them

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English theim, also them, thaim, tham and in the “Ormulum” þeȝȝm,^[2][3] borrowed from Old Norse þeim (“to those, to them”),^{[4][5][6][7][8][2]} the dative of þeir, the plural of the personal and demonstrative pronoun.^[5][2] The dative seems to have been generalised to the direct object in English before the first surviving examples.^[4][6] It corresponds to Old English þǣm, a dative plural of the demonstrative se,^[7][2][4] which Merriam-Webster takes as a partial source through tham,^[9][10] as Klein does, calling the word a blend;^[11] Collins derives it from the Old English form under Norse influence, comparing Old Frisian thām, Old Saxon thēm and Old High German thēm.^[12] The OED holds that all the forms probably go back to the borrowing, with possible influence on the spelling from native hem, and finds the Old English evidence limited, though the Mercian “Rushworth Gospels” use this form to gloss Latin eos.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The objective case of they, as direct object, indirect object and object of a preposition: about 1175, in the Ormulum.^[4] Barnhart dates the Ormulum form to about 1200.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The Scandinavian forms replaced him and heom and spread with they and their;^[13][5] Etymonline quotes the view that they fitted the English pronouns beginning with the same sound and were more distinct than the old forms, which were easily confused with the singular.^[5] The old hem survives as colloquial ’em.^[13][14] Reflexive use for themselves is recorded from about 1300.^[4][6] Them has been used in place of they as subject since before 1400, in the Cursor Mundi, now mainly in Caribbean usage,^[4] and after to be and than since about 1504;^[4] "them's my sentiments" is a familiar example.^[10] The OED records use with a singular antecedent from 1422 for words like everyone, and for an indefinite person from 1429,^[4] while Etymonline has the latter by 1742.^[5] Collins now also records it for a person who prefers a nonbinary pronoun.^[12] The demonstrative use, "those", is dated by Merriam-Webster to 1594 in its Unabridged and to 1596 in its Book of Word Histories, which quotes Bunyan's "He should speak them words" (1660).^[9][10] That book rejects the suggestion that the demonstrative survives from Old English þǣm, since no Middle English examples of such a use are known, and prefers a shift from the personal pronoun.^[10] Dialects have forms such as dem in Shetland, tem in Cumberland and thum in Cornwall.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – objective case of they, in the Ormulum.^[4]
• c. 1300 – reflexive, themselves.^[4]
• before 1400 – as subject, for they, in the Cursor Mundi.^[4]
• 1422 – with a singular antecedent that refers to a group or to everyone.^[4]
• 1429 – with an indefinite singular antecedent.^[4] Etymonline has this use by 1742.^[5]
• c. 1504 – after to be and than.^[4]
• 1594 – demonstrative, those; 1596 in Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories.^[9][10]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. The objective form of they, for people or things already mentioned or understood: I saw them at the station.^[12][9][4]
2. The objective form for one person whose gender is not known or not specified: If anyone calls, tell them I'm out.^[12][4]
3. The objective form for a person who identifies as nonbinary and prefers this pronoun.^[12]
4. Colloquially, after to be, than or as: It was them who called.^[4]
5. In regional use, now chiefly Caribbean, as the subject of a verb, for they.^[4]
6. (archaic) Themselves, as an object.^[4][6]

Adjective

1. In nonstandard use, those: Put them muddy shoes outside.^[9][6]

Related words

• their
• theirs
• themselves
• they
• the
• that

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ 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)