they

Meanings

1. 1
   pron

   The people, animals, or things already mentioned.

   My parents called; they are arriving tomorrow.

2. 2
   pron

   A single person whose gender is unknown, unimportant, or non-binary.

   Someone left their umbrella, but they didn't say which seat was theirs.

3. 3
   pron

   People in general; some unspecified people.

   They say it is going to be a cold winter.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *tóy Proto-Germanic *þai Proto-Norse *ᚦᚨᛁᛉ (*þaiʀ) Old Norse þeirbor. Middle English þei English they From Middle English þei, borrowed in the 1200s from Old Norse þeir, plural of the demonstrative sá which acted as a plural pronoun. Displaced native Middle English he from Old English hīe — which vowel changes had left indistinct from he (“he”) — by the 1400s, being readily incorporated alongside native words beginning with the same sound (the, that, this). Used as a singular pronoun since 1300, e.g. in the 1325 Cursor Mundi. The Norse term (whence also Icela…

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