hiren

Middle English

Etymology 1

From hire, with influence from min and þin.

Alternative forms

• hirne, hern, huron

Pronoun

hiren (nominative sche)

1. Third-person singular feminine possessive pronoun: hers.

Synonyms

• hires
• hire

Descendants

• English: hern, her'n

See also

Middle English personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive	possessive
singular	1st person		I, ich, ik	me		min mi1	min
	2nd person		þou	þe		þin þi1	þin
	3rd person	m	he	him hine2	him	his	his hisen
		f	sche, heo	hire heo	hire		hire hires, hiren
		n	hit		hit him2	his, hit	—
dual3	1st person		wit	unk		unker
	2nd person		ȝit	inc		inker
plural	1st person		we	us, ous		oure	oure oures, ouren
	2nd person4		ye	yow		your	your youres, youren
	3rd person	inh.	he	hem he2	hem	here	here heres, heren
		bor.	þei	þem, þeim		þeir	þeir þeires, þeiren

¹ Used preconsonantally or before h.
² Early or dialectal.
³ Dual pronouns are only sporadically found in Early Middle English; after that, they are replaced by plural forms. There are no third person dual forms in Middle English.
⁴ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd person singular.

References

• “hiren, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 13 June 2018.

Etymology 2

From Old English hȳrian, from Proto-West Germanic *hūʀijan; equivalent to hire (“wages”) +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

Alternative forms

• hire, hyer, hyre, hyren
• here (Kent)
• hure, huren, hury, huyre (West Midlands)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhiːrən/
• IPA^(key): /ˈhyːriː/, /ˈhyːrən/ (West Midlands)
• IPA^(key): /ˈheːr(ə)/ (East Anglia, Kent)

Verb

hiren (third-person singular simple present hireth, present participle hirende, hirynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle hired)

1. To hire (a person or thing)
2. To pay, especially as a bribe.
3. To accept employment.

Conjugation

Conjugation of hiren (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) hiren, hire
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	hire	hired
2nd-person singular	hirest	hiredest
3rd-person singular	hireth	hired
subjunctive singular	hire
imperative singular		—
plural1	hiren, hire	hireden, hirede
imperative plural	hireth, hire	—
participles	hirynge, hirende	hired, yhired

¹ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Related terms

• hire
• hire man
• hirlyng

Descendants

• English: hire
• Scots: hire

References

• “hīren, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Pronoun

hiren

1. Alternative form of heren (“theirs”)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²hiːrn̩/

Adjective

hiren (neuter hire or hirent, definite singular and plural hirne, comparative hirnare, indefinite superlative hirnast, definite superlative hirnaste)

1. drowsy, languid

Further reading

• “hiren” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxiː.ren/, [ˈhiː.ren]

Verb

hīren

1. plural present subjunctive of hīran