Hē, pron.

[nom. HE; poss. HIS; obj. HIM; pl. nom. THEY; poss. THEIRS; obj. THEM.] [A-S. he, f. heó or hió, neut. hit, pl. hi or hie, hig; O. Fries. hi, hit, D. hij, Icel. hinn, hin, hit, Goth. his, neut. hita.]

1Sense 1. The man or male person named before; a pronoun of the masculine gender, usually referring to a specified subject already indicated.

Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Gen. iii. 16.

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve. Deut. x. 20.

2Sense 2. Any man; the man or person;—used indefinitely for any person, and usually followed by a relative pronoun.

He that walketh with wise men shall be wise. Prov. xiii. 20.

3Sense 3. Man; a male; any male person.

I stand to answer thee, Or any he, the proudest of thy sort. Shak.

☞ When a collective noun or a class is referred to, he is of common gender, and is invariably used. In early English, he referred to a feminine or neuter noun, or to one in the plural, as well as to a noun in the masculine singular. In composition, he denotes a male animal; as, a he-goat.