Definition of "he"

he¹

/ˈhiː/

pronoun
third-person singular, masculine, nominative case, oblique him, reflexive himself, possessive his
1. (personal) A male person or animal already known or implied.
  Quotations
  […] purſued his vnneighbourly purpoſe in ſuch ſort: that hee being the ſtronger perſwader, and ſhe (belike) too credulous in beleeuing or elſe ouer-feeble in reſiſting, from priuate imparlance, they fell to action; and continued their cloſe fight a long while together, vnſeene and vvithout ſuſpition, no doubt to their equall ioy and contentment.
  1620, Giovanni Bocaccio, translated by John Florio, The Decameron, Containing an Hundred Pleaſant Nouels: Wittily Diſcourſed, Betweene Seuen Honourable Ladies, and Three Noble Gentlemen‎, Isaac Iaggard, Nouell 8, The Eighth Day
  "It was he we saw the tracks of down by Rausand hill."
  1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 77
  Though Bane’s sing-song voice gives his pronouncements a funny lilt, he doesn’t have any of the Joker’s deranged wit, and Nolan isn’t interested in undercutting his seriousness for the sake of a breezier entertainment.
  July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises
2. (personal, sometimes proscribed, see usage notes) They; he or she (a person whose gender is unknown or irrelevant).
3. (personal, sometimes proscribed) It; an animal whose gender is unknown.
4. A genderless object regarded as masculine, such as certain stars or planets (e.g. Sun, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter) or certain ships.
  Quotations
  JUPITER is the largest of all the Planets, his Orbit lies between the Orbits of the Earth and Mars, and at the cast Distance of 426 Millions of Miles from the Sun, he goes round him in 11 Years, 314 Days and 12 Hours; […]
  1770, A Mathematical Miscellany in Four Parts, 3rd edition, page 125
  He [= the ship Bismarck] was made to rule the waves across the seven seas […]
  2019, Sabaton, Bismarck
determiner
1. (African-American Vernacular) Synonym of his
noun
countable and uncountable, plural hes
1. (uncountable) The game of tag, or it, in which the player attempting to catch the others is called "he".
2. The player who chases and attempts to catch the others in this game.
3. (informal) A male.

he²

/heɪ/

noun
1. The name of the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).
  Quotations
  The same number in the Hebrew mysteries and Cabalistical accounts was the character of Generation; declared by the Letter He, the fifth in their Alphabet.
  1658, Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus, Folio Society, published 2007, page 210
  This Nehama claimed that in his own hand he recognized the consonant “he” of his Hebrew language, and in the letter “vav” his own male soul.
  1988, Milorad Pavić, translated by Christina Pribićević-Zorić, Dictionary of the Khazars, Vintage, published 1989, page 7
2. The name of the first letter of the Old South Arabian abjad.

he³

interjection
1. (uncommon, usually reduplicated) An expression of laughter.
  Quotations
  If e'er he went into excess, / 'Twas from a somewhat lively thirst; / But he who would his subjects bless, / Odd's fish!—must wet his whistle first; / And so from every cask they got, / Our king did to himself allot / At least a pot. / Sing ho, ho, ho! and he, he, he! / That's the kind of king for me.
  1897, Charles Dudley Warner, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Charles Henry Warner, Lucia Isabella Gilbert Runkle, Library of the World's Best Literature: A-Z, page 1791
  "Well, what is your next tale?" said Sumner, a little brusquely. "He, he! he, he! . . he, he!" chuckled the bottle, "the text tale I'm going to tell you in a very funny one. It will make you laugh. There's a lady in it—he, he!—a very comic affair."
  1921, Norman Davey, The Pilgrim of a Smile, page 247

Definition of "he"

he1

pronoun

Quotations

Quotations

determiner

noun

he2

noun

Quotations

he3

interjection

Quotations

he¹

he²

he³