myselfpron.
/mʌɪˈsɛlf/, /mᵻˈsɛlf/, U.S. /maɪˈsɛlf/, /məˈsɛlf/α. Old English me selfa (weak declension), Old English me siolf, Old English me solf (Northumbrian), Old English me solfa (weak declension), Old English me sylfa (weak declension), Old English mesylua (weak declension), Old English–early Middle English me seolf, Old English–early Middle English me sylf, Old English–1600s me self, early Middle English me sellf ( Ormulum), early Middle English me sellfenn (inflected form), early Middle English me selu, early Middle English me seluen (inflected form), early Middle English meseluen (inflected form), early Middle English me seolfan (inflected form), early Middle English me seoluen (inflected form), early Middle English meserf (transmission error), early Middle English me sulf, early Middle English me suluen (inflected form), Middle English meselfe, Middle English me selff, Middle English me selue, Middle English meselue, Middle English mesilfe, Middle English mesilue, Middle English–1500s (1700s– nonstandard and regional) meself, 1500s meeself, 1500s mee selfe, 1500s me selfe; Scottish pre-1700 me self, pre-1700 meself.
β. early Middle English mi self, early Middle English mi seolf, early Middle English mi seolue, early Middle English miseolue, early Middle English mi solue, early Middle English mi sulf, early Middle English mi sulue, early Middle English my seolfen (inflected form), early Middle English my seolue, Middle English miselfe, Middle English miselue, Middle English miselve, Middle English miselven (inflected form), Middle English my-seelf, Middle English my selfen (inflected form), Middle English myselff, Middle English my seluen (inflected form), Middle English myseluen (inflected form), Middle English myseluon (in a late copy), Middle English myseluyn (in a late copy), Middle English myselven (inflected form), Middle English myselvene (inflected form), Middle English my seolf, Middle English myseolf, Middle English myseolve, Middle English my silf, Middle English mysilf, Middle English mysilfe, Middle English mysiluen (inflected form), Middle English mysilve, Middle English mysilven (inflected form), Middle English mysulf, Middle English mysulve, Middle English my sylff, Middle English mysylffe, Middle English mysyllf, Middle English–1500s miself, Middle English–1500s my selue, Middle English–1500s myselue, Middle English–1500s my selve, Middle English–1500s myselve, Middle English–1600s my selfe, Middle English–1600s myselfe, Middle English–1600s myselffe, Middle English–1700s my self, Middle English– myself, 1500s my selff, 1500s my sellf, 1500s my sellfe, 1500s my sellff, 1500s my sylfe, 1600s my sealf; U.S. regional and nonstandard (chiefly in African-American usage) 1800s merse'f, 1800s myseff, 1800s– miself, 1900s– mahself, 1900s– m'se'f, 1900s– muhself; Caribbean 1900s– mersef, 1900s– muhself; Scottish pre-1700 my salyf, pre-1700 my self, pre-1700 my selfe, pre-1700 my selff, pre-1700 my selffe, pre-1700 my selfin (inflected form), pre-1700 my sellf, pre-1700 mysellff, pre-1700 mysellffe, pre-1700 myselth, pre-1700 my seluin (inflected form), pre-1700 my selvyn (inflected form), pre-1700 my selwyn (inflected form), pre-1700 my shelf, pre-1700 1700s– myself, 1700s myselfe.
γ. Middle English mesel (rare), 1500s mysell, 1800s– mesel' (nonstandard and regional), 1800s– mysel (nonstandard and regional); English regional (chiefly midlands and northern) 1600s my zell, 1700s me sel, 1700s– mysel', 1800s meezil (also Irish English), 1800s missel, 1800s– mesel, 1800s– me sell, 1800s– mesell, 1800s– misel, 1800s– mysell; Scottish pre-1700 my seall, pre-1700 my sel', pre-1700 1700s my sell, pre-1700 1700s–1800s mysell, 1800s misell, 1800s mysal, 1800s– masel, 1800s– masell, 1800s– mysel, 1800s– mysel', 1900s– mesel (Shetland and Orkney), 1900s– mesell (Shetland and Orkney), 1900s– misel; also Irish English (northern) 1900s– masel, 1900s– mesel, 1900s– mysel'; also Manx English 1900s– mysell.
δ. late Middle English myn self, late Middle English myn-selfe, late Middle English myn selff, 1800s– mineself (in representations of regional speech).
ε. English regional (chiefly midlands and northern) 1600s me selne, 1600s myselne, 1800s ma sen, 1800s meseln, 1800s misen, 1800s– mesen, 1800s– myseln, 1800s– mysen, 1900s– missen.
The emphatic and reflexive pronoun corresponding to I, me.
I. Emphatic uses.
1. In apposition to the first person pronoun: in my own person; for my part; personally, as far as I am concerned.
a. In apposition to the subjective pronoun I.When used for simple emphasis myself is generally placed immediately after I; in other positions there is often an explicit or implicit contrast with the idea of any other person performing the action. For additional emphasis it is often placed in initial position preceding the first person pronoun.In Old English ic mē self probably originally with mē as a kind of reflexive or ethical dative followed by emphatic self in agreement with the subject ic.
ΚΠ
α.
β. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 791 Mi self [c1300 Otho mi seolf] ich wlle teo to-foren to telde þas kinges.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 8361 Icholle to hom..& wiþinne vif dawes mid hom be mi sulf in bataile.a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 722 (MED) Mi-self knowe ich nouȝt mi ken ne mi kontre.a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 62 (MED) I am myselven on of tho.?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 145 (MED) And treuly, no more did I myself, til I saugh it.c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 42 Nowder of þies two did itt, I did it my selfe.c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 90v (MED) Manye oþire maistris, and J my silf also, acorde þerwiþ.1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jer. xxi. 5 I my selff will fight agaynst you.1583 P. Barrough Methode of Phisicke i. xxx. 38 As learned Phisitians haue thought of it, and (as I my self haue by experience learned) so I will frame and fasshion my Treatise.a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iii. i. 238 I will my selfe into the Pulpit first. View more context for this quotation1655 G. Sondes Narr. in Harl. Misc. (1813) X. 51 If I had not a Levite in my house, I performed the office myself.1683 J. Dryden & N. Lee Duke of Guise i. i. 5 I will my self to Court.1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 148. ⁋4 A Coffee-house which I myself frequent.1767 R. Bentley Philodamus ii. ii. 16 Myself I have survived, more than one cross, Which youth and folly thought immediate death.1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 92/1 Mohun Persaud..knew as little of Persian as I did myself.1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet I. iii. 49 I myself have since that time acquired Scotch in perfection.1837 E. S. Wortley Impressions of Italy 287 Myself, I am nothing of a politician.1887 ‘L. Carroll’ Game of Logic i. §1. 4 If there are any: I haven't seen many, myself.1911 J. Conrad Under Western Eyes i. 3 Being myself a quiet individual I take it that what all men are really after is..peace.1925 W. Cather Professor's House i. xi. 135 Myself, I've never doubted that you would see it is only right to share with us.1984 J. Barnes Flaubert's Parrot i. 13 I thought of writing books myself once.γ. a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 212 (MED) Ech mesel [perh. read meself], if þe pacient be strong, I wole lete him blood adai.a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 68 Gif I be ane off tha my sell.1549 in W. Fraser Bk. Carlaverock (1873) II. 475 With my hand at the pen, becaus I could nocht writ my seall.a1700 Young Tam Lane iii, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1884) I. ii. 352/1 I'll away to Carterhaugh, And flower mysell the gown.1718 A. Ramsay Christ's-kirk on Green iii. 26 I..coost a Legen-Girth me Sell, Lang or I married Tammie.1790 A. Wheeler Westmorland Dial. 50 I dunnet mitch heed me sel.1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 178 I gae a look to making the friar's chicken mysell, and to the crappit-heads too.1911 F. H. Burnett Secret Garden xxvi. 276 I wouldn't be agin' lecturin' a bit mysel' sometimes.1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 111/1 Ah'll dee it mēsel.1975 W. Goyen Blood Kindred in Had I Hundred Mouths (1986) 187 I fathered twelve children..working mysel and raising a family.ε. a1600 Sonnge Sir A. Barton in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 71 Ile fetch yoen English dogges me selne [rhyme well].a1600 Sonnge Sir A. Barton in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 72 Its time, Ile to the top myselne [rhyme well].1838 ‘T. Treddlehoyle’ Ben Bunt 19 Bein a bit an a ski-peepar ma sen.1854 C. Dickens Hard Times i. xi. 86 I were one-and-twenty myseln; she were twenty nighbut.1864 Ld. Tennyson Northern Farmer: Old Style viii, in Enoch Arden, etc. 132 Theer wur a boggle in it, I often 'eerd 'un mysen.1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. 94 I've mucked out the pig-stye mysen.1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 111/1 Ah wadn't dee't mēsen.OE Resignation B 103 Nu ic me sylf ne mæg fore minum wonæhtum willan adreogan.
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iv. xl. 325 Ða cigde he Maximum þone munuc his agenne sunu, þone ic me seolf geseah, & mid swiðe gedrefdum stefnum him cwæð to.
c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 22 Ic cume me sylf to him, & ic hine hæle.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 16242 I me sellf shall reȝȝsenn itt. Þe þridde daȝȝ off dæþe.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 26 (MED) Ich me seolf smelle of þe swote Iesu, swottre þen eauer eani þing þet is on eorðe.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 3214 Me seolf [c1300 Otho mi seolue] ich habben inoȝe bute þat mæiden Cordoille.
c1330 (?c1300) Amis & Amiloun (Auch.) (1937) 850 (MED) Y seiȝe it me self.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Num. xxv. 11 Y me self [a1425 L.V. my silf; L. ipse] dede nouȝt awey þe sonys of Irael.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 5221 (MED) I me-self sal þidder þe lede.
?1573 H. Cheke tr. F. Negri Freewyl iv. ii. 143 I wil come to hym mee selfe when I haue more leasure.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 9v This Court I thus deuised mee selfe.
1675 N. Lee Trag. Nero iii. i. 24 I'le save thee, though I dye me self.
1792 T. Holcroft Anna St. Ives VI. xcix. 5 I meself will be so all bountifool as to come down on the nail head with thirty thousand for my son.
1845 J. B. Buckstone Green Bushes iii. iii. 50 The words keep haunting me, and whin I doant sing them meself 'tis in me own ears I hear them as clare as the song of the thrush.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xxiv. 390 Well, I'm of that way of thinking meself.
1955 P. White Tree of Man i. vii. 80 I never went nap on the priests meself.
1997 J. Owen Camden Girls 92 ‘What does she see in him?’ ‘Fucked if I know. Maybe he's just incredibly good in bed.’ Juno grimaces. ‘I can't see it meself.’
b. †myself one (also alone): by myself (obsolete). Also (formerly rare; now Shetland) simply myself.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > condition of being alone > [adverb] > by oneself
by oneself (himself, themselves, etc.)eOE
myself one (also alone)a1300
of oneselfc1450
sole1450
post alone1478
solely1495
high-lone1533
myselfc1540
lone1613
solus cum solo1742
on one's ownio1908
on one's Pat Malone1908
on one's lonely(-o)1919
on one's ownsome1921
on one's jack1931
on one's tod1934
a1300 Passion our Lord 574 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 53 (MED) Ich hyne vecche wille al my seolf on.
a1300 Woman of Samaria l. 31 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 85 (MED) I nabbe..nenne were, ich am my seolf al one.
c1390 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 126 (MED) Ful stille I stod, my-self al-on.
a1475 (c1441) in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 176 (MED) For I am left my-self alone, And all my frendys fro me thei flee.
a1475 in R. H. Robbins Secular Lyrics 14th & 15th Cent. (1952) 107 Bi a forrest as I gan fare, Walkyng al myselven a-lone.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Deut. i. 9 I am not able to beare you my self alone. [So 1611.]
c1540 Pilgrim's Tale 168 in F. Thynne Animaduersions (1875) App. i. 82 For that I was my-selue, & company had non.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. ii. 249 I had as liefe haue beene my selfe alone. View more context for this quotation
1975 A. Deyell My Shetland 61 Da hoosekeeper deid washin' her feet, an' I wis called ta lay her oot, an dere wis I mesel upo' da middle o' da nicht.
c. In apposition to the objective pronoun me as object of a verb or preposition or (in later use also) as predicate or subject.
ΚΠ
c1425 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Harl.) 30 (MED) Ac for me my self, ich wol soþ segge of þis dede.
?1567 M. Parker Magnificat in Whole Psalter sig. TTiv Not me my selfe: but thee O Lord, I do extoll.
1576 T. Achelley tr. M. Bandello Most Lamentable & Tragicall Hist. sig. Evv That done let me my selfe alone: Our practize to fulfill.
1661 R. Flecknoe Erminia iv. iii. 63 I will not tell you how insolent he was to tempt even me my self, not to expose his life to danger, and my honour too.
1781 T. Holcroft Duplicity v. i. 68 How did it happen that you did not enquire of me myself who I was?
1863 A. Trollope Rachel Ray II. xiii. 277 Do you know so little of a girl like me as to suppose that what was written there came from me, myself?
1894 K. Chopin Bayou Folk 7 If it would been me myse'f, I would nevair grumb'.
1909 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Avonlea xxvii You and my beautiful teacher and me myself are the only folks in the world that I know of that have dream-people.
1970 Forum 6 ii. 48 You hit and kick me, me myself, an old man who has much love for you.
1993 B. Cross It's not about Salary 269 Me myself, I used to love to just come off the head, I could make up some dope shit right off the top.
d. for myself: used to introduce a remark, indicating that it expresses one's own feelings, opinion, perspective, etc., on a particular matter; ‘speaking for myself’, ‘as far as I am concerned’, ‘for my own part’.Cf. for one's (own) part at part n.1 Phrases 1b.
ΚΠ
1593 T. Bilson Perpetual Govt. Christes Church xi. 156 Howe others can perswade themselues, that the whole Church [fell]..to a wilfull Apostacie, I knowe not; for myselfe I confesse I had rather forsake [etc.].
1636 P. Massinger Great Duke of Florence Ep. Ded. sig. A3v For myself, I will freely..acknowledge, that for many Years I had but faintly subsisted, if I had not often tasted of your Bounty.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison V. xv. 67 For myself, I think it impossible that I ever could have been the wife of any man on earth but one.
1818 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1959) IV. 901 For myself, I cannot agree wholly either with Sir S. Romilly..or with the Paleyians.
1849 C. Brontë Let. 1 Nov. (2000) II. 272 I am certain I have long been forgotten—though for myself I remember all and everything clearly.
1954 J. Corbett Temple Tiger 101 For myself I would just as soon watch another fishing as fish myself.
2011 C. Moran How to be Woman (2012) ix. 171 For myself, I can't believe that girls saying ‘Actually, I'm paying my university fees by stripping’ is seen as some kind of..empowered..statement.
2. Used instead of the objective pronoun me as the object of a verb or preposition.The use of myself as the sole object of a verb is now archaic and Irish English. In an enumeration, it does not now express any special emphasis, but is often used in preference to me.The instance in quot. OE is probably to be interpreted as dative of possession.
ΚΠ
OE Writ of Edward the Confessor, Bury St. Edmunds (Sawyer 1084) in F. E. Harmer Anglo-Saxon Writs (1952) 164 Swa full & swa forð swa Ælfric Wihtgares sunu hig minre meder to handa bewiste, & heo syððan me sylfan on handa stod.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 493 Mine þralles i mire þeode me suluen [c1300 Otho mi-seolue] þretiað.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 1175 Þe londes þat he has he holdes of mi-selue.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvi. 46 Liberum arbitrium..Þat is lieutenant to loken it wel by leue of my-selue.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 13177 Two sons..sesit my self, & my sure felow, Alphenor.
1568 (?a1513) W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 250 Thow salbe merchand for my sell. Renunce thy God and cum to me.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iii. ii. 59 And for my selfe, Foe as he was to me, [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1674 J. Bunyan Peaceable Princ. in Wks. (1853) II. 649 Your artificial squibbling suggestions to the world about myself.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 195. ⁋2 I was always charitably inclined to believe the Fault lay in myself.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued I. 448 I..saw a..spider as big as myself.
1789 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 490 He tald mysel by word o' mouth, He'd tak' my letter.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. v. i. 266 Membrilla has neither chick nor child but myself.
1812 (title) The history of myself and my friend: a novel.
1843 G. Borrow Bible in Spain III. i. 5 Several of the ultra-popish bishops..had denounced the Bible, the Bible Society, and myself.
1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters IV. 353 To myself, mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery.
1907 J. M. Synge Playboy of Western World (1910) i. 13 Have you no shame, Michael James, to be quitting off for the whole night, and leaving myself lonesome in the shop?
1915 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Island xxiv. 209 Cousin Emily has only five boarders besides myself.
1960 Daily Tel. 27 Jan. 11/4 He subjected a colleague and myself to analyses of alcohol in the blood on his breath-testing machine.
3. Used instead of the subjective pronoun I. [Probably < I myself by ellipsis of I.]
a. As simple subject. Now chiefly archaic and Irish English.The verb in agreement may be either in the 1st person singular or (esp. colloquial) in the 3rd.
ΚΠ
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 543 (MED) Sertes, my-selue schal him neuer telle.
c1395 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale 175 This is to seye, my self hath [v.r. haue] been the whippe.
c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 132 Þe nakid he cloþid with gret pete... Anon in heuen he con hit se, Myselue þer-in was cloþy[d], i-wis.
1450 Rolls of Parl. V. 176/1 Myself hath be armed in the Kynges daies.
c1450 ( G. Chaucer Bk. Duchess 34 Men myght axe me why soo I may not sleepe..Myselven can not telle why.
1534 J. Heywood Play of Loue sig. Civ Consyderyng to haue had lyke spede If my selfe had ben a louer in dede.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iv. iv. 74 My selfe hath often heard them say,..That Lucius banishment was wrongfullie. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. ii. 223 My selfe haue Letters of the selfe-same Tenure. View more context for this quotation
1634 T. Whalley Let. in R. Parr Life J. Usher (1686) Coll. cclxxxvi. 602 My self only think it not improbable, but that he might live there some Years.
1713 J. Addison Cato ii. ii Myself will mount the Rostrum in his favour.
1756 W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans II. 59 Myself has received singular favours from the hands of the doctors Mead and Monro!
1767 ‘A. Barton’ Disappointment i. vii. 29 The devil a hair do I care, for a coat of arms, or a coat of legs; myself will build a shapple, and help the poor preasts.
1830 J. Barrington Personal Sketches Own Times (ed. 2) III. 18 Myself would as soon strike my owld mother.
1859 E. FitzGerald tr. Rubáiyát Omar Khayyám xxvii. 6 Myself when young did eagerly frequent Doctor and Saint.
1864 R. Browning Death in Desert in Wks. (1896) I. 591/2 Before the point was mooted, ‘What is God?’ No savage man inquired, ‘What am myself?’
1897 F. Thompson New Poems 187 When, ceremented in mouldering memory, Myself is hearsèd underneath myself, And I am but the monument of me.
1918 ‘B. MacNamara’ Valley of Squinting Windows 75 'Tis glad myself is to see you doing something useful at last.
1931 J. Masefield Minnie Maylow's Story 213 That heart of flint and brow of brass Broke Rome in England for his lust. Myself was stricken to the dust.
1988 Church Times 29 July 9/3 Myself, as Deacon and Chaplain at the University of Kent, opened for the diocesan team.
b. As part of a compound subject or predicate, and after than or as. Also (chiefly Irish English) as simple predicate.Except as simple predicate, myself in this use now expresses no special emphasis, being often preferred in order to avoid the awkwardness of I.
ΚΠ
c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 544 Ther was also a reve and a millere..A maunciple, and my self.
1565 T. Norton & T. Sackville Gorboduc iv. ii. sig. Cviii My Brother Ferrex and my selfe..were ioyned in gouernaunce Of this your Graces Realme of Brittayne Lande.
1584 A. Barlowe in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) iii. 729 The Master, and the Pilot of the Admirall,..my selfe, and others, rowed to the lande.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) ii. v. 83 These hands do lacke Nobility, that they strike A meaner then my selfe . View more context for this quotation
1682 J. Bunyan Holy War 155 Both they and my self are guilty of great transgressions. View more context for this quotation
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. xxiii. 136 Enough to make a better man than myself..run into madness.
1782 S. Johnson Let. 2 Mar. (1994) IV. 15 Both Williams, and Desmoulins and myself are very sickly.
1808 W. Scott Marmion iv. xvii. 205 The Marshal and myself had cast To stop him.
1850 Ladies' Repository Dec. 386/1 Myself and reader are bound for Kennebunkport.
1866 Good Words Aug. 544/2 One of our party and myself started on an expedition.
1894 T. Hardy Life's Little Ironies 19 If it were only myself I would do it, and gladly.
1904 W. B. Yeats Let. 16 Apr. (1994) III. 582 Miss Horniman, the architect & myself were inspecting the theatre.
1918 ‘B. MacNamara’ Valley of Squinting Windows 177 But sure it was myself that could not blame him at all.
1987 Grimsby Evening Tel. 10 Dec. 24/6 The manager and myself are working flat out to rectify the..situation.
1996 Ice Hockey News Rev. 21 Dec. 27/2 Myself and Phil Chard are now running the coaching.
4.
a. In noun-like use: my being or personality; my own or very self.In some uses treated like a noun phrase my self (with a degree of hypostasization of the element self: cf. self n.), in others treated as a noun allowing modification by determiners and pluralization. †another myself [after classical Latin alter ego alter ego n.] : a second self (said of an intimate friend; cf. I n.2 2) (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > subjectivity, relation to self > [noun] > system of subjective being > subjective being, self
mindc1350
myself1526
selfhood1568
self1641
ipseity1659
subject1682
seity1709
I1710
ego1824
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > friend > second self or kindred spirit
another myself1526
alter ego1537
another I1539
self1557
second self1586
alter idema1618
himself1622
twin soul1868
1526 Pylgrimage of Perfection (de Worde) f. 1v My wytte is gross, my selfe rude, and my tonge very barbarouse.
1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 176 I bewaile the death of my friend, which is another my selfe.
1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet ii. i. 91 And for thy name which is no part of thee, Take all my selfe . View more context for this quotation
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love i. iv. sig. C3 Your sweete disposition to trauaile..hath made you another My-selfe in mine eye. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 95 Best Image of my self and dearer half. View more context for this quotation
1694 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding (new ed.) ii. xxvii. 188 That consciousness whereby I am my self to my self.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. i. 83 There might have been two Myselves some thousands of miles apart.
1859 E. FitzGerald tr. Rubáiyát Omar Khayyám xx. 5 To-morrow I may be Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n Thousand Years.
1864 J. Ingelow Poems 23 O, let me be myself! But where, O where,..Shall the myself be found?
1871 R. W. Dale Ten Commandm. vi. 156 My life is not so sacred as myself.
1916 D. H. Lawrence Amores 84 I offer all myself unto This woman who likes to love me.
1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day i. 22 I knew perfectly well I was not a bear, but the pretence made my food and myself more interesting to me.
b. to be myself: to be or have the impression of being in my normal condition of body and mind (sometimes spec. with the implication of freedom from constraint); to behave naturally or characteristically. Also to feel (like) myself.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > be in state of health [verb (intransitive)] > be in usual health
to live and lookc1390
to be myselfa1675
to feel (quite) oneself1812
to look oneself1822
to feel (quite) like oneself1838
to feel (like) myself1886
a1675 Lady A. Clifford Diaries (1990) 150 Which was done so well and in so good a manner that I was in al myselfe, and lyked it very well on the 16th of September following when I went to lye in Brough Castle.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 20 From this time my Head run upon strange Things, and I may truly say, I was not myself.
1772 R. Cumberland Fashionable Lover (new ed.) v. 62 Like my Lord Abberville, I was not myself when I rebuff'd you on the business of Miss Aubrey's letter.
1776 Johnsoniana 43 I am not at all myself this morning.
1813 C. Quigley Poems 143 Sudden I start, and am myself again.
a1845 T. Hood Lamia i, in W. Jerdan Autobiogr. (1852) I. 254 I was not quite myself—(not what I am).
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda II. iii. xx. 27 My acting was not good except when it was not really acting, but the part was one that I could be myself in.
1886 W. Besant Children of Gibeon II. ii. xix. 336 It gave me such a shake as I never had before; I haven't felt like myself ever since.
1928 W. Gilbert Joy Ride 82 A kind and loving Providence has sent me to the bad, Where I can be myself for once from finger tips to toes, And open up my beauty like a big blush rose.
1966 I. Murdoch Time of Angels vii. 85 I don't feel quite myself.
1994 J. Barth Once upon Time 4 I'm not myself this morning: head not quite right, whatever.
II. Reflexive uses.
5. As direct or indirect object or as the object of a preposition.Originally only used for emphasis, but now in general use, replacing the reflexive me, which is now archaic (me pron.1 4).In Old English recorded only in the accusative, self being in agreement with me.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > [noun] > individuality or selfhood > self > one's, etc., self
myselfeOE
onec1175
persona1382
ownselfa1400
personage1531
his (also her, my) watch?1536
manself1880
his jills1906
ass1916
fanny1916
eOE (Kentish) Will of Badanoð Beotting (Sawyer 1510) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 10 Ic wille ærist me siolfne Gode allmehtgum forgeofan to ðere stowe æt Cristes cirican.
OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xxii. 16 Ic swerige ðurh me sylfne, sæde se Ælmihtiga.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 828 Iche wlle þesne king læden mid me seolfan.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9285 (MED) Wanne ich am encheson of such peril ywis, Verst icholle þer inne do mi sulue.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. 43 (MED) I am so with miselven wroth.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope iii. ii. 65 By cause that I..fayned my self to be a medycyn.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. iii. B I hyd my self.
1551 R. Robinson in tr. T. More Vtopia Epist. sig. ✠iii Such spare houres, as..I..cold..winne to me self.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia iii. viii. 76 The loue I beare you, doth cause me thus nakedly to forget my selfe.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd i. 204 My self I thought Born to that end. View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 26. ¶1 I very often walk by my self in Westminster Abbey.
1720 T. Gordon & J. Trenchard Independent Whig No. 23 Says I to myself, This reverend ill-tongu'd Parson will certainly quarrel.
1759 S. Johnson Idler 5 May 137 I acquainted myself with the black inhabitants of metallick caverns.
1825 C. Lamb in London Mag. May 69 I had foolishly given a handle against myself.
1855 C. Dickens Let. 4 May (1993) VII. 609 I..reject all engagements to have my time to myself.
1871 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch (1872) I. iii. 43 I am so glad I know that you do not like them... I should never keep them for myself.
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed v. 81 I'm not going to belong to anybody except myself.
1933 J. Gray Lowrie 12 Joannie, doo kens, is been plaigin' me ta get a kar ta mesel noo fur lang.
1936 A.W. Upfield Wings above Diamantina 38 Pardon me, Nettlefold,..for helping myself to your whisky.
1961 J. Carew Last Barbarian 156 I'm gonna buy myself a Cadillac.
1982 J. Simms Unsolicited Gift viii. 134 At first I kept myself to myself.
2000 R. Barger et al. Hell's Angel xi. 192 I was prepared to take whatever punches they threw at me. I considered myself a tough bird.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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pron.eOE