him - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

him

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 language code for Western Pahari languages.

From Middle English him, from Old English him, from Proto-Germanic *himmai (“to this, to this one”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian him (“him”), West Frisian him (“him”), Sylt North Frisian ham, höm (“him”), Dutch hem (“him”), German Low German hum, hüm, em (“him”), German ihm (“him”, dative).

him (personal pronoun, objective case)

  1. A masculine pronoun; he as a grammatical object.
    1. With dative effect or as an indirect object. [from 9th c.]
      • 1529, John Frith, A piſtle to the Chriſten reader […] ‎[1]:
        […] therfoꝛ Chꝛiſt wold not call him abominable / But the verye abomination it ſilf.
    2. Following a preposition. [from 9th c.]
    3. With accusative effect or as a direct object. [from 12th c.]
  2. (colloquial) As a grammatical subject or object when joined with a conjunction.
    Now him and Bernie are best friends.
    Released a [statement] warning that him and 25,000 troops were going to stage a coup.
  3. (now rare) Used reflexively: (to) himself. [from 9th c.]
  4. With nominative effect: he, especially as a predicate after be, or following a preposition. [from 15th c.]
    • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene x]:
      Before my body, I throw my warlike Shield: Lay on Macduffe, And damn'd be him, that first cries hold, enough.
    • 2003 June 11, Claire Cozens, The Guardian:
      Lowe quit the West Wing last year amid rumours that he was unhappy that his co-stars earned more than him.
  5. (slang) A person of elevated skill at a sport, game, or other activity.
    Synonyms: that guy, that nigga
    Stop trying that, you're not him bro.
    Bro thinks he's him.
    • 2023 October 25, u/baggypantsman, “Super Mario 64 - 0 Star in 6:16 by Suigi”, in Reddit‎[2], r/speedrun, archived from the original on 23 December 2023:
      Watched this one live, he randomly got it less than an hour into the stream while derusting for PACE. He's just him.

dative / indirect object

objective after preposition

accusative / direct object

Translations to be checked

him (plural hims)

  1. (informal) A male person or animal.
    Synonym: he
    I think this bird is a him, but it may be a her.
    • 1985, Hélène Cixous, Sorties (translated)
      […] daring dizzying passages in other, fleeting and passionate dwellings within the hims and hers whom she inhabits […]
    • 2004, Tom Wolfe, I Am Charlotte Simmons: A Novel‎[3]:
      Both hims took a good look at him.
    • 2004, Charles J. Sullivan, Love and Survival, page 68:
      By this time, she had so many questions, but she only hit him up for one answer about those “hims” and “hers.” She asked, “Do both hims and hers reproduce hummers?”

him

  1. water

him m

  1. h-prothesized form of im

him

  1. third-person masculine singular, dative: him, to him
    Ech baken him e Kuch.
    I'm baking him a cake.
  2. third-person neuter singular, dative: her, to her; (rarely: it, to it)
    Hie war gëschter mat him am Kino.
    He went to the cinema with her yesterday.

From Old English him. Originally a dative form; gradually displaced accusative hine.

him (nominative he)

  1. Third-person singular masculine pronoun indicating a grammatical object: him.
  2. (reflexive) himself.
  3. Third-person singular neuter pronoun indicating a grammatical object: it.
  4. (impersonal) Third-person singular neuter pronoun indicating a grammatical object one, you.

Middle English personal pronouns

| | nominative | accusative | dative | genitive | possessive | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | singular | 1st-person | I, ich, ik | me | minmi1 | min | | | 2nd-person | þou | þe | þinþi1 | þin | | | | 3rd-person | m | he | himhine2 | him | his | hishisen | | f | sche, heo | hireheo | hire | hirehires, hiren | | | | n | hit | hithim2 | his, hit | — | | | | dual3 | 1st-person | wit | unk | unker | | | | 2nd-person | ȝit | inc | inker | | | | | plural | 1st-person | we | us, ous | oure | oureoures, ouren | | | 2nd-person4 | ye | yow | your | youryoures, youren | | | | 3rd-person | inh. | he | hemhe2 | hem | here | hereheres, heren | | bor. | þei | þem, þeim | þeir | þeirþeires, þeiren | | |

1Used preconsonantally or before h.
2Early or dialectal.
3Dual pronouns are only sporadically found in Early Middle English; after that, they are replaced by plural forms. There are no third-person dual forms in Middle English.
4Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

him

  1. Alternative form of hem (“them”)

him

  1. safe
  2. unscathed

him

  1. (dialectal) alternative form of heim

him

  1. dative of hē: him
  2. dative of hit: it
  3. dative of hīe: them

him

  1. dative of hī; him

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

him

  1. oblique of hie; him

him

  1. to work

From Old Frisian him, from Proto-Germanic *himmai.

him

  1. object of hy

From Middle English him, from Old English him.

him

  1. him
    • 1867, “SONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 108:
      Shoo zent him o' die.
      She sent him one day.
    • 1867, “SONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 6, page 108:
      Shoo zent him anoor die a gozleen to keep;
      She sent him another day the goslings to keep;