'em
//əm// pron, slang
pron, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Pronoun
- 1 Them (now only in unstressed position following a consonant). colloquial
"Some are become great, ſome atcheeues greatneſſe, and ſome haue greatneſſe thruſt vppon em."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Some are become great, ſome atcheeues greatneſſe, and ſome haue greatneſſe thruſt vppon em."
Etymology
From earlier hem, from Middle English hem, from Old English heom (“them”, dative) of hie, originally a dative plural form but in Middle English coming to serve as an accusative plural as well. Cognate with Dutch hun (“them”), German ihnen (“them”). Now often treated as a colloquial apheretic form of them, which however derives from Old Norse rather than Old English.
Related phrases
More for "'em"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.