him

A1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

US /ˈhɪm/ UK /ˈhɪm/ See IPA manual

Homophones

hymn /hɪm/

Freq #49

Meanings

1

pron
Used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned.

I thought of him fondly.
2

pron
Used alone or after the verb 'be' to refer to a male already mentioned.

Who was there? Him.

Thesaurus

Word family

Derived forms himbohimnesshimpathetichimpathizehimpathyhimselvesshim

Related forms he herherselfhersenhershernhimselfhisselfhissenhishishisnimeithititselfhitselfitshisitshishits

Appears in

Tongue twisters (1)

See all

The Fish-Sauce Shop
She stood at the door of Mrs. Smith’s fish-sauce shop in the Strand welcoming him in.

Separate the /s/ in sauce from the /ʃ/ in fish and shop. In Smith’s, move from /θ/ into the final /s/ before beginning fish.

Etymology

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 Old English *himmai Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# him

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** pron
**IPA (US):** /ˈhɪm/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhɪm/
**Frequency rank:** 49

## Meanings
1. Used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned.
2. Used alone or after the verb 'be' to refer to a male already mentioned.

## Examples
- I thought of him fondly.
- Who was there? Him.

## Derived Forms
- himbo
- himness
- himpathetic
- himpathize
- himpathy
- himselves
- shim

## Related Forms
- he
- her
- herselfhersen
- hershern
- himselfhisselfhissen
- his
- hishisn
- ime
- ithit
- itselfhitself
- itshis
- itshishits

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: him
- Root: *himmai

## Etymology
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).

## AI Etymology
Him comes 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). In current use, the main senses are “Used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned” and “Used alone or after the verb 'be' to refer to a male already mentioned”.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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him