hers

[hurz] /hɜrz/
pronoun
1.
a form of the possessive case of she used as a predicate adjective:
The red umbrella is hers. Are you a friend of hers?
2.
that or those belonging to her:
Hers is the biggest garden on the block. Hers are the yellow ones.
Origin
1300-50; Middle English hirs, equivalent to hire her + -s 's1

her

[hur; unstressed her, er] /hɜr; unstressed hər, ər/
pronoun
1.
the objective case of she:
We saw her this morning. Give this book to her.
2.
the possessive case of she (used as an attributive adjective):
Her coat is the one on the chair. I'm sorry about her leaving.
Compare hers.
3.
the dative case of she:
I gave her the book.
4.
Informal. (used instead of the pronoun she in the predicate after the verb to be):
It's her. It isn't her.
noun
5.
Slang. a female:
Is the new baby a her or a him?
Origin
before 900; Middle English her(e), Old English hire, genitive and dative of hēo she (feminine of he1)
Usage note
See he1, me.

she

[shee] /ʃi/
pronoun, singular nominative she, possessive her or hers, objective her; plural nominative they, possessive their or theirs, objective them.
1.
the female person or animal being discussed or last mentioned; that female.
2.
the woman:
She who listens learns.
3.
anything considered, as by personification, to be feminine:
spring, with all the memories she conjures up.
noun, plural shes.
4.
a female person or animal.
5.
an object or device considered as female or feminine.
Origin
1125-75; Middle English, alteration of Old English sēo, sīo, sīe, feminine of se the1; replacing Old English hēo, hīo, feminine personal pronoun; see he1, her
Usage note
See he1, me, they.
Examples from the web for hers
  • Of all the local-eating guides and tales that have been published this year, hers is still my favorite.
  • But then again, who knows what's happening in that little mind of hers.
  • The omission reverses her meaning to make it sound as if their philosophy is hers.
  • When they don't react as hers would, she attacks them.
  • The tour guide is a former archaeology student of hers.
  • Tara sees no problem in taking things that aren't hers.
  • As a foreign correspondent, it was more my world than hers.
  • hers is a good marriage, she tells me, but she is lonely.
  • As soon as he came up, he leapt from his horse, and caught hold of hers by the bridle.
  • She would think of nothing but how to satisfy that singular craving of hers to be doing something.
British Dictionary definitions for hers

hers

/hɜːz/
pronoun
1.
something or someone belonging to or associated with her: hers is the nicest dress, that cat is hers
2.
of hers, belonging to or associated with her
Word Origin
C14 hires; see her

her

/hɜː; unstressed hə; ə/
pronoun (objective)
1.
refers to a female person or animal: he loves her, they sold her a bag, something odd about her, lucky her!
2.
refers to things personified as feminine or traditionally to ships and nations
3.
(mainly US) a dialect word for herself she needs to get her a better job
determiner
4.
of, belonging to, or associated with her: her silly ideas, her hair, her smoking annoys me
Word Origin
Old English hire, genitive and dative of hēoshe, feminine of hēohe1; related to Old High German ira, Gothic izōs, Middle Dutch hare

she

/ʃiː/
pronoun (subjective)
1.
refers to a female person or animal: she is a doctor, she's a fine mare
2.
refers to things personified as feminine, such as cars, ships, and nations
3.
(Austral & NZ) an informal word for it1 (sense 3) she's apples, she'll be right
noun
4.
  1. a female person or animal
  2. (in combination): she-cat
Word Origin
Old English sīe, accusative of sēo, feminine demonstrative pronoun
Word Origin and History for hers

c.1300, hires, from her; a double possessive. Possessive pronouns in Modern English consist of the predicative (mine, thine, his, ours, yours, theirs) that come after the subject, and the attributive (my, thy, his, her, our, your, their) that come before it. In Old English and early Middle English, they were identical. To keep speech fluid, speakers began to affix an -n to the end of my and thy before words that began with vowels. This began late 13c. in the north of England, and by 1500 was standard.

Then the predicative and attributive pronouns split, and the pronouns in that class usually took up -s, the regular affix of possession. But the non-standard speech of the Midlands and south of England extended -n throughout (hisn, hern, yourn), a habit attested from 14c. and more regular than the standard speech, which mixes -s and -n.

her

objective case

Old English hire, third person singular feminine dative pronoun, which beginning in 10c. replaced accusative hie (see he). Cognate with Old Frisian hiri, Middle Dutch hore, Dutch haar, Old High German iru, German ihr.

possessive case

Old English hire, third person singular feminine genitive form of heo "she" (see she).

she

pron.

mid-12c., probably evolving from Old English seo, sio (accusative sie), fem. of demonstrative pronoun se "the," from PIE root *so- "this, that" (see the). The Old English word for "she" was heo, hio, however by 13c. the pronunciation of this had converged by phonetic evolution with he "he," which apparently led to the fem. demonstrative pronoun being used in place of the pronoun (cf. similar development in Dutch zij, German sie, Greek he, etc.). The original h- survives in her. A relic of the Old English pronoun is in Manchester-area dialectal oo "she." As a noun meaning "a female," she is attested from 1530s.

Related Abbreviations for hers

HER

Hercules (constellation)