she

 
Pronunciation: /ʃiː/

pronoun

[third person singular]
  • used to refer to a woman, girl, or female animal previously mentioned or easily identified: my sister told me that she was not happy
  • used to refer to a ship, vehicle, country, or other inanimate thing regarded as female: I was aboard the St Roch shortly before she sailed for the Northwest Passage
  • used to refer to a person or animal of unspecified sex: only include your child if you know she won’t distract you
  • any female person: she who rocks the cradle rules the world
  • West Indian her or hers: give she lavender oil
  • Australian/NZ it (used to refer to something not usually regarded as female): reckon some decent weather and she’ll be right

noun

[in singular]
  • a female; a woman: society would label him a slut if he were a she
  • [in combination] female: a she-bear a she-wolf

Phrases

who's she—the cat's mother?

British informal
  • 1used as a mild reproof, especially to a child, for impolite use of the pronoun she rather than a person’s name.
  • 2expressing the belief that a woman or girl has a high opinion of herself or is putting on airs.

Origin:

Middle English: probably a phonetic development of the Old English feminine personal pronoun hēo, hīe

1 For a discussion of whether to say I am older than she or I am older than her, see personal pronoun (usage) and than2 The use of the pronoun he to refer to a person of unspecified sex, once quite acceptable, has become problematic in recent years and is now usually regarded as old-fashioned or sexist. One of the responses to this has been to use she in the way that he has been used, as in only include your child if you know she won’t distract you. In some types of writing, for example books on childcare or child psychology, this use of she has become quite common. In most contexts, however, it is likely to be distracting in the same way that he now is, and alternatives such as ‘he or she’ or ‘they’ are preferable. See he (usage) and they.