his or her
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
used to refer to someone without specifying their gender
Literally: his or the possessive adjective of her
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “Irreversible binomial” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “his or her” mean?
used to refer to someone without specifying their gender Literally: his or the possessive adjective of her
Is “his or her” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.