their

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

English

Alternative forms

• thair, theire, theyr, theyre, thir (archaic)

Etymology

From Old Norse þeirra. Replaced native Old English heora.

Pronunciation

• enPR: thâr, Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
• Homophones: they're, (pane–pain merger) there
• (UK)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ðɛə/
  • (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): /ðɛː/
  • (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ðeɹ/
  • (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) enPR: thûr, IPA^(key): /ðɜː(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ðɛɚ/, (unstressed form) /ðɚ/
• (Midwestern US) enPR: thär, IPA^(key): /ðɑː(ɹ)/
  • Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)
  • Homophones: tahr, Thar
• (Canada) IPA^(key): [ðeːɹ]
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ðeː/
• (New Zealand, cheer–chair merger) enPR: thîr, IPA^(key): /ðiə/
• (New Zealand, without the cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /ðeə/
• (Indic, rhotic) IPA^(key): /d̪ejɾ/, (pane–pain merger) /d̪eːɾ/
• (Indic, non-rhotic) IPA^(key): /d̪eja/, (pane–pain merger) /d̪æː/
• (th-alveolarisation) IPA^(key): /zɛə(ɹ)/

Determiner

their

1. Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural).
2. Belonging to someone (one person, singular), or occasionally to something.
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:their.

Usage notes

• Regarding the use of singular their, see they.
• The words their, there, and they're are homophones in most English accents today. This often causes confusion between the three in writing.

Related terms

• they, them (personal pronouns, subject and object case)
• theirs (possessive pronoun)

Translations

Adverb

their

1. Misspelling of there.

Contraction

their

1. Misspelling of they’re.

See also

Anagrams

• Erith, Reith, Rieth, Thier, rithe, tehri, theri-

Middle English

Determiner

their

1. Alternative form of þeir

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /heɾʲ/
• (Uist) IPA^(key): [veɾʲ]

Verb

their

1. future of abair

Usage notes

• The dependent form is abair.
• Canaidh is more frequently used by most speakers nowadays.