pronoun
/ˈpɹoʊ.naʊn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.17 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
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.
Example Sentences
- "The possessive conjunctive pronoun is always repeated before a substantive, and after a conjunction; as my brothers and sisters, mes frères & mes sœurs; […]"
- "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!"
- "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."
- "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."
- "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."
Etymology
From pro- + noun, modeled on Middle French pronom, from Latin pronomen, itself a calque of Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ντωνῠμῐ́ᾱ (ăntōnŭmĭ́ā).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: pronom, pronomen, ᾰ̓ντωνῠμῐ́ᾱ
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɹoʊ.naʊn/
- British English: /ˈpɹəʊ.naʊn/
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
adjectival pronoun
copy pronoun
demonstrative pronoun
determinative pronoun
donkey pronoun
dummy pronoun
emphasizing pronoun
emphatic pronoun