I.
Etymology: Middle English hire, from Old English hiere, hire, hyre, gen. of hēo, hīo she — more at he
obsolete
possessive of she I
II. R _(h)ər, |hər, +V |hər.; - R _(h)ə(r, |hə̄, +V |hər. or |hə̄ also |hə̄r adjective
Etymology: Middle English hire, from Old English hiere, hire, hyre, gen. of hēo, hīo
1.
a. : of or relating to her or herself as possessor : due to her : inherent in her : associated or connected with her
before she has her floor swept — Edna S. V. Millay
you have not seen Maine until you have seen her islands — R.W.Hatch
— compare she I
b. : of or relating to her or herself as author, doer, giver, or agent : effected by her : experienced by her as subject : that she is capable of
her paintings
her research
the reason for her winning the game
she did her best
c. : of or relating to her or herself as object of an action : experienced by her as object
her rescuer
her exclusion from the club
d. : that she has to do with or is supposed to possess or to have knowledge or a share of or some interest in
she plays her waltzes beautifully
e. : that is especially significant for her : that brings her good fortune or prominence — used with day or sometimes with other words indicating a division of time
it's not only her birthday, it's her day
2. now dialect : -'s — used after a noun or noun phrase designating a female person or something personified as female in place of the possessive ending ' s
Jane Doe her book
III. pronoun, objective case of she
Etymology: Middle English hire, from Old English hiere, hire, hyre, dative of hēo, hīo
1. : she I 1, 2, 3:
a. — used as indirect object of a verb
tell her the news
b. — used as object of a preposition
a gift for her
c. — used as direct object of a verb
lifted the skiff and slid her into the water — Ernest Hemingway
d. — used in comparisons after than and as when the first term in the comparison is the direct or indirect object of a verb or the object of a preposition
the dress fits her sister as well as her
give me the book rather than her
this course of study would be more useful to you than her
e. — used in absolute constructions especially together with a prepositional phrase, adjective, or participle
she was invited to go dancing two or three times a week, and her without half as many nice dresses as she really needed
and her being my own child
f. — used by speakers on all educational levels and by many reputable writers, though disapproved by some grammarians, in the predicate after forms of be, in comparisons after than and as when the first term in the comparison is the subject of a verb, and in other positions where it is itself neither the subject of a verb nor the object of a verb or preposition
it was not her one hated but the idea of her — Virginia Woolf
her sister sings better than her
her and her excuses
g. — used in substandard speech as the subject of a verb which it does not immediately precede or as part of the compound subject of a verb
her and John got married
h. — used with a gerund in combination with other pronouns (as him ) in the objective case
I can't imagine her doing that any more than I can imagine him doing it
2. : herself — used reflexively as indirect object of a verb
she bought her a hat
object of a preposition
she took her son with her
or direct object of a verb
she sat her down
IV. like stressed pronunciations at her II noun
( -s )
: woman , girl
four hims and a her — Charles Dickens
V. abbreviation
1. heraldic; heraldry
2.
[Latin heres ]
heir