Shĕ, pron.
[nom. SHE; poss. HER, or HERS; obj. HER; pl. nom. THEY; poss. THEIR, or THEIRS; obj. THEM.] [A-S. seó, heó, Goth. si, L. Ger. se, D. zy, O. Sax. & O. H. Ger. siu, N. H. Ger. sie: A-S. m. se, he. The possessive her or hers, and the objective her, are from a different root. See HER.]
Sense 1. This or that female; the woman understood or referred to; the animal of the female sex, or object personified as feminine, which was spoken of.
Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. Gen. xviii. 15.
Sense 2. A woman; a female;—used as a noun, chiefly in a depreciating or humorous sense. [Rare.]
Lady, you are the cruelest she alive. Shak.
The shes of Italy shall not betray My interest. Shak.
She is used in composition for female, to represent an animal of the female sex; as, a she-bear; a she-cat.