/proh"nown'/ , n. Gram.
any member of a small class of words found in many languages that are used as replacements or substitutes for nouns and noun phrases, and that have very general reference, as I, you, he, this, who, what. Pronouns are sometimes formally distinguished from nouns, as in English by the existence of special objective forms, as him for he or me for I, and by nonoccurrence with an article or adjective.
[ 1520-30; pronom pronomen (s. pronomin- ). See PRO- 1 , NOUN ]