DictionaryAI

her

SayHUR/ˈhɝ/UK/ˈhɜː/

Noun pluralhers

3 meanings of her

Practice

  1. 1
    a woman'sdeterminer
    Belonging to or associated with a female person or animal, something treated as female, or a person of unspecified gender.

    My aunt has sold her house.

    The ship lost her anchor in the storm.

    UsageBefore a noun use her; standing alone use hers: her book, the book is hers (not incorrect: her's).

    Note

    One spelling does two jobs here. The possessive and the object pronoun are both her, because Old English hire was dative and genitive at once. Ships and seasons can take it too, as in Delos W. Lovelace's King Kong (1932), with its steamer pushing 'her blunt old nose ahead' at fourteen knots.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Possessive her and object-pronoun her descend from Old English hire, which served as both genitive and dative. en.wiktionary.org
    • Delos W. Lovelace wrote the novelization King Kong, first published in 1932. en.wikipedia.org
    • The narrator describes the ship's engines pushing her nose ahead at fourteen knots; the quoted wording is exact. upload.wikimedia.org
  2. 2
    that womanpronoun
    The object form of she, used after a verb or preposition, and colloquially as a subject joined by and.

    The teacher praised her in front of the class.

    Sit next to her at dinner.

    UsageAs a subject, careful writing uses she: she and I went. After a verb or preposition, keep her: for you and her.

  3. 3
    a femalenouncolloquialcountable
    A female person or animal, used mostly when distinguishing by sex.

    Is the puppy a him or a her?

    The vet checked each chick to see whether it was a him or a her.

    UsageMostly paired with him: a him or a her. The plural is hers.

    Similarfemale, she

    Oppositehim, male, he

    Note

    Its plural, hers, is spelled like the possessive pronoun, so context does the sorting. In 'the hims and hers whom she inhabits', it can only be the noun.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The noun her has the plural hers, identical in spelling to the possessive pronoun. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation is attested, and hers is used as a plural noun in it. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of her apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Proto-Germanic *hezōi gave Old English hire ("her"), which appeared in Middle English as here, hir, or hire. West Frisian har, Dutch haar, and German ihr, all meaning "her," are related.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  • Old English hire, meaning “her,” descended from Proto-Germanic *hezōi. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English hire developed into Middle English forms including here, hir, and hire. en.wiktionary.org
  • West Frisian har means “her” and is related to English her. en.wiktionary.org
  • Dutch haar means “her” and is related to English her. en.wiktionary.org
  • German ihr means “her” and is related to English her. en.wiktionary.org