He \He\ (h[=e]), pron. [nom. He; poss. His (h[i^]z); obj. Him (h[i^]m); pl. nom. They ([th][=a]); poss. Their or Theirs ([th][^a]rz or [th][=a]rz); obj. Them ([th][e^]m).]

[AS. h?, masc., he['o], fem., hit, neut.; pl. h[=i], or hie, hig; akin to Ofries. hi, D. hij, OS. he, hi, G. heute to-day, Goth. himma, dat. masc., this, hina, accus. masc., and hita, accus. neut., and prob. to L. his this. [root]183. Cf. It.]

1. The man or male being (or object personified to which the masculine gender is assigned), previously designated; 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.

2. Any one; the man or person; -- used indefinitely, and usually followed by a relative pronoun.

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

3. Man; a male; any male person; -- in this sense used substantively. --Chaucer.

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

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

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

His \His\, pron. [AS. his of him, his, gen. masc. & neut. of h?, neut. hit. See He.]

1. Belonging or pertaining to him; -- used as a pronominal adjective or adjective pronoun; as, tell John his papers are ready; formerly used also for its, but this use is now obsolete.

No comfortable star did lend his light. --Shak.

Who can impress the forest, bid the tree Unfix his earth-bound root? --Shak.

Note: Also formerly used in connection with a noun simply as a sign of the possessive. ``The king his son.'' --Shak. ``By young Telemachus his blooming years.'' --Pope. This his is probably a corruption of the old possessive ending -is or -es, which, being written as a separate word, was at length confounded with the pronoun his.

2. The possessive of he; as, the book is his. ``The sea is his, and he made it.'' --Ps. xcv. 5.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)