- him (pron.)
- Old English him, originally dative masculine and neuter of he, from Proto-Germanic *hi- (see he). Beginning 10c. it replaced hine as masculine accusative, a process completed by 15c. The dative roots of the -m ending are retained in German (ihm) and Dutch (hem). Hine persists, barely, as the southern England dialectal 'un, 'n for "him."
