| 释义 |
▪ I. self, pron., a., and n.|sɛlf|
Forms: 1– self; 1–4 silf, 1–3 sylf, seolf, (2 solf, suelf), 2–3 sulf, 5–7 selfe, 6 silfe; 5–6 selph, (6 sealf, seylffe, sill); 1 selfa, silfa, etc., 2 seolve, silve, 2–5 selve, 3 sulfe, sulve; 2–5 (orig. oblique cases) selven, (4 selvin, selfine, selwyn), 9 dial. sen, 6– Sc. sell. pl.: 1 selfe, silfe, etc., weak selfan, etc., 2–5 selven, selve, (2 seolve), 5–6 selfs, (6 selfis, selfes), 9 dial. sens, 6– selves.
[Com. Teut.: OE. self strong, selfa wk., corresponds to OFris. self str., selva weak, OS. self strong, selƀo weak (MLG. sulf, self, silf, solf), Du. zelf, weak -zelve, -zelfde, OHG. selp strong, selbo weak (MHG. selp, selbe, mod.G. selb, selbe), ON. only strong sialf-r (Icel. sjálfr, Sw. sjelv, Norw. sjøl, sjølv, Da. selv), Goth. silba wk.:—OTeut. *selƀo-, selƀon-. The ultimate etymology is obscure; many scholars regard the word as a compound of the pronominal stem se- (in Goth. s-ik, G. sich; cf. L. sē).
In Goth. and Scandinavian the primary sense (= L. ipse) is the only one that exists; the sense of ‘same’, found in Eng. and the other WGer. langs., was developed from this in collocations where the notion of identity implied by a demonstrative was emphasized by the additon of self (thus the OE. se selfa man þe may be rendered either ‘the very man who’ or ‘the same man who’).]
A. pron. and pronominal adj. In the sense of the L. ipse. In concord with a n. or pron., to indicate emphatically that the reference is to the person or thing mentioned and not, or not merely, to some other.
1. With n. Obs. exc. arch.; superseded by the use of the ‘emphatic pronouns’, himself, herself, itself, themselves, or, after a def. art. or demonstrative, by (the, this, that) very.
†a. following the n. (immediately or with interposed words).
In OE. the strong and the weak declension were both common in this use, and traces of the twofold inflexion remain even in early mod.Eng. From the 12th c. the uninflected form (prob. apprehended as adv.) was often used after a n. in an oblique case.
a900Cynewulf Crist 11 Nu is þam weorce þearf þæt se Cræftᵹa cume and se Cyning sylfa and þonne ᵹebete..hus under hrofe. Ibid. 134 Nu is rodera Weard, God sylfa mid us. c1055Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 320 Þæt we ᵹeearnion æt criste sylfum ece mede. c1175Pater Noster 234 in Lamb. Hom. 67 He fondede god solf mid his wrenche. c1175Lamb. Hom. 107 We maȝen..habban us on ende þene eche wurðment a mid gode seoluan. a1225Ancr. R. 186 Ase dude ure Louerd sulf, & alle his haluwen. a1225Leg. Kath. 58 Euchan bi his euene, biforen Maxence seolf, wurðgede his maumez. a1300Cursor M. 11985 And o lame o þaa lakes selue Wit handes made he sparus tuelue. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 236 Þe bygynnyng of alle þis proces Ryght knawyng of a man self es. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 51 With all þe wele of þe worlde þay woned þer samen, þe most kyd knyȝtez vnder kryste seluen. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. i. 202 Loue is leche of lyf and nexte owre lorde selue. c1450Godstow Reg. 365 By the auctorite I-yove to them of the pope self. 1509Fisher Fun. Serm. Hen. VII, Wks. (1876) 274 Tyl he came vnto the place selfe where he receyued the sacrament. 1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 473/2 Thys is the thing selfe that is in debate. 1541Wyatt Declar. to Privy Council Wks. (1816) 282 In searching Mason's papers, the minute thereof was found; and after..the letter self came to his hands. 1548Geste Agst. Priv. Masse H iv b, Dyd not christ selue alwaye pray to hys father. 1566in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 208 We fynde the same confirmed by the parties self that were ther present. 1579E. K. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. June 18 gloss., This is..spoken of the Poete selfe.
b. Preceding the n. (immediately or with interposed words). Now only arch. rare.
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. i. Introd. (1890) 26 Under þam sylfum norðdæle middanᵹeardes. a1000Elene 69 Þa wearð on slæpe sylfum ætywed Þam casere, þær he on corðre swæf. a1250Owl & Night. 746 (Jesus MS.) Ich graunti þat þu go to dome To-vore the sulve [Cotton MS. sulfe] Pope of Rome. a1300Cursor M. 22597 Þe self angels [Gött. þe seluen angelis] sal quake vnqueme for dute of him þat all sal deme. c1374Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. i. (1868) 5 And when sche hef hir heued heyer sche perced[e] þe selue heuene. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints v. (Johannes) 508 Quhen sancte Iohne..for selfe eld ves sa wery þat [etc.]. c1375Barbour Bruce vii. 126 (Edin. MS.) Thai persauit..That he wes the selwyn Robert King. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 151 Oþer elles oþere hadde possessioun, in so moche þat þe self offrynges were reft fro þe autters under naked swerdes. c1430Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3857 Thurgh [Generides] shelde..He smote it in to the sokett, That the Iren with the hawberk met Right ageyn the self brest. c1450Myrr. our Ladye 197 Vere caritatis. God ys the louer of very charite, and god is the selfe charyte. 1472–3Rolls of Parlt. VI. 34/1 That the said copie of the said Recorde be taken, demed, and had for the self Recorde. a1483Liber Niger Domus Edw. IV in Househ. Ord. (1790) 61 Also they have oversyght for the Thesaurers partie in every office, bothe of the selfe stuffe, and the ministration, how it passith. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 155 b, In theyr olde age before y⊇ houre of deth, or in the selfe poynt of deth. 1531Elyot Gov. i. xxv. (1880) I. 267 Discretio in latine..as it is communely used, it is nat only like to Modestie, but it is the selfe Modestie. a1569A. Kingsmill Man's Est. x. (1580) 61 Christ hath hereby approved hymselfe the true anointed, the self Saviour, and verie Jesus. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry i. viii. (1660) 46 If a man do perform any praiseworthy Action the self deed will sufficiently commend him though he hold his peace. c1730Ramsay Address of Thanks xii, Even sell K. T. that gart us ban, And eke that setting-dog his man. 1848Lowell Biglow Papers Ser. i. ix. ad fin., I confess to a satisfaction in the self act of preaching.
†c. (? As adv.: cf. Ger. selbst.) Used, uninflected, before an article or poss. pron. Obs. rare.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 1806 Wulde he non senwe siðen eten Self his kinde nile ðat wune forgeten. Ibid. 2610 God haued swilc fair-hed him geuen, ðat self ðe fon it leten liuen.
†2. With pers. pronoun in the nominative. Obs.; rare after OE.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xvi. 104 Oft eac ᵹebyreð ðonne se scrift onᵹit ðæs costunga þe he him ondetteð ðæt he eac self bið mid ðæm ilcum ᵹecostod. c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xxiv. 39 Ic sylf hit eom. c1000Ags. Ps. lxvii. 4 Doþ siðfæt ðæs..rihtne ðe he sylfa astah, þam [etc.]. a1175Cott. Hom. 229 Ne michti hi alle hin acwelle ᵹef he sylf nold. a1300Cursor M. 6096 In mining sal ye hald þis dai, Yee-self and your oxspring ai. Ibid. 2559 Þou wat child haue i self nan. Ibid. 19432 And siþen spak he o þair lagh, Þat þai it cuth noght seluen knau. 1633P. Fletcher Pisc. Ecl. iv. xx, Self did I see a swain not long ago.
3. Following a pron. in oblique case. Obs. exc. in himself, herself, themselves.
a. refl.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxxiii. 220 Ðurh þa we forlætað ðone anwald ure selfra. c1175Lamb. Hom. 95 Erest he scal hine seolfne wið sunnan isteoran, and seoððan his heorde. c1200Vices & Virtues 125 Bute ðu neme riht of ðe seluen of ðe misdades ðe ðu mis-dest. a1225Ancr. R. 108 He seið bi him suluen,..‘Et factus sum sicut homo non audiens’. a1300Cursor M. 335 For of him self he toke his euen. Ibid. 16653 Wepe yee noght for me, Bot on yur childer and on yow-self. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 172 But oo firstnesse of love shulde we have to us silf, and to oure fadir and oure modir. c1386Chaucer Wife's Prol. 812 But atte laste..We fille acorded by vs seluen [Camb. MS. seluyn] two. c1400Destr. Troy 6322 He..louyt hym no lesse þen hym lefe seluyn. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 7762 For to make the sylue strong. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xi. (1885) 135 Wherby we bith lerned þat it shal⁓not only be goode to owre prince, but also to vs selff, that he be well indowed. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 24 Wilt thou, Seruius, stay thee selfe.
b. Emphasizing a non-reflexive pron.
c893K. ælfred Oros. iii. xi. §5. 146 Þa sende Antigones hiene selfne [Neoptolemus] & his oþerne þeᵹn Polipercon. c1175Lamb. Hom. 15 Eower lond ic wulle friþian and eow selfe meȝhan and bi-werian. c1205Lay. 493 Mine þralles i mire þeode me suluen þretiað. a1300Floriz & Bl. (Hausknecht) 550 Þat he þe helpe in alle helve, Ase he wolde me selve. 1535Coverdale 1 Macc. viii. 7 How they discomfited greate Antiochus..: how they toke him self alyue.
†c. In agreement with a possessive genitive (expressed or implied by poss. pron.), the word may be rendered ‘own’. Hence the use of the uninflected self in 16–17th c. for: Own, peculiar.
Beowulf 1115 Het ða hildeburh, at hnæfes ade hire selfre suna sweoloðe befæstan. 1516Will of R. Peke 4 June, She wer fully agrede to for her sill parte, and they agreid to receyve for hir childes part. 1539Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 175 As he knoweth right well, who at his being here sawe her self visage. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 176 Colin clout I wene be his selfe boye. c1580Sidney Ps. xxxv, Let their sly witts unwares destruction gett Fall in self pitt, be caught in their own nett. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxxi. 153 b, He forbad the often attempting of warres agaynst ones self party or enemies. a1586Sidney Arcadia i. (1622) 3 A thing which floated drawing neerer and neerer to the banke; but rather by the favourable working of the sea, then by any selfe industry. 1598Chapman Hero & L. iv. 185 What her hart Did greatest hold in her selfe greatest part. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 163 A people having many selfe fashions and strange kinds of behaviour differing from the rest. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. viii. 70 His Fiend-like Queene; Who (as 'tis thought) by selfe and violent hands, Tooke off her life. 1632Lithgow Trav. iv. 158 They Gormandize at their selfe pleasures. 1654Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Warrs Flanders 316 He considered that many Towns in Picardy were under the self Forces of Spain.
†4. In OE. and ME., the nom. self in agreement with the subject of the sentence (n. or pron.) was often preceded by the dative of a pronoun referring to the subject, used pleonastically (the so-called ethic dative); subsequently, self was often put in the dative, agreeing with the pers. pron. This use is now historically represented by certain uses of himself, herself, themselves; some examples of me self, thee self, are given s.vv. myself, thyself.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxi, Hi..weorþaþ him selfe to nauhte. c1175Lamb. Hom. 35 Nis þas weorld nawiht ȝe hit iseoð eow seluen. c1205Lay. 3315 Vs selve we habbet cokes to quecchen to cuchene, vs sulue we habbet bermen & birles inowe. Ibid. 28484 Þa heo here seolf weore isunken in þe watere. a1300K. Horn 45 And þe selue riȝt anon Ne schaltu to dai henne gon. c1380Sir Ferumb. 2810 We ous self buþ feynt & pal for hungre & for þerst. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 125 Pilat seide to hem, Tak ȝe him ȝou self, and do ȝe him on þe cross. c1430Chev. Assigne 20 Þey wente vp-on a walle..Both þe kynge & þe qwene hem selfen to-gedere.
†5. Used absol. as independent pronoun (= he himself, I myself, etc.). After OE. almost exclusively with pleonastic dative of pronoun, a use now represented by himself 3.
Beowulf 895 Þæt he beahhordes brucan moste selfes dome. a900Cynewulf Crist 1115 Eall þis maᵹon him sylfe ᵹeseon þonne. c1205Lay. 5246 Al þa kinges þus duden swa heom self demmeden. a1300Cursor M. 26738 Hast noght þi scrift on þiskin wis, Bot ilk-a sin be self þou schau. 1585Jas. VI in Holinshed's Hist. Scot. (1587) 445/2 A thing hurtfull to none, profitable for selfis, acceptable to God, and vise in the sight of the varld. 1616B. Jonson Volpone i. ii. Song Wks. I. 454 Selues [ed. 1607 Themselues], and others merry-making.
†6. Used indefinitely (= oneself) in a proverb.
1546Heywood Prov. i. viii. Wks. (1562) B iv b, For I did it my selfe: and selfe do, selfe haue. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 46. 1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 339.
7. In commercial use (hence jocular or colloq.) substituted for myself, or occas. for himself. spec. written on a cheque or counterfoil.
1758Johnson Idler No. 33 ⁋21 Mr. H. and self agreed at parting to take a gentle ride. 1829Lamb Let. to Gillman 30 Nov., He hath..served for self or substitute the greater parish offices. 1841Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. vi, I am, dear Sirs, for self and partners, Yours most faithfully, Samuel Jackson. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxvii, B wants a loan... B proposes self and two securities. B is accepted. Two securities give a bond. 1863S. Hibberd in Intell. Observ. IV. 267 Self and friend took train..for Leatherhead. 1866Crump Banking iv. 88 With the exception of those payable to ‘self’, drawn at the bank counter, or paid to an authorised person for the use of the drawer. 1873D. G. Rossetti Let. 14 July (1967) III. 1192 If however you would prefer the cheque made out to Self as usual..I will send you another. 1894Sir J. D. Astley Fifty Yrs. Life II. 31 As both self and wife were fond of seeing life,..we decided a trip to Baden Baden would be a nice change for us. 1905Macm. Mag. Dec. 107 Faro..much resembled the Self and Company still played by children. a1911Mod. (Cheque) Pay self or order, Ten Pounds. 1935G. Heyer Death in Stocks vi. 74 He drew a cheque for a hundred pounds to self on Friday. 1967C. Watson Lonely Heart 4122 ii. 23 He turned back the counterfoils... The uppermost..was marked ‘Self’, a withdrawal of four hundred pounds.
B. adj.
I. = same (and in derived senses).
†1. = same a. 1–3.
a. Preceded by dem. pron. or definite article. Obs.
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xxiii. (1890) 338 Þa wæs in þære seolpan nihte, þætte [etc.]. Ibid. 340 Wæs in þæm seolfan mynstre sumu haliᵹu nunne. c1000Ags. Ps. cvii. 10 [cviii. 11] Hwæt! þu eart se sylfa god, þe us synniᵹe iu adrife fram dome. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5318 Tueye batayles her after in þis sulfe ȝere Hii smite & at boþe þe heþene maystres were. c1330Arth. & Merl. 7396 (Kölbing) [They] helden hem a litel bi hest Vnder þe selue forest. c1380Sir Ferumb. 1997 Þay schulleþ haue þe selue dome. a1400Prymer (1891) 47 We by sechith, þt by the sadnesse of that selue byleue we be..defended of alle aduercetees. c1420Lessons of Dirige 183 in 26 Pol. Poems 113 He..fleeþ as shadow,..Dwelleþ neuere in þe self stat of ouris. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 3396 Ryht in the sylue wyse. c1489Caxton Blanchardyn xv. 51 Thenne the proude pucelle..vnderstode..that he was that self knyght that the kisse had taken of her. 1513Douglas æneis x. Prol. 31–2 The Son the self thing with the Fader is; The self substans the Haly Gaist, I wys. 1525Tindale N.T. Prol., That selfe good thynge. c1530― Pathw. Script. Wks. (1573) 378/1 In the Gene. iii. God sayth to the Serpent: I wil put hatred betwen thee and the woman, betwen thy seede and her seede, that selfe sede shall treade thy head vnder foote. 1530Palsgr. Epist. 7 Instructour to your noble grace in this selfe tong. 1540Brereton in St. Papers Hen. VIII, III. 206 The Satterday folowing I..arryved at Tryme, whiche selffe day Occhonor invading thEnglishe pale, burnte Kyldare. 1563Homilies II. Comm. Pr. & Sacram. 149 b, To pray commonly is for a multitude to aske one & the selfe thyng with one voyce [etc.]. 1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 285 b, [He] was requited with the selfe trechery that he offered before. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. iv. ii. 123 He is your brother Lords, sensibly fed Of that selfe blood that first gaue life to you. 1594Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits (1616) 118 Of this selfe opinion with Plato, was a Spanish Gentleman; who [etc.]. c1611Chapman Iliad v. 379 Pluto sustaind no lesse By that selfe man, and by a shaft of equall bitternesse. 1632Lithgow Trav. ix. 387, I neuer saw any of that selfe Nation, to begge bread.
b. With article omitted. Obs.; rare after OE.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 72 Wiþ swile ᵹenim gate tyrdlu on scearpum ecede ᵹesoden & on selfe wisan on ᵹedon. c1375Lay-Folks Mass-Bk. (MS. B.) 563 On selue manere. 1599Nashe Lenten Stuff 39 As he was troubled with the falling sicknesse, in his life time, in selfe manner it tooke him in his mounting vp to heauen.
c. Combined for emphasis with the synonymous ilk, same. Also strengthened by very prefixed. Obs. Cf. same a. 4 and selfsame.
a1300Signs bef. Judgem. 96 in E.E.P. (1862) 10 No no tre in erþ so fast..þat ne sal adun to-berst þilk silue dai er hit be niȝt. a1300Cursor M. 22948 O þat ilk seluin euen. 1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 61 Þat ilk self ȝere. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 20934 The same sylue carpenter. c1460Towneley Myst. xxviii. 95 Thou grauntt vs for to se The self body and the same the which that died on tre. 1526Tindale Rom. ii. 1 For thou that iudgest doest euen the same silfe thynges. 1543Necessary Doctr. L j b, This coniunction..is the very selfe thing, whiche is signified..by [etc.]. 1606L. Bryskett Civ. Life 80 Two gentlemen, subiect to the selfe and same lawes.
d. one self: one and the same. Obs.
1491Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) i. cviii. 135 a/2 He commaunded that in one selfe mesure & weighte all manere of marchaundyses sholde be solde. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss I. Auth. Pref. 1 Albeit, that mortall folke are marueylously separated,..yet are they..compact togyder by thistographier, as it were, the dedes of one selfe cyte. 1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer iv. (1577) X iv b, And it maye be sayd, that Good and beautifull be after a sorte one selfe thing. 1598Florio, Germano, a brother of one selfe father and mother. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. i. i. 39. 1607 R. C[arew] tr. Estienne's World of Wonders 131 They will not quite despaire, that one selfe man should be a lawyer and a Christian. 1624Quarles Job Milit. Med. xvii. N 3, Whirling like fire-balles in their restlesse spheares, At one selfe⁓instant moouing seuerall wayes. [1877Tennyson Harold v. ii, Of one self-stock at first, Make them again one people—Norman, English; And English, Norman.]
†2. absol. With def. art. (The) same person or thing. Obs.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xliv. 322 Ne laða ðærto no ðine friend,..ne ðine weleᵹan neahᵹeburas, ðylæs hie ðe don ðæt selfe. c1000ælfric Metr. Lives Saints IV. 352 Nelle þu leng beon hohful be þinre dohter eufrosinan soðlice ic earme eom sio sylfe. 1390Gower Conf. I. 84 He..is that selve of whom men speke, Which wol noght bowe er that he breke. a1400–50Bk. Curtasye 776 in Babees Bk. 325 Ȝif þe baken mete be colde, as may byfalle, A gobet of þo self he sayes with-alle. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. clxi, A mantill..That furrit was with ermyn full quhite, Degoutit with the self In spottis blake. 1486Bk. St. Albans, Hunting e i b, And when he hath in the toppe .iii. of the selue Then ye shall call hym trochid an hert of .xij. 1532Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. (1905) VI. 76 Ane doublat with ane lang geit of the self.
3. a. Of a colour: The same throughout, uniform. (See also self-colour.) Often prefixed to adjs. denoting colour (sometimes hyphened), as self russet, self silver. Cf. self-black.
1601Holland Pliny xxxii. vii. II. 439 In a peece of selfe russet cloth (such as is made of blacke wooll as it came in the fleece from the sheepe). 1851B'ham & Midl. Gardeners' Mag. May 71 A third [prize], to Mr. Sharp, for one [sc. seedling] named Purity, a self-white. 1898Ladies' Field 6 Aug. 378/2 The chinchillas or self-silvers [i.e. cats]; the latter is undoubtedly the correct name... The self-silvers are a fine collection. 1905Daily Chron. 12 July 3/2 The border carnation Miss Willmott, a beautiful self brick-red flower of a quite distinct shade. 1906Westm. Gaz. 10 May 2/1 Not in one self-tint, not spotted, but in tiny squares.
b. Self-coloured.
1852Beck's Florist 200 A stand of finely-grown Carnations..was disqualified, owing to its having a self petal. 1902Westm. Gaz. 29 Mar. 4/3 A new variety of self carnation. 1930R. A. Fisher Genet. Theory Nat. Selection vii. 165 In rats, the hooded (black and white) pattern is a simple recessive to the ‘self’ or ‘solid’ coloration. 1950Sun (Baltimore) 7 Jan. 22/7 The ‘self’ pigeon..has a solid color while the ‘barred’ has a blue background with black bars across the wing.
4. Of whiskey: Not blended.
1904Dundee Advertiser 20 Aug. 5 In the market for self⁓whiskies there has been a pronounced want of activity.
II. Senses related to the pronominal use.
5. a. Of a portion of an instrument: Of one piece with the instrument itself.
1888Bell Later Age of Stone 19 The second is a solid tool with a self-handle and is well able to make holes in wood.
b. Of a trimming: Of the same material as the garment itself; spec. in self belt, self-fabric.
1904Daily Chron. 3 May 8/2 A new..crêpe that is being shown..is striped with its own material, and the stripe has a knot a frequent intervals which..makes, as it were, a self⁓trimming. Ibid. 5 May 8/3 Finished with self-ruffles edged with narrow lace. 1960Times 21 Jan. 14/4 Jackets had either let-in or low-placed self belts. 1961Guardian 28 Feb. 7/4 Jacket caught at the hips by a self-fabric belt. 1969Sears Catal. Spring/Summer 10 Shower-resistant coat features self-fabric yoke for added protection. 1979Daily Tel. 13 Feb. 15/1 (Advt.), Soft shirt dress..—no waist seams and self belt.
6. Of a bow: Made all of one piece: in contradistinction to backed. Also in quasi-comb. (usually hyphened) self-lance, self-yew, applied attrib. to designate a self bow made of lance or yew (also with ellipsis of bow).
1801T. Roberts Eng. Bowman 135 Back'd bows..were deemed so much preferable to self-bows, that [etc.]. Ibid. note, Yet many excellent archers give the preference to the self-yew-bow. 1840G. A. Hansard Bk. Archery 344 In selecting a bow, whether backed or self, the modern archer has little occasion to exercise critical acumen. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 40/2 (Archery.) Bows are called ‘Self’ if made of one piece of wood, and ‘Backed’ if made of two or more strips of wood glued together. Self-bows are generally made of yew or lance, though the term as applied to those made of the former wood is misleading, as they are almost invariably spliced at the handle. Self-yew is the dearest bow made, self-lance the cheapest.
†7. Mining. Of a rock, etc.: Detached, of material different from its surroundings. Obs.
1747Hooson Miner's Dict. Q 4, Many times a Vein will carry two Ribbs, and softness between them, and often self Lumps. 1824J. Mander Derbysh. Miners' Gloss. 60 A self rock or stone that often lies in the middle of a vein so as to cut or divide it into two branches. 1829Glover Hist. Derby I. 49 Large stones, rounded by attrition, are called bolders; but if they retain the original shape and angles of the block, they are called self-stones. 1855Phillips Geol. Gloss., Self⁓stone, blocks of stone lying detached at, or not far below, the surface. A north of England term sometimes applied to solitary boulders = ‘earth-fast’.
†8. Own, peculiar. (See A. 3 c.) Obs.
C. n.
I. From the pronoun.
[This use originated in early ME., when mi(n, þi(n, his self (see myself, thyself, himself) began to be substituted for the two varieties of combinations of pers. pron. + self which were current in OE. (see A. 2–4).
The subst. use appears to have been developed chiefly from collocations in which the OE. masc. and neut. genitive selfes admitted of being taken as the genitive of a neuter n. Thus in his selfes, Godes selfes, it was easy to interpret selfes as a n. governing the preceding genitive, instead of as a pronominal adj. in concord with it. The same liability to change in the grammatical apprehension of the word existed also in the examples of the curious construction (shared by OE. with ON. and OHG.) by which a poss. pron. when followed by the genitive of self became assimilated in inflexion to that word, instead of retaining the form demanded by the syntax of the sentence: e.g. in ic ontýne mínes (for mínne) sylfes múð. (The same ‘attraction’ occurred in the fem., as in mínre selfre, and in the plural, as úrra selfra; but this has no bearing on the origin of self n.)
Another influence which contributed to the development of the n. was that of ME. her self, in which her, originally dative, was coincident in form with the genitive.
Although the subst. use of the pronoun thus appears to have originated in morphological processes, it came to supply a need of expression which has been felt and variously supplied in some other langs.; cf., e.g. Ger. selbst n., which is an application of selbst adv. (earlier selbes, orig. the genitive of the pron.).]
1. (The pronominal notion expressed subst.)
a. Preceded by a possessive pronoun, with which it forms a combination serving as a reflexive or an emphatic personal pronoun. Often qualified by an adj., either emphasizing, as my own self, his very self, or descriptive, as your dear self, her sweet self, our two selves, etc.
For examples of my, thy, her, our, your self (selves), see myself, thyself, etc. The 16th c. use of myself, thyself, with a vb. in the 3rd person seems to belong more properly to the n. than to the compound pron. (Cf. myself 4.) For his self, their selves, see himself, themselves.
c1205[see myself 1 β]. 12..Moral Ode 15 (Egerton MS.) in E.E.P. (1862) 23 Ne beo þe leure þan þi [older texts þe] self þi mei ne þi moȝe [etc.]. a1300E.E. Psalter (Surtees) xxxv. 2 Þe un-rightwis saide with tunge hisse, Þat in his self noght gilt in isse. c1400Rule of St. Benet (verse) 577 Oure awn self we sal deny, And folow oure lord god al-myghty. c1450Mirk's Festial 4 As moche þonke I kan you for þat ȝe dydden to þe lest of myn, as ȝe hadden don hit to myn owne selfe. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 638 Gif thow will not seik him, my awin self sall. c1530Tindale Pathw. Script. Wks. (1573) 381/2 As a stone cast vp into the ayre commeth downe naturally of his owne selfe with all the violence and swyng of his owne wayght. 1587W. Gifford in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 143 Premised commendations to your good self & to the bulchen my cousin. c1590Greene Fr. Bacon x. 78 Give me but ten days' respite, and I will reply, Which or to whom myself affectionates. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. vii. 39 And eeke that angry foole..did with his smarting toole Oft whip her dainty selfe. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 96 But for my single selfe, I had as liefe not be, as [etc.]. 1651Stanhope in Prestwich's Poems To Author, But why translate, gild, hatch, why not appear Thy solid self. 1690Norris Beatitudes (1692) 46 There are some men..that would see the whole World in Flames without any concern, were but their own little selves secure from the Ruin. 1732Mandeville Enq. Orig. Hon. 39 There is nothing which he has so constantly before his eyes as his own dear self. 1737Whiston Josephus, Antiq. xix. i. §19 He lies now dead, as perishing by his own self. 1745Life Bamfylde-Moore Carew 64 Entertaining them in a most florid Manner with the sovereign Virtues of his Pills, Plaisters, and Self. 1749C. Wesley Hymns, ‘And have I measur'd’ xii, Till He his glorious Self reveals, The Veil is on my Heart. 1816Scott Antiq. xxiv, We'll gang quietly about our job our twa sells, and naebody the wiser for't. 1824Byron Juan xvi. ciii, Their hideous wives, their horrid selves and dresses. 1846Tennyson Literary Squabbles iii, Who..strain to make an inch of room For their sweet selves. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 233 If the discussion were confined to your two selves. 1884C. F. Woolson in Harper's Mag. Feb. 375/2 The installment of our twelve selves in these..carriages.
b. Preceded by a n. in the possessive, with which it forms a combination having the sense now expressed by the n. + himself, herself, itself, etc., and formerly by the n. + self in concord with it.
Self may be qualified by an adj. as in 1 a.
a1300Cursor M. 12248 A tregetur i hope he be, Or elles godds self [later MSS. god him self] es he. 1473Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 33 Deliuerit to the Qwenis selue be Andro Balfour. 1536Wriothesley in St. Papers Hen. VIII, I. 490 His Grace..liketh both thordre therof, and the thinges self, excedingly wel. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 141 For that thei abused the kynges selfes. 1590Spenser F.Q. iii. iii. 46 Ne shall the Saxons selves all peaceably Enioy the crowne. 1607Cowell Interpr., Purgation (Purgatio) is a cleering of a mans selfe from a crime, whereof he is probably and publiquely suspected. 1634Milton Comus 375 And Wisdoms self Oft seeks to sweet retired Solitude. 1667― P.L. ix. 388 She..like a Wood-nymph..of Delia's Traine, Betook her to the Groves, but Delia's self In gate surpass'd. 1704Pope Windsor For. 223 Not Neptune's self from all her streams receives A wealthier tribute than to thine he gives. 1785Burns Epist. to J. L―k 1 Apr. viii, Yet crooning to a body's sel, Does weel eneugh. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles v. iv, 'Tis Edith's self!—her speechless woe, Her form, her looks, the secret show! 1816J. Wilson City of Plague i. i. 405 Though dark his brain It has, thou seest, an heavenly visitor That comfort brings when reason's self is gone. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. i. i, Nay, Sire, were it not better you, your Majesty's self, took the children? 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! xvi, Elizabeth's self consecrated her solemnly. 1871R. Ellis Catullus xliv. 21 Not me That read the volume—no, but him, The man's vain self.
†c. the self = itself. Chiefly Sc. Obs.
a1340Hampole Psalter iv. 6 Þe offrand of rightwisnes is a sorowful gast, punyschand þe self for synne. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) vii. 24 In Egipte er bot fewe castelles, for þe cuntree es strang ynogh of þe self. 1409in Exch. Rolls Scot. IV. p. ccix, This endenture..purportis in the self and beris witnes that [etc.]. 1434Misyn Mending of Life i. (1896) 107 For fayrnes soyne is lufyd, & qwhen it felis þe self lofyd, lightly it is chirischyd. 1475in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 418/1 The dowme..is false, and rottyn in the self, be cause it is gyffyn expresse in the contrare of the cursse of comone lawe. 1492Rolls of Parlt. VI. 446/2 It is a doubt, whedre, the said V mark, be parcell of the Manor of Haveryng, or a somme by the self, and no parcell of the said Manor. 1513Douglas æneis i. Pref. 119 Nocht for our toung is in the selfin scant. 1525Sampson in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. I. 355 And as concerning the interception off the lettirs they esteme it, Sir, for a very grevos matir, as well for the deade off the selff, as the rumor that schuld aryse off the sam to the enemies. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 269 But this hye ioye and iubile of the spiryt..can not be expressed with tonge, as it is in the selfe, but the effect that it leueth behynde it sheweth..what it was. 1570in R. Bannatyne's Memor. (1836) 56 Becaus I sie..my voce is not able to straicht the self vnto the earis of the multitud heir convenit, I wilbe content [etc.]. 1580in Sc. Bks. Discipl. etc. (1621) 18 The whole Assembly of the Kirk..declares the same pretended office [of bishop]..unlawfull in the selfe. 1605His Majesty's Sp. etc. E 4, To so hatefull and vnheard of inuention there can be no greater enemy than the selfe. c1614Mure Dido & æn. i. 470 The subtle air..In solide substance did the self congeale.
d. Sc. the sell o' it, itself. the sell o' ye, yourself. ? Obs.
1818Scott Rob Roy xxvi, The College didna get gude {pstlg}600 a-year out o' bishops' Rents..nor yet a lease o' the Archbishoprick o' Glasgow the sell o't. 1818― Hrt. Midl. ix, I ken nae friend..that's been sae like a father to him as the sell o' ye, neibor Deans.
e. In generalized sense.
1826Disraeli Viv. Grey i. x. 63 Self is the only person whom we know nothing about.
2. transf. in various uses, † esp. a person whom one loves as oneself or is a counterpart of oneself (obs. exc. in other self, second self: see second a.).
16051st Pt. Jeronimo ii. iv. 49 Welcome, my selfe of selfe. 1671H. M. tr. Erasm. Colloq. 4 Heavens grant you a safe return. God keep thee my half self. a1700Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 115 But when the Babe breaks out into the Light, Soon as her little self is in her sight,..She feels a Mother's Bowels yearn within. 1763C. Johnston Reverie II. 133 The tender connexions of nature, which, as it were, multiply a man into many selfs for the safety of each dear particular of whom, his anxiety is greater than for his own. 1771H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 139 My dear heart and self and son Charles. 1827Hood Mids. Fairies xliv, We shall not die nor disappear, But, in these other selves ourselves succeed. 1858Stanley Life Arnold I. iii. 89 Our ‘great self’, the school.
3. Chiefly Philos. That which in a person is really and intrinsically he (in contradistinction to what is adventitious); the ego (often identified with the soul or mind as opposed to the body); a permanent subject of successive and varying states of consciousness.
a1674Traherne Poet. Wks. (1903) 49 A secret self I had enclos'd within, That was not bounded with my clothes or skin. 1682Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. i. §24 The noblest Digladiation is in the Theater of our selves. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxvii. §9 Since consciousness always accompanies thinking, and 'tis that, that makes every one be, what he calls self. Ibid. §17 Self is that conscious thinking thing, whatever Substance, made up of Spiritual, or Material, Simple, or Compounded, it matters not, which is sensible, or conscious of Pleasure and Pain,..and so is concern'd for it self, as far as that consciousness extends. 1713Berkeley Hylas & P. iii. Wks. 1871 I. 329, I, one and the same self, perceive both colours and sounds. 1862Spencer First Princ. i. iii. §20 (1875) 65 If, then, the object perceived is self, what is the subject that perceives? or if it is the true self which thinks, what other self can it be that is thought of? 1865J. H. Newman Dream Ger. 5th Choir, Praise to the Holiest, God's Presence and His very Self And Essence all⁓divine. 1865Mill Exam. Hamilton 207 Reid seems to have imagined that if I myself am only a series of feelings, the proposition that I have any fellow-creatures, or that there are any selves except mine, is but words without a meaning. 1866Duke of Argyll Reign of Law i. (1867) 8 But these selves of ours do belong to Nature. 1871Meredith H. Richmond lv, In reality the busy little creature within me, whom we call self, was digging pits for comfort to flow in, of any kind, in any form. 1877E. R. Conder Bas. Faith iv. 184 But Self does not come and go; it abides. Self, therefore, is not a phenomenon, nor yet a bundle of phenomena. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 267 Insanity has been already defined as defect or disorder of the process of adjustment of self to circumstances. Ibid. 288 So long as the ‘self’ is not implicated in what is done by the body, the self is not responsible and cannot justly be punished. 1909Chesterton Orthodoxy iii. 63 You cannot call up any wilder vision than a city in which men ask themselves if they have any selves.
4. a. What one is at a particular time or in a particular aspect or relation; one's nature, character, or (sometimes) physical constitution or appearance, considered as different at different times. Chiefly with qualifying adj., (one's) old self, former self, later self.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 160 In vain he burns..And in himself his former self requires. a1711Ken Div. Love Wks. (1838) 282 My duty of loving those best, which either in blood are nearest my natural self, or in grace nearest my Christian self. 1746Francis tr. Horace, Epist. i. x. 66 If e'r, forgetful of my former Self, I toil to raise unnecessary Pelf. 1841C. Fox Jrnl. 30 Sept. (1972) 115 Dr. Calvert..was quite his old self, talking on his old subjects in his old way. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. ix. (1859) 211 How pleasant it would be, if in another state of being we could have shapes like our former selves for playthings. 1910‘Mark Rutherford’ Pages fr. Jrnl. (ed. 2) 268 The self of two hours before seemed to confront him. 1975H. Fleetwood Picture of Innocence x. 177 You seem quite like your old self again.
b. An assemblage of characteristics and dispositions which may be conceived as constituting one of various conflicting personalities within a human being. better self: the better part of one's nature.
1595Spenser Amoretti xlv. 3 And in my selfe, my inward selfe I meane, Most liuely lyke behold your semblant trew. a1703Burkitt On N.T. Mark xii. 34 Every man may, yea, ought to love himself: not his sinful self, but his natural self: especially his spiritual self, the new nature in him. 1820Keats Lamia 170 In self despite, Against his better self. 1849Sir J. Stephen Eccl. Biog., I. Taylor II. 389 So, indeed, resolved the Self inhabiting one of the phrenological hemispheres within me. But the resolution was ultimately reversed by the superior energy of the Self who reigned over the opposite hemisphere. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. vii. (1878) 125 Whatever your lowest self, and not your best self may like. 1867Goldw. Smith 3 Eng. Statesmen (1882) 45 Our nation..had to go through greater trials, and be thrown more upon its nobler self, before it could deserve victory. 1908R. Bagot A. Cuthbert x. 116 Sonia di San Vico was asking herself whether this were love... For the first time in her life that other self of hers gave no satisfactory reply.
5. One's personal welfare and interests as an object of concern; chiefly in bad sense, selfish or self-interested motives, selfishness.
a1680Charnock Attrib. God (1682) 70 Self is the great Anti-Christ and Anti-God in the World. 1725Watts Logic ii. iii. §3 Were it not for this Influence of Self and a Bigotry to our own Tenets, we could hardly imagine that so many..wicked..Principles should pretend to support and defend themselves by the Gospel of Christ. 1782F. Burney Cecilia viii. iii, But self will still predominate. 1842Tennyson Locksley Hall 34 Love..Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, passed in music out of sight. 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! ii, One who had long since learned to have no self, and to live not only for her children, but in them. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede liv, She's better than I am—there's less o' self in her, and pride. 1870Mozley Univ. Serm. iii. (1877) 67 This respect to self and its ultimate good pertains to the very nobility of man's nature. 1906C. Mansfield Girl & Gods xix, Self is their god and Selfishness their religion.
II. From the adjective.
6. (Cf. B. 3 b.)
a. A ‘self-coloured’ flower: esp. applied to carnations.
1852G. W. Johnson Cottage Gard. Dict., Self, a flower with petals of only one colour. 1869Contemp. Rev. XI. 149 Some of her characters are too much what a florist would call ‘selfs’—all one colour. 1892Garden 27 Aug. 194/2 The majority of present-day kinds [of Carnations]—I allude chiefly to garden selfs—are..scentless.
b. Something (as an animal or garment) of a single colour.
1930R. A. Fisher Genet. Theory Nat. Selection vii. 165 Rats of both selected lines were bred back to unselected selfs. 1978Lochaber News 31 Mar. 2/1 (Advt.), ‘Dereta’ coats, superb collection of tweeds and selfs in a variety of fabrics, designs and colours.
7. A self bow. (See B. 6.)
1856H. A. Ford Archery iii. 14 Ascham..mentions none other than selfs.
D. -self in compound pronouns. For the diverse grammatical character (partly adj., partly n.) of this element in myself, thyself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves, oneself, and for illustration of the emphatic and the reflexive functions of these words, see the several articles. Certain phraseological uses common to the whole group in their capacity of reflexive pronouns may conveniently be noticed here.
1. to be ―self:
a. colloq. To be in (one's) normal condition of body or mind; to be in (its) accustomed state. Also to feel like ―self.
For other examples see himself 3 b, myself 4 b, themselves 2 b.
1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 644 The chief justice was all himself. His spirits rose higher and higher as the work went on. 1884Daily News 23 May 5/3 Mr. Grace was all himself [at cricket].
b. To act according to one's true character, without hypocrisy or constraint.
1864[see myself 4]. 1896‘M. Field’ Attila i. 26 Only the courage seems impiety For just a girl to dare to be herself.
2. The refl. pron. assumes in certain contexts the sense: The normal condition (of the person or thing). So to come to ―self (come v. 45 h), to bring, restore to ―self. out of ―self (? now rare), † from ―self, beside ―self (see beside prep. 5 a): out of (one's) mind or senses, deranged.
a1450Knt. de La Tour iii. (1906) 6 And he was so sore afraied and aferde, that he ranne awaie as he had be oute of hym selff. c1489Caxton Blanchardyn xii. 43 She fell doune from her ain beere as a woman from her self and in a swone. 1659B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 17 France being..restored to her self, as well by the help of forreigners, as of her Neighbours. 1727Swift Furth. Acc. E. Curll Misc. 1732 III. 30, I never perceived he was out of himself, till that melancholy Day that he thought he was poison'd in a Glass of Sack. 1846Digby Broad Stone Hon. II. Tancredus 301 A novice of the order of St. Francis being now almost out of himself, struggling with death cried out [etc.]. 1856C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain i. xix. (1879) 192 But Tom, who seemed fairly out of himself, would not stir.
3. by ―self: alone, without society; unaided; separately. See by prep.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxv. §6 Ne mæᵹ nan oðru ᵹesceaft be him selfum bion. a1300Cursor M. 1714 Þe meke [beist] be þam ai tua and tua, Þe wild do be þam-self al-sua. c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 222 Noght from his owene bed ten foot or twelue His doghter hadde a bed al by hir selue Right in the same chambre by and by. 1448in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 8 All the bemes that lyen by hemself. c1449Pecock Repr. v. xv. 564 Aȝens this..is maad a book by him silf clepid the Book of Faith. 1573Treas. Hid. Secrets xiii, This wise you may make Marmalade of wardens, peares, apples &c..everyone by himself. 1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 17 b, It is dailie seene that a man being by himselfe is fearefull, and being in companie, is couragious. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 221 The Kings sonne haue I landed by himself. 1711Addison Spect. No. 12 ⁋3, I am mistaken if he ventures to go to Bed by himself this Twelve-month. 1857Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 308 Mr. C. dines all by himself at present, I merely looking on. 1889Saintsbury Ess. Eng. Lit. (1891) 65 If Hogg in some lucky moment did really ‘write it all by himself’, as the children say.
Add:[C.] [I.] [4.] c. Immunol. Matter which is regarded by an individual's immune system as a normal constituent of that individual and is therefore not subject to attack by it.
[1948Burnet & Fenner in Heredity II. 318 There are enzymic groups adapted genetically to ‘fit’ a sufficient number of marker constituents to allow differentiation of ‘self’ from ‘foreign’..organic material.] 1965Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. CXXIV. 10 The reaction is against self-antigen which is not recognized as ‘self’. 1967[see immunologic adj. s.v. immunology n.]. 1983Oxf. Textbk. Med. I. iv. 42/1 The marked biological diversity of self-antigens, together with the complexity of the cellular organization of the immune system, and the damaging potential of immune reactivity towards self. 1987Sci. Amer. May 70/3 If a foreign peptide matches the sequence at the crucial sites..the T cell sees the sequence as ‘self’ and does not respond.
▪ II. self, v.|sɛlf|
[f. prec.]
trans. To fertilize by means of pollen from the same plant; = self-fertilize v.
1905R. C. Punnett Mendelism 61 When this, the normal mode of fertilisation, takes place, the flower is said to be selfed. 1924E. W. MacBride Study of Heredity vi. 143 When the recessive green peas are sown they give rise to plants which, when ‘selfed’, bear only green peas. 1949H. L. Mencken in Kirby & Woolf Philologica 316 So far I have heard of no verb made of what appears to be a pronoun save to self. 1970Watsonia VIII. 142 Rousi selfed a number of plants.
Hence selfed |sɛlft| ppl. a.; ˈselfing vbl. n., fertilization in this manner (in quot. 1924: a plant grown from seed so derived).
1924Genetics IX. 30 Two such selfings of plants in family J were grown. 1927Technical Bull. N.Y. State Agric. Exper. Station, Geneva No. 127. 4 Four selfed varieties of P[runus] salicina gave no seed. 1942Jrnl. Genetics XLIII. 312 Their doubly heterozygous progeny will on selfing produce a range of genotypes with phenotypic differences. 1953Heredity VII. 185 This mating system occurs in plants which have an imperfect selfing mechanism. 1977M. Allan Darwin & his Flowers xv. 256 Nine of the original selfed plants had died. 1978Nature 2 Feb. 441/1 Experimental selfings and crossings each lead to similar and relatively high levels of fruit set. |