■ pronoun [ third person singular ]
1》 used to refer to a woman, girl, or female animal previously mentioned or easily identified.
2》 used to refer to a ship, country, or other inanimate thing regarded as female.
3》 any female person (in modern use, now largely replaced by ‘anyone’ or ‘the person’).
4》 Austral./NZ informal it; the state of affairs.
■ noun a female; a woman.
Origin
ME: prob. a phonetic development of the OE feminine personal pronoun hēo , hīe .
Usage
For a discussion of I am older than ~ versus I am older than her , see usage at than .