his

A1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

Also spelled his’n and hith

US /hɪz/ UK /hɪz/ See IPA manual

Freq #70

Meanings

1

det
Belonging to or connected with a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned.

He put on his coat and left.
2

pron
The one or ones belonging to him, used without a noun after it.

This pen is his, and these books are his too.

Thesaurus

Word family

Derived forms hislam

Related forms he her hersherselfhersenhershernhimhimselfhisselfhissenhis'nhishisnhisnimeithit

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

butter wouldn't melt in his mouth
he looks perfectly innocent or gentle despite behaving quite differently

Tongue twisters (1)

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Etymology

From Middle English his, from Old English his (“his; its”), from Proto-Germanic *hes (“of this”), genitive of Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this”). Cognate with Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic hans (“his”). More at he; see also its.

his Old English *hes Proto-Germanic *hiz Proto-Germanic *ḱe- Proto-Indo-European

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Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# his

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** det, pron
**IPA (US):** /hɪz/
**IPA (UK):** /hɪz/
**Frequency rank:** 70

## Meanings
1. Belonging to or connected with a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned.
2. The one or ones belonging to him, used without a noun after it.

## Examples
- He put on his coat and left.
- This pen is his, and these books are his too.

## Derived Forms
- hislam

## Related Forms
- he
- her
- hers
- herselfhersen
- hershern
- him
- himselfhisselfhissen
- his'n
- hishisn
- hisn
- ime
- ithit

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: his
- Root: *hes
- Root: *hiz
- Root: *ḱe-

## Etymology
From Middle English his, from Old English his (“his; its”), from Proto-Germanic *hes (“of this”), genitive of Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this”). Cognate with Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic hans (“his”). More at he; see also its.

## AI Etymology
His comes from Middle English his, from Old English his (“his; its”), from Proto-Germanic *hes (“of this”), genitive of Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this”). Cognate with Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic hans (“his”). More at he; see also its. In current use, the main senses are “Belonging to or connected with a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned” and “The one or ones belonging to him, used without a noun after it”.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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his