English

Pronoun

Myself

1. Alternative letter-case form of myself often used when speaking as God or another important figure who is understood from context.

English

Alternative forms

• meself (non-standard)
• myselfe (obsolete)

Pronoun

myself ‎(reflexive case of I)

1. (reflexive) Me, as direct or indirect object the speaker as the object of a verb or preposition, when the speaker is also the subject. [from 9th c.]

   I taught myself.‎

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’ and if you don't look out there's likely to be some nice, lively dog taking an interest in your underpinning.”

2. Personally, for my part; used in apposition to I, sometimes for simple emphasis and sometimes with implicit exclusion of any others performing the activity described. [from 10th c.]
3. Me (as the object of a verb or preposition). [from 10th c.]
   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 36:

     Later I realized that the ignorant man that day was not the chief but myself.

   I feel like myself.

4. (archaic) I (as the subject of a verb). [from 14th c.]
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.8:

     And my selfe have knowen a Gentleman, a chiefe officer of our crowne, that by right and hope of succession (had he lived unto it) was to inherit above fifty thousand crownes a yeere good land […].

   • 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged:

     Myself am confident that an ointment of it is one of the best remedies for a scabby head that is.

5. (India, Pakistan, nonstandard) my name is...

   Myself John.‎

Related terms

• myselves

Usage notes

• Use where I could be used is mostly poetic or archaic, except with a coordinating conjunction, such as and.
• Garner's Modern American Usage (2009) reports opposition to the intensifier use, especially where I could be used.
• AP Stylebook Online (2010) reports opposition to the intensifier use as reflexive pronouns (like myself) should not be used instead of objective pronouns (like me).

Translations

See also

Statistics