And pronoun [singular nominative She; possessive Her. or Hers; objective Her; plural nominative They; possessive Their or Theirs; objective Them.] [OE. she, sche, scheo, scho, AS. seó, fem. of the definite article, originally a demonstrative pronoun; cf. OS. siu, D. zij, G. sie, OHG. siu, sī, si, Icel. sū, sjā, Goth. si she, sō, fem. article, Russ. siia, fem., this, Gr., fem. article, Skr. sā, syā. The possessive her or hers, and the objective her, are from a different root. See Her.]

1. This or that female; the woman understood or referred to; the animal of the female sex, or object personified as feminine, which was spoken of.

She loved her children best in every wise. Chaucer.

Then Sarah denied, . . . for she was afraid. Gen. xviii. 15.

2. A woman; a female; – used substantively. [R.]

Lady, you are the cruelest she alive. Shak.

☞ She is used in composition with nouns of common gender, for female, to denote an animal of the female sex; as, a she-bear; a she-cat.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913