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Webster 1913 Edition

Self

Self

(sĕlf)
,
Adj.
[AS.
self
,
seolf
,
sylf
; akin to OS.
self
, OFries.
self
, D.
zelf
, G.
selb
,
selber
,
selbst
, Dan.
selv
. Sw.
sjelf
, Icel.
sjālfr
, Goth.
silba
. Cf.
Selvage
.]
1.
Same; particular; very; identical.
[Obs., except in the compound selfsame.]
“On these self hills.”
Sir. W. Raleigh.
To shoot another arrow that
self
way
Which you did shoot the first.
Shakespeare
At that
self
moment enters Palamon.
Dryden.

Self

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Selves
.
1.
The individual as the object of his own reflective consciousness; the man viewed by his own cognition as the subject of all his mental phenomena, the agent in his own activities, the subject of his own feelings, and the possessor of capacities and character; a person as a distinct individual; a being regarded as having personality.
“Those who liked their real selves.”
Addison.
A man’s
self
may be the worst fellow to converse with in the world.
Pope.
The
self
, the I, is recognized in every act of intelligence as the subject to which that act belongs. It is I that perceive, I that imagine, I that remember, I that attend, I that compare, I that feel, I that will, I that am conscious.
Sir W. Hamilton.
2.
Hence, personal interest, or love of private interest; selfishness;
as,
self
is his whole aim
.
3.
Personification; embodiment.
[Poetic.]
She was beauty's
self
.
Thomson.
☞ Self is united to certain personal pronouns and pronominal adjectives to express emphasis or distinction. Thus, for emphasis; I myself will write; I will examine for myself; thou thyself shalt go; thou shalt see for thyself; you yourself shall write; you shall see for yourself; he himself shall write; he shall examine for himself; she herself shall write; she shall examine for herself; the child itself shall be carried; it shall be present itself. It is also used reflexively; as, I abhor myself; thou enrichest thyself; he loves himself; she admires herself; it pleases itself; we walue ourselves; ye hurry yourselves; they see themselves. Himself, herself, themselves, are used in the nominative case, as well as in the objective. “Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples.”
John iv. 2.
☞
self
is used in the formation of innumerable compounds, usually of obvious signification, in most of which it denotes either the agent or the object of the action expressed by the word with which it is joined, or the person in behalf of whom it is performed, or the person or thing to, for, or towards whom or which a quality, attribute, or feeling expressed by the following word belongs, is directed, or is exerted, or from which it proceeds; or it denotes the subject of, or object affected by, such action, quality, attribute, feeling, or the like; as,
self
-abandoning,
self
-abnegation, self-abhorring, self-absorbed,
self
-accusing,
self
-adjusting,
self
-balanced,
self
-boasting,
self
-canceled,
self
-combating,
self
-commendation,
self
-condemned,
self
-conflict,
self
-conquest,
self
-constituted,
self
-consumed,
self
-contempt,
self
-controlled,
self
-deceiving,
self
-denying,
self
-destroyed,
self
-disclosure,
self
-display,
self
-dominion,
self
-doomed,
self
-elected,
self
-evolved,
self
-exalting,
self
-excusing,
self
-exile,
self
-fed,
self
-fulfillment,
self
-governed,
self
-harming,
self
-helpless,
self
-humiliation,
self
-idolized,
self
-inflicted,
self
-improvement,
self
-instruction,
self
-invited,
self
-judging,
self
-justification,
self
-loathing,
self
-loving,
self
-maintenance,
self
-mastered,
self
-nourishment,
self
-perfect,
self
-perpetuation,
self
-pleasing,
self
-praising,
self
-preserving,
self
-questioned,
self
-relying,
self
-restraining,
self
-revelation,
self
-ruined,
self
-satisfaction,
self
-support,
self
-sustained,
self
-sustaining,
self
-tormenting,
self
-troubling,
self
-trust,
self
-tuition,
self
-upbraiding,
self
-valuing,
self
-worshiping, and many others.

Webster 1828 Edition

Self

SELF

,
Adj.
or pron. plu. selves; used chiefly in composition.
1. In old authors, this sometimes signifies particular, very, or same. 'And on tham sylfan geare;' in that same year, that very year. Sax. Chron. A.D. 1052, 1061.
Shoot another arrow that self way. Shak.
On these self hills. Raleigh.
At that self moment enters Palamon. Dryden.
In this sense, self is an adjective, and is now obsolete, except when followed by same; as on the self-same day; the self-same hour; the self-same thing; which is tautology.
2. In present usage, selfis united to certain personal pronouns and pronominal adjectives, to express emphasis or distinction; also when the pronoun is used reciprocally. thus, for emphasis, I myself will write; I will examine for myself; Thou thyself shalt go; thou shalt see for thyself; You yourself shall write; you shall see for yourself. He himself shall write; he shall examine for himself. She herself shall write; she shall examine for herself. The child itself shall be carried; it shall be present itself.
Reciprocally, I abhor myself; thou enrichest thyself; he loves himself; she admires herself; it pleases itself; we value ourselves; ye hurry yourselves; they see themselves. I did not hurt him, he hurt himself; he did not hurt me, I hurt myself.
Except when added to pronouns used reciprocally, self serves to give emphasis to the pronoun, or to render the distinction expressed by it more emphatical. 'I myself will decide,' not only expresses my determination to decide, but the determination that no other shall decide.

Definition 2024

Self

Self

See also: self, šelf, -self, self-, and self.

English

Proper noun

Self

  1. A surname​.

self

self

See also: Self, šelf, self-, -self, and self.

English

Alternative forms

  • (obsolete) selfe,
  • (obsolete, rare) silf, silfe

Pronoun

self

  1. (obsolete) Himself, herself, itself, themselves; that specific (person mentioned).
    This argument was put forward by the defendant self.
  2. (commercial or humorous) Myself.
    I made out a cheque, payable to self, which cheered me up somewhat.

Noun

self ‎(plural selves or selfs)

  1. The subject of one's own experience of phenomena: perception, emotions, thoughts.
    • 1915, Mrs. Belloc Lowndes, The Lodger, chapter I:
      Thanks to that penny he had just spent so recklessly [on a newspaper] he would pass a happy hour, taken, for once, out of his anxious, despondent, miserable self. It irritated him shrewdly to know that these moments of respite from carking care would not be shared with his poor wife, with careworn, troubled Ellen.
  2. An individual person as the object of his own reflective consciousness (plural selves).
    • Sir William Hamilton (1788-1856)
      The self, the I, is recognized in every act of intelligence as the subject to which that act belongs. It is I that perceive, I that imagine, I that remember, I that attend, I that compare, I that feel, I that will, I that am conscious.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 16, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      The preposterous altruism too! […] Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.
    • 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
      In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.
  3. (botany) A seedling produced by self-pollination (plural selfs).

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

self ‎(third-person singular simple present selfs, present participle selfing, simple past and past participle selfed)

  1. (botany) To fertilise by the same individual; to self-fertilise or self-pollinate.
  2. (botany) To fertilise by the same strain; to inbreed.

Antonyms

Adjective

self

  1. Having its own or a single nature or character, as in colour, composition, etc., without addition or change; unmixed.
    a self bow: one made from a single piece of wood
    a self flower or plant: one which is wholly of one colour
  2. (obsolete) Same.
    • c.1600?, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
      But if you please
      To shoot another arrow that self way
      Which you did shoot the first […]
    • 1605, William Shakespeare, King Lear, I.i:
      I am made of that self mettle as my sister.
    • Sir Walter Raleigh, The History of the World
      But were it granted, yet the heighth of these Mountains is far under the supposed place of Paradise; and on these self Hills the Air is so thin […]
    • 1700, John Dryden, Palamon and Arcite
      At that self moment enters Palamon
      The gate of Venus […]

External links

  • self in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • self in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

Danish

Alternative forms

Adverb

self

  1. (Internet) Abbreviation of selvfølgelig ‎(“of course”).

Maltese

Noun

self

  1. loan

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *selbaz, whence also Old Frisian self, Old Saxon self, Old Dutch self, Old High German selb, Old Norse sjálfr, Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌱𐌰 ‎(silba). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ- ‎(“one's own”), from *s(w)e- ‎(“separate, apart”).

Pronoun

self

  1. self

Descendants

Old Saxon

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *selbaz, whence also Old English self, Old Frisian self, Old Dutch self, Old High German selb, Old Norse sjálfr, Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌱𐌰 ‎(silba). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ- ‎(“one's own”), from *s(w)e- ‎(“separate, apart”).

Pronoun

self

  1. self

Descendants

  • Low German: sulv

Etymology

From Middle English self, silf, sulf, from Old English self, seolf, sylf ‎(“same, self, very, own”), from Proto-Germanic *selbaz ‎(“self”), from Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ- ‎(“one's own”), from Proto-Indo-European *s(w)e- ‎(“separate, apart”). Cognate with Scots self ‎(“self”), West Frisian self ‎(“self”), Dutch zelf ‎(“self”), Low German sulv ‎(“self”), German selbst ‎(“self”), Danish selv ‎(“self”), Icelandic sjálfur ‎(“self”), Swedish själv ‎(“self”). Possibly related to Albanian thelb ‎(“core, center, heart”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɛlf/
  • Rhymes: -ɛlf

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