their

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English theȝȝre, later theyr,^[2] borrowed from Old Norse þeira, also þeirra,^[3][1][4] the genitive plural of the demonstrative sá,^[5][4][6][7] which also served as the genitive plural of the third person pronoun.^[4][7] Barnhart and Etymonline describe it as the genitive of þeir (“they”).^[2][8] The OED compares Old Swedish þēra, Old Danish therra and Old Gutnish þaira.^[3] The American Heritage Dictionary refers it to Proto-Indo-European *to-.^[9] The borrowing replaced Old English heora, also hiera.^[1][8] The OED mentions a suggestion that some forms come wholly or partly from þāra or þǣra, the genitive plural of the demonstrative, but it thinks those forms are reduced from the Scandinavian word.^[3] Johnson derived it from Old English ðeora (“of them”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of them, belonging to them: about 1175, in the Ormulum, according to the OED,^[3] which Barnhart dates probably to about 1200.^[2] Dictionary.com has 1150–1200,^[11] Etymonline about 1200,^[8] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged the 13th century.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The word arrived with they and them, whose forms fit the native words beginning with the same sound (the, that, this) and were more distinct than the old pronouns, which had become easy to confuse with singular forms.^[8] Use with a grammatically singular noun or pronoun with collective or universal reference appears before 1382 in the OED and about 1300 in Etymonline,^[3][8] and use with an indefinite noun referring to one person about 1450.^[3] Grammarians long scorned this use, though the 1989 edition of the OED quoted it from Fielding, Goldsmith, Sydney Smith and Thackeray.^[8] A use for a person whose identity does not fit conventional sex and gender distinctions is recorded from 2009.^[3] As a pronoun equal to theirs the word lasted until the early 17th century.^[7] From 1456 to 1684 it could replace a genitive -s after a noun, especially a personal name.^[3] Theirs dates from before 1325, in the Cursor Mundi.^[2] Dialect forms included theer in Lancashire, dir in Shetland and aar in Wexford,^[13] and theirn is recorded from 1836 in the English Midlands and south and in the Ozarks.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – of them, in the Ormulum.^[3]
• before 1382 – in relation to a singular noun or pronoun with collective or universal reference.^[3] Etymonline dates use with singular objects to about 1300.^[8]
• before 1439 – of a noun of action with their as its object; of a less direct relation such as a target or field of study.^[3]
• c. 1450 – in relation to a generic or indefinite noun referring to one person.^[3]
• 1456 – after a noun, in place of the genitive -s (obsolete by 1684).^[3]
• 1481 – before a relative clause, meaning "of those" (now rare).^[3]
• 1509 – with all, both and each of.^[3]
• 1557 – in honorific forms such as their Lordships.^[3][7]
• 2009 – of a person outside conventional sex and gender distinctions.^[3]

Meanings

Determiner

1. Of, belonging to or connected with them: The twins left their coats in the hall.^[14][12][3]
2. Done, felt or experienced by them, or directed at them: their arrival, their fear of storms.^[12][3]
3. Of people in general: In some villages they bake their bread in a shared oven.^[14]
4. Of an indefinite singular antecedent, such as someone or anybody, in place of his or her: Nobody forgot their ticket.^[14][11][3]
5. Of a person who identifies with neither of the conventional sexes or genders, usually at that person's request.^[3]
6. In honorific titles: their Majesties.^[3][7]
7. (obsolete, 1456–1684) After a noun, especially a personal name, in place of the genitive -s.^[3][7]

Word family

• theirself
• theirselves

Related words

• they
• them
• theirs
• the
• that
• there
• they're

Usage notes

The use with a singular antecedent has been criticised: Etymonline says that grammarians scorned it historically, and the Shorter Oxford notes that some consider it wrong.^[8][7] Their is a homophone of there and they're in most accents today, which often causes confusion in writing.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins