their | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

1014 entries found.

plural possessive pronoun, c. 1200, from Old Norse þierra "of them," genitive of plural personal and demonstrative pronoun þeir "they" (see they). Replaced Old English hiera. As an adjective from late 14c. Use with singular objects, scorned by grammarians, is attested from c. 1300, and OED quotes this in Fielding, Goldsmith, Sydney Smith, and Thackeray. Theirs (c. 1300) is a double possessive. Alternative form theirn (1836) is attested in Midlands and southern dialect in U.K. and the Ozarks region of the U.S.

theirs (pron.)

possessive pronoun, "their own," early 14c., from their + possessive -s, on analogy of his, etc. In form, a double possessive.

theirself (pron.)

emphatic plural pronoun, c. 1300, from their + self, with self, originally an inflected adjective, treated as a noun with a meaning "person." Related: Theirselves.

Xhosa (n.)

South African Bantu people, 1801, their self-designation. Also of their language.

Judaeophobia (n.)

"fear or hatred of the Jews; dread of their influence and opposition to their citizenship," 1881, from Judaeo- + -phobia. Related: Judaeophobe; Judaeophobic.

anythingarian (n.)

"one indifferent to religious creeds, one 'that always make their interest the standard of their religion,'" 1704, originally dismissive, from anything on model of trinitarian, unitarian, etc.

Danaid (n.)

in Greek mythology, one of the 50 daughters of Danaus, king of Argos, from Greek Danaides (plural). On command of their father, all (except Hypermnestra) killed their husbands on their wedding night and consequently were condemned in Hades to draw water perpetually in bottomless buckets. Hence often in reference to endless, futile labor. Related: Danaidean.

Balearic (adj.)

"of or pertaining to the islands in the Mediterranean just east of Spain," 1660s, from Latin Balearicus, from Greek Baliarikos, from the ancient name of the islands and their inhabitants; traditionally "the slingers" (from ballein "to throw, sling") in reference to their weapons.

Menominee

also Menomini, Algonquian people of Wisconsin, also of their language, from Ojibwa (Algonquian) Manoominii, literally "wild rice people," from manoomin "wild rice." Not their name for themselves.

Yoruba

west Nigerian people, also the name of their language.

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