they
• pronoun third person pl. 1 used to refer to two or more people or things previously mentioned or easily identified. 2 people in general. 3 informal people in authority regarded collectively. 4 used to refer to a person of unspecified sex (in place of either ‘he’ or ‘he or she’). — USAGE In recent years many people have come to dislike the traditional use of he to refer to a person of either sex, and they (or their) has increasingly been used to refer to a single person of unspecified sex. They is now generally accepted in contexts where it follows an indefinite pronoun such as anyone, no one, someone, or a person, as in each to their own. However, they is still often criticized for being ungrammatical when it comes after a singular noun, as in ask a friend if they could help. — ORIGIN Old Norse.
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