myself

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See also: Myself

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English myself, meself, from Old English mē selfum and similar phrases, equivalent to me + self, later partly reinterpreted as my + self / -self. Cognate with Scots mysel, mysell (“myself”), West Frisian mysels (“myself”), Dutch mijzelf (“myself”), German mich selbst, mir selbst (“myself”), Norwegian Bokmål meg selv (“myself”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /maɪˈsɛlf/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛlf
  • Hyphenation: my‧self

Pronoun[edit]

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. In my normal state of body or mind.
  4. Me (as the object of a verb or preposition). [from 10th c.]
    I feel like myself.
  5. (archaic) I (as the subject of a verb). [from 14th c.]
  6. (India, Pakistan, nonstandard) my name is...
    Myself John.

Usage notes[edit]

  • 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).

Synonyms[edit]

  • (reflexive pronoun): me

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

English personal pronouns
Dialectal and obsolete or archaic forms are in italics.
personal pronoun possessive
pronoun		 possessive
determiner
subjective objective reflexive
first person singular I
me (colloquial)		 me myself
me
mysen		 mine my
mine (before vowels, archaic)
me
plural we us ourselves
ourself
oursen		 ours our
second person singular standard, formal you you yourself
yoursen		 yours
yourn (obsolete outside dialects)		 your
archaic, informal thou thee thyself
theeself
thysen		 thine thy
thine (before vowels)
plural standard you
ye (archaic)		 you yourselves yours
yourn (obsolete outside dialects)		 your
colloquial you all
y'all
you guys		 you all
y'all
you guys		 y'allselves y'all's
you guys's
your guys's (proscribed)		 y'all's
your all's (nonstandard)
you guys's
your guys's (proscribed)
informal / dialectal (see list of dialectal forms at you and inflected forms in those entries)
third person singular masculine he him himself
hisself (archaic)
hissen		 his
hisn (obsolete outside dialects)		 his
feminine she her herself
hersen		 hers
hern (obsolete outside dialects)		 her
neuter it
hit		 it
hit		 itself
hitself		 its
his (archaic)		 its
his (archaic)
hits
genderless they them themself, themselves theirs their
genderless, nonspecific
(formal) 		one one oneself – one's
plural they them
hem, 'em		 themselves
theirsen		 theirs
theirn (obsolete outside dialects)		 their

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English mē self, mē seolf, equivalent to my +‎ self.

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

myself

  1. myself

Descendants[edit]

  • English: myself
  • Yola: meezil

References[edit]

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