Dictionary

pronoun en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈpɹəʊ.naʊn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio
• /ˈpɹoʊ.naʊn/ (General-American)

Etymology

From pro- + noun, modeled on Middle French pronom, from Latin pronomen, itself a calque of Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ντωνῠμῐ́ᾱ (ăntōnŭmĭ́ā).

Meanings

1. A part of speech that refers anaphorically to a noun or noun phrase, which cannot ordinarily be preceded by a determiner and rarely takes an attributive adjective.
   • Dalia: Why are you playing the pronoun game? Alyssa: What? What are you talking about? I'm not even. Dalia: You are. "I met someone." "We have a great time. "They're from my home town." Doesn't this tube of wonderful have a name! 1997, Kevin Smith, Chasing Amy:
   • The possessive conjunctive pronoun is always repeated before a substantive, and after a conjunction; as my brothers and sisters, mes frères & mes sœurs; […] 1789, Jean Baptiste, A grammar of the French tongue, page 193:
   • As here the possessive pronoun 'our' has inclusive reference in that it a priori includes both the editor and reader, its presence amounts to a kind of pronominal bonding between writer and reader. 2013, Nicholas Brownless, “Spoken Discourse in Early English Newspapers”, in Joad Raymond, editor, News Networks in Seventeenth Century Britain and Europe, page 72:
2. (in-plural, specifically) Any of the third-person pronouns by which a person prefers to be referred to, typically reflecting their gender identity; often communicated as a subject–object pair.
   • Abbott celebrated the move on X, sharing a report from the Austin American-Statesman on the firing and writing: “A Texas state employee refused to remove pronouns from email signature. He was fired before noon.” 2025 March 6, Erum Salam, quoting Greg Abbott, “Elon Musk and Texas governor celebrate firing of worker over pronouns in email signature”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Apr 2025:
   • In recent weeks, [Rachel] Accurso has faced backlash from some parents on TikTok who say her content is "inappropriate" because it features her co-star, Jules, a musician who uses they/them pronouns. 2023 March 2, Morgan Sung, “Viral kids' star Ms. Rachel is taking a break from social media after backlash over co-star who uses they/them pronouns”, in NBC News, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2024:
   • My pronouns are she/her. What are your pronouns?
   • The vast majority (82 percent) of the nonbinary trans students I interviewed used nonbinary pronouns for themselves, and all said that they were rarely given the opportunity to indicate their pronouns. 2019, Genny Beemyn, editor, Trans People in Higher Education, SUNY Press, →ISBN, page 178:
   • Then an earnest elaboration: “It’s just nice that other people understand what I’m thinking. I don’t have to explain a million things. I don’t have to be like, Okay, I guess I’ll let you ignore my pronouns. It’s a very good space.” 2023 August 31, Frankie de la Cretaz, “Postcard from Camp Gaylore”, in Cosmopolitan, archived from the original on 26 Dec 2023:
   • Fox News sneered that [Renee] Good was a “self-proclaimed poet” — she’s the winner of a prestigious poetry award — “with pronouns in her bio.” 2026 January 8, Michelle Goldberg, “By Killing Renee Good, ICE Sent a Message to Us All”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

pro-drop · dummy pronoun · personal pronoun · Spivak pronoun · donkey pronoun · substantival pronoun · xenopronoun · pronounphobia · copy pronoun · reciprocal pronoun · substantive pronoun · mispronoun · weak pronoun · pronoun demonstrative · possessive pronoun · weather pronoun · emphasizing pronoun · interrogative pronoun · determinative pronoun · adjectival pronoun · resumptive pronoun · prodrop · emphatic pronoun · possessive pronoun · epicene pronoun · nounself pronoun · demonstrative pronoun · pronoun person · pronounlike · object pronoun · noun-self pronoun · shadow pronoun · relative pronoun · prepositional pronoun · pronoun dance · subject pronoun · indefinite pronoun · gender-neutral pronoun · play the pronoun game · pronounal · intensive pronoun · neopronoun · perpendicular pronoun

Descendants

pronaun

Hypernyms

part of speech · pro-form · part of speech · pro-form

Hyponyms

substantival pronoun · relative pronoun · reciprocal pronoun · intensive pronoun · subject pronoun · object pronoun · interrogative pronoun · reflexive pronoun · possessive pronoun · adjectival pronoun · demonstrative pronoun · indefinite pronoun · personal pronoun · neopronoun · emphasizing pronoun

Relateds

my · this · I · each other · your · pronominal · you

Synonyms

pronoun

Translations (167)

fa-ira فَرانام (part of speech) · xal орч нерн (part of speech) · ru местоиме́ние (part of speech) · zu isabizwana (part of speech) · tr zamir (part of speech) · war talingaran (part of speech) · gl pronome (part of speech) · kk есімдік (part of speech) · ky жактама (part of speech) · cmn 代名詞 /代名词 (part of speech) · ce цӏерметдош (part of speech) · tr almaş (part of speech) · sh zȃmenica (part of speech) · zza zemir (diq) (part of speech) · mi tūkapi (part of speech) · cmn 代詞 /代词 (part of speech) · oc pronom (part of speech) · nl pronomen (part of speech) · bn সর্বনাম (part of speech) · cv местоимени (part of speech) · am ተውላጠ ስም (part of speech) · sa सर्वनामन् (part of speech) · ar ضَمَائِرُ (part of speech) · crh zamir (part of speech) · bcl panangli (part of speech) · kmr cînav (part of speech) · pon pronaun (part of speech) · ta பெயர்ச்சொல் (part of speech) · gd riochdair (part of speech) · km សព្វនាម (part of speech) · cv ылмаш (part of speech) · wa prono (part of speech) · mi kupu tūkapi (part of speech) · az əvəzlik (part of speech) · grc ἀντωνυμία (part of speech) · tt алмашлык (part of speech) · wuu 代詞 /代词 (part of speech) · et pronoomen (part of speech) · es pronombre (part of speech) · qu sutip rantin (part of speech) · qu sutiranti (part of speech) · nan-hbl 代名詞 /代名词 (part of speech) · pl zaimek (part of speech) · rsk заменовнїк (part of speech) · el αντωνυμία (part of speech) · uk займе́нник (part of speech) · pms pronòm (part of speech) · nah tlācatōcāitl (part of speech) · ms kata ganti diri (part of speech) · ch klå'an (part of speech) · cy rhagenw (part of speech) · tk çalyşma (part of speech) · pam panalili (part of speech) · sv pronomen (part of speech) · id kata ganti (part of speech) · be займе́ннік (part of speech) · fa-ira ضَمیر (part of speech) · de Pronom (part of speech) · tl panghalip (part of speech) · fo fornavn (part of speech) · alt солума (part of speech) · af voornaamwoord (part of speech) · ang bīnama (part of speech) · fi pronomini (part of speech) · su kecap gaganti (part of speech) · pdt Fawuat (part of speech) · hi सर्वनाम (part of speech) · fr pronom (part of speech) · gmh vornam (part of speech) · izh pronomina (part of speech) · de Pronomen (part of speech) · pt pronome (part of speech) · ug ئالماش (part of speech) · nrf pronom (part of speech) · ar ضَمِير (part of speech) · sh за̑меница (part of speech) · de Fürwort (part of speech) · id pronomina (part of speech) · war talingáran (part of speech) · ga forainm (part of speech) · de Personwort (part of speech) · scn prunomu (part of speech) · fy foarnamwurd (part of speech) · sk zámeno (part of speech) · lt įvardis (part of speech) · tg ҷонишин (part of speech) · nb pronomen (part of speech) · mwl pornome (part of speech) · yue 代詞 /代词 (part of speech) · grc ἀντώνυμον (part of speech) · vi đại từ (part of speech) · la prōnōmen (part of speech) · nan-hbl 代詞 /代词 (part of speech) · ka ნაცვალსახელი (part of speech) · kab amqim (part of speech) · war imbesngaran (part of speech) · fi asemo (part of speech) · hu névmás (part of speech) · ur ضَمِیر (part of speech) · myv таркасвал (part of speech) · ro pronume (part of speech) · lv vietniekvārds (part of speech) · da stedord (part of speech) · prs ضَمِیر (part of speech) · tg замир (part of speech) · se pronomen (part of speech) · ba алмаш (part of speech) · da pronomen (part of speech) · mn төлөөний нэр (part of speech) · io pronomo (part of speech) · de Personenwort (part of speech) · fa-ira پیشْنام (part of speech) · ta பெயர் (part of speech) · kum орунча (part of speech) · ko 대명사 (part of speech) · hy դերանուն (part of speech) · yue 代名詞 /代名词 (part of speech) · ee nuŋkɔteƒenɔnya (part of speech) · ml സർവ്വനാമം (part of speech) · war taligngaran (part of speech) · vo pönop (part of speech) · mn төлөөний үг (part of speech) · mt pronom (part of speech) · bg местоиме́ние (part of speech) · tr ivazlık (part of speech) · ps نومځری (part of speech) · yi פּראָנאָם (part of speech) · zza pesname (part of speech) · izh nimensihalliin (part of speech) · he כִּנּוּי גּוּף (part of speech) · rue містоназывник (part of speech) · br raganv (part of speech) · is fornafn (part of speech) · te సర్వనామము (part of speech) · om maqdhaala (part of speech) · non fornafn (part of speech) · it pronome (part of speech) · nl voornaamwoord (part of speech) · ia pronomine (part of speech) · ilo sandinagan (part of speech) · he מִלַּת גּוּף (part of speech) · sq përemri (part of speech) · my နာမ်စား (part of speech) · ps ضمير (part of speech) · ln likitana (part of speech) · lo ສັບພະນາມ (part of speech) · uz olmosh (part of speech) · eo pronomo (part of speech) · cs zájmeno (part of speech) · ast pronome (part of speech) · os номивӕг (part of speech) · aii ܚܠܵܦܫܡܵܐ (part of speech) · nn pronomen (part of speech) · et asesõna (part of speech) · ja 代名詞 (part of speech) · li veurnaamwaord (part of speech) · ota ضمیر (part of speech) · sw kiwakilishi (part of speech) · th สรรพนาม (part of speech) · eu izenordain (part of speech) · mk заменка (part of speech) · sl zaímek (part of speech) · sco pronoun (part of speech) · bo མིང་ཚབ (part of speech) · ne सर्वनाम (part of speech) · la prōvocābulum (part of speech) · ca pronom (part of speech)