower-case initials) a strong-willed or domineering woman, esp. a wife or female partner.
In quot. 1887 a name given by her subjects to a powerful queen.
| 1887 H. R. Haggard She xv. 169 ‘She-who-must-be-obeyed’ commands thy presence, my Baboon. 1897 Living Age 13 Mar. 709/1 The dies dominae will dawn before very long, and in that case ‘She that shall be’ will most probably appear as ‘She-who-must-be-obeyed’. 1911 G. B. Shaw Getting Married 287 Collins. Excuse me, sir; but do you stay to breakfast?.. Hotchkiss. How do I know? Is my destiny..in my own hands? Go: ask She Who Must Be Obeyed. 1944 Times Record (Troy, N.Y.) 9 Feb. 12/7 Many a girl who turns out after marriage to be she-who-must-be-obeyed was before marriage a little appeaser. 1978 J. Mortimer Rumpole of Bailey 7 Hoping to turn a bob or two which won't be immediately grabbed by the taxman, or my clerk Henry, or by She Who Must Be Obeyed. 1998 C. Worrall Grace i. 7 ‘So how is She Who Must Be Obeyed these days?’.. ‘She's been better.’ |
▪ II. she
var. se.