it.
The third-person singular neuter personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, abstract entity, or non-human living thing.
Meaning & usage
The third-person singular neuter personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, abstract entity, or non-human living thing.
Take this book and put it on the shelf.
Take each day as it comes.
A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a baby or child, especially of unknown gender.
She took the baby and held it in her arms.
A third-person singular pronoun used to refer to an unspecified person.
An affectionate third-person singular personal pronoun.
A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an animate referent who is transgender or non-binary.
Refers to someone being identified, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation.
It's me, John.
Somebody wanted a drink, didn't they? Who was it?
The impersonal pronoun, used without referent as the subject of an impersonal verb or statement (known as the dummy pronoun, dummy it or weather it).
It is nearly 10 o’clock.
It’s 10:45.
The impersonal pronoun, used without referent, or with unstated but contextually implied referent, in various short idioms or expressions.
The impersonal pronoun, used without referent, or with unstated but contextually implied referent, in various short idioms or expressions. Referring to a desirable quality or ability, or quality of being successful, fashionable or in vogue.
The impersonal pronoun, used without referent, or with unstated but contextually implied referent, in various short idioms or expressions. Referring to sexual intercourse or other sexual activity.
Sex appeal, especially that which goes beyond physical appearance.
The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object; known as the dummy pronoun (according to some definitions), anticipatory it or, more formally in linguistics, a syntactic expletive. The delayed subject is commonly a to-infinitive, a gerund, or a noun clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction.
It’s not worth talking to you.
It is easy to see how she would think that.
All or the end; something after which there is no more.
Are there more students in this class, or is this it?
That's it—I'm not going to any more candy stores with you.
Followed by an omitted and understood relative pronoun: That which; what.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English it, hit ( > dialectal English hit (“it”)), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-West Germanic *hit, from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“here; here”). Cognates Cognate with Yola it, t', yt (“it”), North Frisian at, et, 't (“it”), Saterland Frisian et (“it”), West Frisian it (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), Luxembourgish hatt (“her, it, she”), Elfdalian eð (“it”); also Primitive Irish ᚕᚑᚔ (koi, “here”), Latin cis (“short of; before”), hic (“this”), Greek εκείνος (ekeínos, “that; those”). Compare Cimbrian es, is, 's, 'z (“it”), German es, 's (“it, there”), Mòcheno and Vilamovian s (“it”), Yiddish עס (es, “it”), Faroese ið (“that, which, who”), Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰 (ita, “it”), which instead descends from Proto-Germanic *it (“it”). More at he.
Its.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English it, hit ( > dialectal English hit (“it”)), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-West Germanic *hit, from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“here; here”). Cognates Cognate with Yola it, t', yt (“it”), North Frisian at, et, 't (“it”), Saterland Frisian et (“it”), West Frisian it (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), Luxembourgish hatt (“her, it, she”), Elfdalian eð (“it”); also Primitive Irish ᚕᚑᚔ (koi, “here”), Latin cis (“short of; before”), hic (“this”), Greek εκείνος (ekeínos, “that; those”). Compare Cimbrian es, is, 's, 'z (“it”), German es, 's (“it, there”), Mòcheno and Vilamovian s (“it”), Yiddish עס (es, “it”), Faroese ið (“that, which, who”), Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰 (ita, “it”), which instead descends from Proto-Germanic *it (“it”). More at he.
One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being.
The person who chases and tries to catch the other players in the playground game of tag.
In the next game, Adam and Tom will be it…
Tag, you're it!
A game of tag.
Let's play it at breaktime.
A desirable characteristic, as being fashionable.
Man, he's really got it.
She's the it girl, at least for this Fall.
Something desirable or suitable.
Bro, that shirt is not it.
Sexual intercourse.
OMG, they were doing it in the storage room.
Sex appeal.
She really has it going on.
Alternative letter-case form of It (“force in the vitalist approach of Georg Groddeck”).
Alternative letter-case form of It (“the id”).
Where this word comes from
From Middle English it, hit ( > dialectal English hit (“it”)), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-West Germanic *hit, from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“here; here”). Cognates Cognate with Yola it, t', yt (“it”), North Frisian at, et, 't (“it”), Saterland Frisian et (“it”), West Frisian it (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), Luxembourgish hatt (“her, it, she”), Elfdalian eð (“it”); also Primitive Irish ᚕᚑᚔ (koi, “here”), Latin cis (“short of; before”), hic (“this”), Greek εκείνος (ekeínos, “that; those”). Compare Cimbrian es, is, 's, 'z (“it”), German es, 's (“it, there”), Mòcheno and Vilamovian s (“it”), Yiddish עס (es, “it”), Faroese ið (“that, which, who”), Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰 (ita, “it”), which instead descends from Proto-Germanic *it (“it”). More at he.
Most fashionable, popular, or in vogue.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English it, hit ( > dialectal English hit (“it”)), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-West Germanic *hit, from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“here; here”). Cognates Cognate with Yola it, t', yt (“it”), North Frisian at, et, 't (“it”), Saterland Frisian et (“it”), West Frisian it (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), Luxembourgish hatt (“her, it, she”), Elfdalian eð (“it”); also Primitive Irish ᚕᚑᚔ (koi, “here”), Latin cis (“short of; before”), hic (“this”), Greek εκείνος (ekeínos, “that; those”). Compare Cimbrian es, is, 's, 'z (“it”), German es, 's (“it, there”), Mòcheno and Vilamovian s (“it”), Yiddish עס (es, “it”), Faroese ið (“that, which, who”), Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰 (ita, “it”), which instead descends from Proto-Germanic *it (“it”). More at he.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.