self
/ˈsɛlf/ pronoun, noun, verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms selves selfs selfing selfed selfe silf silfe
- pronoun (obsolete or rare) Himself, herself, itself, themself, themselves; that specific (person mentioned). “This argument was put forward by the defendant self.”
- pronoun (commercial or humorous) Myself, oneself. “I made out a cheque, payable to self, which cheered me up somewhat.”
- noun One individual's personality, character, demeanor, or disposition. “She remained her usual cheerful self despite recent setbacks”
- noun The subject of one's own experience of phenomena: perception, emotions, thoughts.
- noun An individual person as the object of the person's own reflective consciousness (plural selves).
- noun Self-interest or personal advantage.
- noun (botany) A seedling produced by self-pollination (plural selfs).
- noun (botany) A flower having its colour uniform as opposed to variegated.
- noun (molecular biology, immunology) Any molecule, cell, or tissue of an organism's own (belonging to the self), as opposed to a foreign (nonself) molecule, cell, or tissue (for example, infective, allogenic, or xenogenic).
- verb (botany) To fertilize by the same individual; to self-fertilize or self-pollinate.
- verb (botany) To fertilize by the same strain; to inbreed.
- adjective Having its own or a single nature or character throughout, as in colour, composition, etc., without addition or change; of the same kind; unmixed. “a self bow: one made from a single piece of wood”
- adjective (obsolete) Same, identical. “self-coloured”
- adjective (obsolete) Belonging to oneself; own.
- adjective (molecular biology, immunology) Of or relating to any molecule, cell, or tissue of an organism's own (belonging to the self), as opposed to a foreign (nonself) molecule, cell, or tissue (for example, infective, allogenic, or xenogenic).
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A freed slave surname originating as an occupation.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Boone County, Arkansas, United States.
Synonyms
cyberself herself himself itself myself non-self oneself one's self ourselves technoself themselves thyself yourself yourselves ego
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English salve, self, silf, from Old English self, seolf, sylf, from Proto-Germanic *selbaz, from Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ- (“one's own”).
Cognates with Saterland Frisian sälven, säärm, sääuwen (“oneself”), West Frisian sels (“oneself”), Bavarian söbe (“identical, same”), söber (“self”), Dutch zelf (“myself, oneself”), German selber (“self”), selbst (“by oneself”), Luxembourgish selwer (“self”), Yiddish זעלב (zelb, “same”), Danish selv (“self”), Elfdalian siuov (“self”), Faroese sjálvur (“self”), Icelandic sjálfur (“self”), Norwegian Bokmål selv, Norwegian Nynorsk sjølv, Swedish själv (“self”), Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌱𐌰 (silba, “self”).
* From self. A surname taken up by freed slaves, who have become of themselves, they being self-owned.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Same; particular; very; identical. [Obs., except in the compound selfsame.] "On these self hills." Sir. W. Raleigh.
- noun 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.
- noun Hence, personal interest, or love of private interest; selfishness; as, self is his whole aim.
Etymology [AS. self, seolf, sylf; akin to OS. self, OFries. self, D. zelf, G. selb, selber, selbst, Dan. selv. Sw. sjelf, Icel. sjalfr, Goth. silba. Cf. Selavage.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “self”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details