Him
Pronunciation
- UK enPR: hÄm, IPA: /ˈhɪm/, unstressed IPA: /ɪ̈m/
- Rhymes: -ɪm
- Homophones: hymn
Origin
From Old English him dative singular of he (masculine) or it (neuter); from Proto-Germanic *himmai (compare Dutch hem).
Full definition of him
Pronoun
him
(personal pronoun, objective case)- A masculine pronoun; he as a grammatical object.
- With dative effect or as an indirect object. from 9th c.
- 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula:‘I promise,’ he said as I gave him the papers.
- Following a preposition. from 9th c.
- 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice:She was in no humour for conversation with anyone but himself; and to him she had hardly courage to speak.
- With accusative effect or as a direct object. from 12th c.
- 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House:‘He's got it buttoned in his breast. I saw him put it there.’
- (now rare) Used reflexively: (to) himself. from 9th c.
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts XII:Apon a daye apoynted, the kynge arayed hym in royall apparell, and set hym in his seate, and made an oracion unto them.
- 1765, , Though poor the peasant’s hut, his feasts though small,He sees his little lot the lot of all;...But calm, and bred in ignorance and toil,Each wish contracting, fits him to the soil.
- With nominative effect: he, especially as a predicate after be, or following a preposition. from 15th c.
- c. 1616, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, First Folio 1623, V.10:Before my body, I throw my warlike Shield: Lay on Macduffe, And damn'd be him, that first cries hold, enough.
- 2003, Claire Cozens, The Guardian, 11 Jun 2003:Lowe quit the West Wing last year amid rumours that he was unhappy that his co-stars earned more than him.