her

Etymology

From Middle English here, hir, hire, from Old English hire (“her”), from Proto-Germanic *hezōi (dative and genitive singular of *hijō). Cognate with North Frisian hör, Saterland Frisian hier, hiere (“her”), West Frisian har (“her”), Dutch haar (“her”), German Low German hör (“her”), German ihr (“her”).

det

1. Belonging to her (belonging to that female, or in poetic or old-fashioned language that ship, city, season, etc).
   This is her book
   Prodigal in everything, summer spreads her blessings with lavish unconcern, and waving her magic wand across the landscape of the world, she bids the sons of men to enter in … 1928, The Journal of the American Dental Association, page 765
   Her crew knew that deep in her heart beat engines fit and able to push her blunt old nose ahead at a sweet fourteen knots, come Hell or high water. 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 1
   On top of the circle she wrote her name, Louise, just above where the 12 on a clock would be. 2001, Betsy Gould Hearne, Wishes, Kisses, and Pigs, Simon and Schuster, page 78
   On 24 April Nelson rejoined his ship, her battle damage repaired […] 2010, Andrew Lambert, Nelson: Britannia's God of War, Faber & Faber
2. Belonging to a person of unspecified gender (to counterbalance the traditional "his" in this sense).
   Begin by having students choose a short poem to memorize; they will enjoy searching the library for a poem that appeals to them. If a student wishes to memorize her poem and share it aloud with the rest of the class, suggest a buddy system. 2017, David Yellin, Essentials of Integrating the Language Arts, page 115

pron

1. The form of she used after a preposition, as the object of a verb, or (colloquial) as a subject with a conjunction; that woman, that ship, etc.
   Give it to her (after preposition)
   He wrote her a letter (indirect object)
   He treated her for a cold (direct object)
   Him and her went for a walk (with a conjunction; deprecated)
   "Then what became of her?" "Her? Which ‘her’? The park is full of ‘hers’." "The lady with the green feathers in her hat. A big Gainsborough hat. I am quite sure it was Miss Hartuff." February 1896, Ground-swells, by Jeannette H. Walworth, published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine; page 183
   "It's all right," he was shouting. "Come out, Mrs. Beaver. Come out, Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve. It's all right! It isn't her!" This was bad grammar of course, but that is how beavers talk when they are excited; I mean, in Narnia—in our world they usually don't talk at all. 1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
   Everyday I had to watch as him and her went off for long walks together, and each night I had to go to my lonely, cold bed with the thought that they were sharing the same one 2013, James Tully, The Crimes of Charlotte Brontë

noun

1. (informal) A female person or animal.
   I think this bird is a him, but it may be a her.
   […] daring dizzying passages in other, fleeting and passionate dwellings within the hims and hers whom she inhabits […] 1986, Hélène Cixous, Sorties (translated)
   By this time, she had so many questions, but she only hit him up for one answer about those “hims” and “hers.” She asked, “Do both hims and hers reproduce hummers?” 2004, Charles J. Sullivan, Love and Survival, page 68