His Meaning
/ɪz/ [ɪ̈z]Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
detBelonging to him.
detBelonging to a person of unspecified gender.
Sentence Examples
I would like to give him a present for his birthday.
The student decided to abridge his paper by taking out unnecessary details.
He took my hand in his.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The red coat is John's, but the blue one is ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He forgot ____ umbrella on the bus this morning, so he got quite wet walking to the office.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English hes, from Old English his (“his; its”), from Proto-Germanic *hes (“of this”), genitive of Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this”). Cognate with Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic hans (“his”). More at he; see also its.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"With that he put his ſpurres vnto his ſteed,
With ſpeare in reſt, and toward him did fare,
Like ſhaft out of a bow preuenting ſpeed."
— 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IIII, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 41:
"No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:
"In his first televised address since the siege in Abidjan began this week, Ouattara said he would focus on returning the country to normal to ease the plight of civilians."
— 2011 April 8, Xan Rice, “Ivory Coast: 100 more bodies found as ethnic tensions rise”, in The Guardian:
"On the contrary, those other passions, commonly denominated selfish, both produce different sentiments in each individual, according to his particular situation […]"
— 1751, David Hume, “(please specify the page)”, in An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
"It is our conviction that piecemeal critiques of nontheisms will not suffice. The theist must enter the arena with a positive and comprehensive case of his own."
— 2003, Norman L. Geisler, Winfried Corduan, Philosophy of Religion: Second Edition, page 9:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The red coat is John's, but the blue one is ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He forgot ____ umbrella on the bus this morning, so he got quite wet walking to the office.