See also: thêm

English edit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms edit

  • dem (nonstandard)

Etymology edit

From Middle English þem, from Old Norse þeim.

Pronunciation edit

  • (stressed) enPR: thĕm, IPA(key): /ðɛm/
  • (file)
  • (unstressed) enPR: thəm, IPA(key): /ðəm/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛm

Pronoun edit

them (third-person, personal pronoun, objective case of they)

  1. (in the plural) Those ones.
    1. Used as the direct object of a verb.
      She treated them for a cold.
    2. Used as the indirect object of a verb.
      She wrote them a letter.
    3. Used as the object of a preposition.
      Give it to them.
  2. (in the singular) A single person, previously mentioned, especially if of unknown or non-binary gender.
    1. Used as the direct object of a verb.
      If a student has an inappropriate question, whatever you do, do not berate them.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, [] (King James Version), London: [] Robert Barker, [], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 17:2–5:
        If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, [] [t]hen shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
      • 2006, St. John Ambulance, First on the Scene: Student Reference Guide, →ISBN, Lesson 2, page 3:
        Place the casualty on their back with feet and legs raised—this is called the shock position. [emphasis in original] Once the casualty is positioned, cover them to preserve body heat, but do not overheat.
      • 2007, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, London: Bloomsbury, 2008, →ISBN, page 270:
        Someone in the crowd around the lifts called sycophantically, ‘Morning, Yaxley!’ Yaxley ignored them.
    2. Used as the indirect object of a verb.
      If one of my patients calls, please bring them their dinner.
    3. Used as the object of a preposition.
      If someone comes and asks for the ticket, just give it to them.

Usage notes edit

  • Regarding the use of singular them, see they.

Synonyms edit

  • em (colloquial)
  • 'em (colloquial)
  • hem (obsolete)

Related terms edit

Translations edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also edit

Determiner edit

them

  1. (dialectal) plural form of the, unmarked for the deixis that distinguishes proximal these from distal those.
    • 1835, John Pendleton Kennedy, Horse Shoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory Ascendency:
      How would you like a scrummage, Andy, with them Scotchmen that stole your mother's chickens this morning?
    • 1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of the Sentimental Bloke, published 1916, page 13:
      The world 'as got me snouted jist a treat; / Crool Forchin's dirty left 'as smote me soul. / An' all them joys o' life I 'eld so sweet / Is up the pole.
    • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
      "I say it's a shame, Silas Linden, the way them children is treated."
    • 1956, Allen Ginsberg, “America”, in Howl and Other Poems (Pocket Poets Series), City Lights Books, →OCLC, page 33:
      America you don’t really want to go to war.
      America it's them bad Russians.
      Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians.
    • 2005, Elmer Kelton, Sons of Texas, Tor/Forge, page 111:
      " [] Them two wild horses ain't fit to ride, and I been wonderin' how I was goin' to get you out of this place before them Spanish maybe circle back and finish the job."
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:them.

Anagrams edit

Albanian edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Albanian *θēm-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱens- (to say, instruct, announce). Cognate with Sanskrit शास्ति (śā́sti, to instruct, advise, command), and Latin cēnseō (to give an opinion, to judge, guess, reckon). Potentially a doublet of rrëfej.

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

them (aorist thashë, participle thënë)

  1. to say

Conjugation edit

Derived terms edit

Kalo Finnish Romani edit

Etymology edit

From Romani them.

Noun edit

them m

  1. country, state

Derived terms edit

References edit

  • them” in Finnish Romani-English Dictionary, ROMLEX – the Romani Lexicon Project, 2000.

Middle English edit

Etymology 1 edit

Pronoun edit

them

  1. Alternative spelling of þem (them)

Etymology 2 edit

Determiner edit

them

  1. Alternative spelling of þem (the, that, this)

Etymology 3 edit

Noun edit

them

  1. Alternative form of tem (group)

Etymology 4 edit

Verb edit

them

  1. Alternative form of temen (to produce offspring)

Mizo edit

Noun edit

them

  1. part

Romani edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Sanskrit *स्थाम्य (sthāmya).

Noun edit

them m (plural thema)

  1. country

Descendants edit

  • Kalo Finnish Romani: them
  • Welsh Romani: them

References edit

  • Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “*sthāmya”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 794
  • Yūsuke Sumi (2018) “them, ~a”, in ニューエクスプレスプラス ロマ(ジプシー)語 [New Express Plus Romani (Gypsy)] (in Japanese), Tokyo: Hakusuisha, published 2021, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 156

Welsh Romani edit

Etymology edit

From Romani them.

Noun edit

them m (in the plural thema)

  1. land, country
  2. country (as opposed to town)
  3. earth, world

Derived terms edit

References edit

  • them” in Welsh Romani-English Dictionary, ROMLEX – the Romani Lexicon Project, 2000.