its

English Online Dictionary. What means its‎? What does its mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪts/
• Rhymes: -ɪts
• Homophone: it's

Etymology 1

Equivalent to it +‎ -s (possessive marker). From the earlier form it's (it +‎ -'s), which is now considered nonstandard. Began to displace his as the possessive of the neuter pronoun in the Middle English period; had fully displaced it by the 1700s.

Alternative forms

• it's (now nonstandard)

Determiner

its

1. Belonging to it. [from 16th c.]
   • 1763, Authorized King James Version of the Bible, Oxford Standard Text, Leviticus 25:5:

     That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. (originally "of it own accord" in the 1611 first edition)

Derived terms

• itsself

Translations

Pronoun

its

1. The one (or ones) belonging to it. [from 17th c.]
   • 1645, Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton, Letter to Ferdinando Fairfax, 6 February 1645:

     [...] both Houses have resolved to rob the North of a good friend of its and yours.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:its.

Translations

Usage notes

• In practice, its is commonly used as a determiner before a noun, but its use as a solo pronoun is generally avoided.
• Its is now distinguished from it's (a contraction of "it is" or "it has"). For example, It's going to rain is equivalent to It is going to rain, and It's been raining for hours is equivalent to It has been raining for hours. However, the two are commonly confused, and using its where there should be it's (or vice versa) is a common mistake in written English.
• Like it, its is usually avoided when referring to humans. Its is commonly used with animals when the gender is unknown or unimportant. With humans, person is used for a person whose gender is unknown or to refer to something that could be possessed by either gender, body or corpse is often used to refer to a dead person, and figure, shape, and silhouette are often used to refer to what someone sees as a person but can't see clearly enough to determine an identity or gender, e.g. The figure moved behind a bush, but Josh could see its shadow from the moonlight.

See also

• their, theirs

Etymology 2

Contraction of it is.

Contraction

its

1. Misspelling of it's.

Etymology 3

From it +‎ -s (plural suffix).

Noun

its

1. plural of it

References

Anagrams

• SIT, 'tis, Sit, IST, TIs, t'is, tis, STI, TIS, is't, ist, sit, -ist, Ist, TSI, S.T.I.

Kalasha

Noun

its

1. Alternative spelling of ič̣