Definition/Meaning of they

• English - Pronoun: they ( third-person, nominative case , usually plural , sometimes singular , objective case them , possessive their , possessive noun theirs , reflexive themselves , or , singular , themself ) ( the third-person plural ) A group of people , animals , or objects previously mentioned . [since the 1200s] Fred and Jane? They just arrived . I have a car and a truck , but they are both broken . 2010 ,…
• English - Determiner: they ( archaic or dialectal ) those (used for people) 1802 Swedenborg, E . Arcana cœlestia: or Heavenly mysteries contained in the sacred Scriptures , or Word of the Lord , manifested and laid open [an exposition of Genesis and Exodus]. J . & E . Hodson Whereas they are called nations , who are principled in charity and they people who are principled in faith , therefore the priesthood of the…
• English - Etymology: The term was borrowed by Middle English (as they , thei ) in the mid 1200s from Old Norse þeir , the nominative plural masculine of the demonstrative sá , which acted in Old Norse as a plural pronoun . The Norse term derives from Proto-Germanic *þai ( “ those ” ), from Proto-Indo-European *to- ( “ that ” ). It gradually replaced Old English hī and hīe ( “ they ” ). Cognate with Old English þā (…
• English - Pronunciation: enPR: thā , IPA (key) : /ðeɪ/ Rhymes: -eɪ
• English - References: ^ Anne Bodine, Androcentrism in Prescriptive Grammar: Singular `they', Sex-indefinite `he', and `he or she' , in Language in Society , v . 4 (1975), pages 129-146 ^ William Malone Baskervill and James Witt Sewell's An English Grammar (1896) says singular they is "frequently found when the antecedent includes or implies both genders . The masculine does not really represent a feminine…