her

See also: hér, hèr, hær, her-, Her, hər, HER, and H.E.R.

Languages (27)

Translingual • English

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Aromanian • Cornish • Czech • Danish • Dutch • Faroese • German • Gothic • Icelandic • Limburgish • Middle English • North Frisian • Northern Kurdish • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old English • Old Frisian • Old High German • Old Norse • Salar • Turkish • Volapük • Welsh • Yola • Zazaki

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Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

her

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Herero.

See also

• Wiktionary's coverage of Herero terms

English

Alternative forms

• herė

Etymology

From Middle English here, hir, hire, from Old English hire (“her”), from Proto-Germanic *hezōi (dative and genitive singular of *hijō).

Cognate with North Frisian hör, Saterland Frisian hier, hiere (“her”), West Frisian har (“her”), Dutch haar (“her”), German Low German hör (“her”), German ihr (“her”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɜː(ɹ)/, unstressed IPA^(key): /ə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɝ/, unstressed IPA^(key): /ɚ/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): [ˈhɚː], unstressed IPA^(key): [ɚ]
  • (Dialectal) IPA^(key): [ˈ(h)əɹ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: a (non-rhotic, unstressed form)
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

Determiner

her

1. Belonging to her (belonging to that female person or animal, or in poetic or old-fashioned language that ship, city, season, etc).

   This is her book

   • 1928, The Journal of the American Dental Association, page 765:

     Prodigal in everything, summer spreads her blessings with lavish unconcern, and waving her magic wand across the landscape of the world, she bids the sons of men to enter in [...]

   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 1:

     Her crew knew that deep in her heart beat engines fit and able to push her blunt old nose ahead at a sweet fourteen knots, come Hell or high water.

   • 2001, Betsy Gould Hearne, Wishes, Kisses, and Pigs, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 78:

     On top of the circle she wrote her name, Louise, just above where the 12 on a clock would be.

   • 2010, Andrew Lambert, Nelson: Britannia's God of War, Faber & Faber, →ISBN:

     On 24 April Nelson rejoined his ship, her battle damage repaired […]

2. Belonging to a person of unspecified gender (to counterbalance the traditional "his" in this sense).
   • 2017, David Yellin, Essentials of Integrating the Language Arts, page 115:

     Begin by having students choose a short poem to memorize; they will enjoy searching the library for a poem that appeals to them. If a student wishes to memorize her poem and share it aloud with the rest of the class, suggest a buddy system.

Translations

See her/translations § Determiner.

See also

English personal pronouns

Dialectal and obsolete or archaic forms are in italics.

			personal pronoun			possessive pronoun	possessive determiner
			subjective	objective	reflexive
first person	singular		I me (colloquial)	me	myself me mysen	mine	my mine (before vowels, archaic) me
	plural		we	us	ourselves ourself oursen	ours	our
second person	singular	standard, formal	you	you	yourself yoursen	yours yourn (obsolete outside dialects)	your
		archaic, informal	thou	thee	thyself theeself thysen	thine	thy thine (before vowels)
	plural	standard	you ye (archaic)	you	yourselves	yours yourn (obsolete outside dialects)	your
		colloquial	you all y'all you guys	you all y'all you guys	y'allselves	y'all's you guys' your guys' (proscribed)	y'all's your all's (nonstandard) you guys' your guys' (proscribed)
		informal / dialectal	(see list of dialectal forms at you and inflected forms in those entries)
third person	singular	masculine	he	him	himself hisself (archaic) hissen	his hisn (obsolete outside dialects)	his
		feminine	she	her	herself hersen	hers hern (obsolete outside dialects)	her
		neuter	it hit	it hit	itself hitself	its his (archaic)	its his (archaic) hits
		genderless	they	them	themself, themselves	theirs	their
		genderless, nonspecific (formal)	one	one	oneself	–	one's
	plural		they	them hem, 'em	themselves theirsen	theirs theirn (obsolete outside dialects)	their

Pronoun

her

1. The form of she used after a preposition, as the object of a verb, or (colloquial) as a subject with a conjunction; that woman, that ship, etc, or (dialect) as a subject without a conjunction.

   Give it to her (after preposition)

   He wrote her a letter (indirect object)

   He treated her for a cold (direct object)

   Him and her went for a walk (with a conjunction; deprecated)

   Her's a bosting wench! (as a subject wihout a conjunction; dialect)

   • February 1896, Ground-swells, by Jeannette H. Walworth, published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine; page 183:

     "Then what became of her?"

     "Her? Which ‘her’? The park is full of ‘hers’."

     "The lady with the green feathers in her hat. A big Gainsborough hat. I am quite sure it was Miss Hartuff."

   • 1913, D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Penguin Lawrence Edition, Penguin, published 1994, →ISBN, page 213:

     “I’ll bet ’er wor a toe-rag,” said Morel, following up his joke. ¶ “Don’t you be so cheeky about a queen,” said Annie.

   • 1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:

     "It's all right," he was shouting. "Come out, Mrs. Beaver. Come out, Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve. It's all right! It isn't her!" This was bad grammar of course, but that is how beavers talk when they are excited; I mean, in Narnia—in our world they usually don't talk at all.

   • 2013, James Tully, The Crimes of Charlotte Brontë:

     Every day I had to watch as him and her went off for long walks together, and each night I had to go to my lonely, cold bed with the thought that they were sharing the same one […]

Derived terms

• 'er
• God rest her soul
• I hardly even know her
• I hardly know her
• kiss-her-in-the-buttery
• let her rip
• peace be upon her
• put her there

 

Translations

See her/translations § Pronoun.

Noun

her (plural hers)

1. (informal) A female person or animal.

   I think this bird is a him, but it may be a her.

   • 1986, Hélène Cixous, Sorties (translated)

     […] daring dizzying passages in other, fleeting and passionate dwellings within the hims and hers whom she inhabits […]

   • 2004, Charles J. Sullivan, Love and Survival, page 68:

     By this time, she had so many questions, but she only hit him up for one answer about those “hims” and “hers.” She asked, “Do both hims and hers reproduce hummers?”

Synonyms

• she

Anagrams

• EHR, Ehr, HRE, reh

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• heru, hjeru

Etymology

From Latin ferrum. Compare Daco-Romanian fier, Spanish hierro.

Noun

her n (plural heari or heare)

1. iron

Related terms

• hirar

Cornish

Noun

her

1. Mixed mutation of ger.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦɛr]

Noun

her f

1. genitive plural of hra

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse hér.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɛr/, [hɛɐ̯], [heɐ̯]

Adverb

her

1. here

Related terms

• herefter
• herfra
• herhen
• hermed
• herover
• herved

 

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch her. Cognate with Old High German hera (“hither”) and likely Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐍂𐌹 (hiri).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

her

1. (obsolete outside fixed expressions) here
2. (obsolete outside fixed expressions) hither

Usage notes

• Not in common usage, "hier" is rather used. "her" is only used in expressions like the ones below.

Derived terms

• her en der (“here and there, hither and thither”)
• herkomst
• oudsher
• van hot naar her (“from pillar to post, here, there and everywhere”)

 

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /heːɹ/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hér.

Adverb

her

1. here

Etymology 2

From herur.

Noun

her

1. indefinite accusative singular of herur

German

Etymology

From Middle High German her, from Old High German hera. Cognate to German Low German her.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /heːr/, [heːɐ̯], [hɛɐ̯]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: Heer, hehr, Herr (common merger)
• Rhymes: -eːɐ̯

Adverb

her

2. hither, to this place, to here, to me/us

   Komm her!

   Come here!

3. ago

   Es ist zehn Jahre her, dass ich das letzte Mal Auto gefahren bin.

   Ten years ago was the last time I drove a car.

Antonyms

• hin

Derived terms

• heran
• heraus
• herbei
• herein
• herüber
• hierher
• woher

See also

• her-

Further reading

• “her” in Duden online
• “her” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Gothic

Romanization

hēr

1. Romanization of 𐌷𐌴𐍂

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse herr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɛːr/
• Rhymes: -ɛːr

Noun

her m (genitive singular hers, nominative plural herir)

1. army, military

Derived terms

• herbragð
• hergögn
• herkvaðning
• hermaður
• herstígvél
• þú og hvaða her

Limburgish

Etymology

From hieër.

Noun

her m

1. vocative singular of hieër

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English hǣr, from Proto-West Germanic *hār, from Proto-Germanic *hērą.

Alternative forms

• er, hair, haire, har, hare, hær, hear, heere, heir, here, herre, heyr, hier, hor, hore

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɛːr/, /heːr/

Noun

her (plural heres)

2. (countable) a hair (follicular growth on the skin)
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[1], published c. 1410, Apocalips 1:14, page 117v; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     ⁊ þe heed of him ⁊ his heeris weren whiyt as whiyt wolle .· ⁊ as ſnow / ⁊ þe iȝen of him as flawme of fier .·

     And his head and his hairs were white, like white wool or snow, and his eyes were like fire's flame.

   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wyfe of Bathes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:

     Tho rad he me how sāpson lost his heeres

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (uncountable) hair (follicular growths on the skin)
   • a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Knight's Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, lines 3690–3691:

     But first he cheweth greyn and lycorys / To smellen sweete, er he hadde kembd his heer.

     Though first he chews spices and licorice, / To smell sweet before he'd combed his hair.

4. pelt, hide, animal skin
5. Something similar in appearance to hair (e.g. a botanical hair)
6. (figurative) small part, any part (of a person)

Related terms

• hors her
• hery

Descendants

• English: hair
• Scots: hair, hayr, hare
• Yola: haar

References

• “hēr, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-16.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old English hēr, from Proto-West Germanic *hēr, from Proto-Germanic *hē₂r.

Alternative forms

• ar, er, ere, hare, hær, hære, heir, here, herre, hier, hiere, hir, hire, hyer, hyre

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /heːr/, /hɛːr/

Adverb

her

1. here

Descendants

• English: here
• Scots: here, her
• Yola: haar, here

References

• “hẹ̄r, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Determiner

her

1. Alternative form of hire (“her”, genitive)

Pronoun

her

1. Alternative form of hire (“hers”)

Etymology 4

Pronoun

her

1. Alternative form of hire (“her”, object)

Etymology 5

Determiner

her

1. Alternative form of here (“their”)

Etymology 6

Adjective

her

1. Alternative form of here (“pleasant”)

Etymology 7

Noun

her (plural heres)

1. Alternative form of here (“haircloth”)

Etymology 8

Noun

her

1. Alternative form of herre (“hinge”)

Etymology 9

Noun

her

1. Alternative form of here (“army”)

Etymology 10

Noun

her (plural heres)

1. Alternative form of heir (“heir”)

Etymology 11

Verb

her

1. Alternative form of heren (“to hear”)

Etymology 12

Adjective

her

1. comparative degree of he (“high”)

North Frisian

Etymology 1

Pronoun

her

1. her: third-person singular, feminine, objective
2. her: third-person singular, feminine, possesive

Etymology 2

Verb

her

1. inflection of haa:
   1. first/third-person singular preterite
   2. plural preterite
   3. past participle

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *sárwas.

Adverb

Central Kurdish	هەر (her)

her

1. every, each
2. anyone
3. anyway

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse hér.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hæːr/

Adverb

her

1. here

Derived terms

• herfra, herifra

References

• “her” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hæːr/, /heːr/
• Homophone: hær

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hér.

Adverb

her

1. here

   Det er fint å vera her.

   It's nice to be here.

2. just now, recently

   Eg såg ho her ein dag.

   I saw her just the other day.

Etymology 2

Noun

her m (definite singular heren, indefinite plural herar, definite plural herane)

1. (pre-2012) alternative form of hær

References

• “her” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Alternative forms

• ᚻᛖᚱ (her) — Franks Casket

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xeːr/, [heːr]

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *hēr, from Proto-Germanic *hē₂r, apparently from the stem *hi- (“this”); the exact formation is unclear. Cognate with Old Saxon hēr, Old High German hiar, Old Norse hér, Gothic 𐌷𐌴𐍂 (hēr).

Adverb

hēr

1. here
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 46:2

     God hine ġehīerde and cleopode hine and cwæþ tō him, "Iācōb, Iācōb"! And hē him andswarode and cwæþ, "Hēr iċ eom!"

     God heard him and called out, "Jacob, Jacob!" And he answered him and said, "Here I am!"

Descendants

• Middle English: her, here, heer
  • English: here
  • Scots: her, here

Etymology 2

Noun

hēr n

1. Alternative form of hǣr

Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hār. Cognates include Old English hǣr, Old Saxon hār and Old Dutch hār.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈheːr/, [ˈhɛːr]

Noun

hēr n

1. hair

Descendants

• North Frisian:

  Föhr-Amrum: hiar

  Goesharde: heer, häär

  Halligen: heer

  Heligoland: Hear

  Mooring: häär

  Sylt: Hiir

  Wiedingharde: heer

• Saterland Frisian: Híer
• West Frisian: hier

References

• Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Old High German

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *hairaz.

Adjective

hēr (comparative hērro or hērōro)

1. gray-haired, old
2. noble, venerable

Declension

Strong declension of her

Singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hērēr, her	hēriu, her	hēraz, her
accusative	hēran	hēra	hēraz
genitive	hēres	hērera	hēres
dative	hēremu	hēreru	hēremu
instrumental	hēru	—	hēru
Plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hēre, her	hēro, her	hēriu, her
accusative	hēre	hēro	hēriu
genitive	hērero	hērero	hērero
dative	hērēm	hērēm	hērēm

Weak declension of her

Singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hēro	hēra	hēra
accusative	hēron	hērūn	hēra
genitive	hēren	hērūn	hēren
dative	hēren	hērūn	hēren
Plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hēron	hērūn	hēron
accusative	hēron	hērūn	hēron
genitive	hērōno	hērōno	hērōno
dative	hērōm	hērōm	hērōm

Declension of comparative of her

Singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hērōro	hērōra	hērōra
accusative	hērōron	hērōrūn	hērōra
genitive	hērōren	hērōrūn	hērōren
dative	hērōren	hērōrūn	hērōren
Plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hērōron	hērōrūn	hērōron
accusative	hērōron	hērōrūn	hērōron
genitive	hērōrōno	hērōrōno	hērōrōno
dative	hērōrōm	hērōrōm	hērōrōm

Strong declension of superlative her

Singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hērōstēr, hērōst	hērōstiu, hērōst	hērōstaz, hērōst
accusative	hērōstan	hērōsta	hērōstaz
genitive	hērōstes	hērōstera	hērōstes
dative	hērōstemu	hērōsteru	hērōstemu
instrumental	hērōstu	—	hērōstu
Plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hērōste, hērōst	hērōsto, hērōst	hērōstiu, hērōst
accusative	hērōste	hērōsto	hērōstiu
genitive	hērōstero	hērōstero	hērōstero
dative	hērōstēm	hērōstēm	hērōstēm

Weak declension of superlative her

Singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hērōsto	hērōsta	hērōsta
accusative	hērōston	hērōstūn	hērōsta
genitive	hērōsten	hērōstūn	hērōsten
dative	hērōsten	hērōstūn	hērōsten
Plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hērōston	hērōstūn	hērōston
accusative	hērōston	hērōstūn	hērōston
genitive	hērōstōno	hērōstōno	hērōstōno
dative	hērōstōm	hērōstōm	hērōstōm

Descendants

• Middle High German: hēr
  • German: hehr

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *hiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hiz.

Pronoun

her

1. (northern dialects) Alternative form of er

Descendants

• Middle High German: hër, he
  • Central Franconian:
    • Moselle Franconian: ä, en (from the accusative)

      Eifelisch: hän, hen, en

      • Luxembourgish: hien, en
    • Ripuarian:

      Aachensch: he

      Kölsch: hä, ä

  • East Central German:

    Lusatian-New Marchian: hä

    Thuringian:

    North Thuringian: he, hä

  • Rhine Franconian:

    Hessian:

    Low Hessian: he, hä

    South Hessian: he

  • Vilamovian: hār

Old Norse

Noun

her

1. accusative/dative singular of herr

Salar

Etymology

From Persian هر (har). Cognate with Bengali হর (hor, “every”), Latin salvus (“safe, whole”), Ancient Greek ὅλος (hólos, “complete, whole”).

Pronunciation

• (Jiezi, Gaizi, Mengda, Chahandusi, Hanbahe, Baizhuang, Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA^(key): [her]
• (Mengda, Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA^(key): [heɹ]
• (Baizhuang, Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA^(key): [hær]
• (Qingshui, Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA^(key): [hɑ]

Adjective

her

1. every

Derived terms

• her gün (“every day”)

References

• Tenishev, Edhem (1976) “her”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká, Moscow, pages 333-334

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish هر, from Persian هر (har). Cognate with Bengali হর (hor, “every”), Latin salvus (“safe, whole”), Ancient Greek ὅλος (hólos, “complete, whole”). Doublet of salvo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hæɾ/, /heɾ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æɾ

Determiner

her

1. every
2. each

Volapük

Noun

her (nominative plural hers)

1. hair

Declension

declension of her

	singular	plural
nominative	her	hers
genitive	hera	heras
dative	here	heres
accusative	heri	heris
vocative 1	o her!	o hers!
predicative 2	heru	herus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only

Welsh

Etymology

Compare English here, used in an interjectory sense as in "here! shoo! go on!"

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɛr/

Noun

her f (plural heriau, not mutable)

1. challenge

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “her”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Yola

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hiː/
• Homophone: haar

Etymology 1

From Middle English here, from Old English hire, from Proto-West Germanic *heʀē.

Pronoun

her

1. her
   • 1867, “THE BRIDE'S PORTION”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, pages 102:

     A portion ich gae her, was (it's now ich have ee-tolth)

     The portion I gave her was (it's now I have told)

Etymology 2

From Middle English hire, from Old English hire, from Proto-West Germanic *heʀā.

Determiner

her

1. her
   • 1927, “ZONG OF TWI MAARKEET MOANS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 129, lines 6:

     An awi gome her egges wi a wheel an car taape,

     And away went her eggs, with the car overset.

   • 1927, “ZONG OF TWI MAARKEET MOANS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 129, lines 8:

     Shu ztaared, clappu her baashes an up wi punaan,

     She stared, clapped her palms, and up with lament,

Zazaki

Etymology 1

Related to Persian هر (har).

Adjective

her

1. each

Etymology 2

Related to Persian خر (xar).

Noun

her

1. donkey