oneselves

English

Etymology

From ones' +‎ -selves; compare oneself.

Pronoun

oneselves

1. (reflexive, rare) The reflexive case of the pronoun ones; a group of people in general.

   In a library, it is discouraged to talk amongst oneselves.

   • 1909, Edgar Saltus, Daughters of the Rich, New York, N.Y.: The Macaulay Company, page 118:

     But over it, above everything, there mounted that atmosphere which is the marked characteristic of such assemblies, the vaporisation of a sentiment shared by all, that of being among oneselves, and of being thereby generally and solidly united by nothing whatever.

   • 1993, Esther Newton, Cherry Grove, Fire Island: Sixty Years in America's First Gay and Lesbian Town, Boston, M.A.: Beacon Press, →ISBN, page 213:

     For the most part the younger crowd were sexually involved with each other. "One could sort of run around amongst oneselves," Laura recalled, "but certainly one did not invade the love lives, the sacred marriages, of the older group."

   • 1993 March 22, Mike Downey, “Not Even the Final Proof Provides Enough Solace”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[1], Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-31:

     On UCLA's end, the halftime assignment was a hard mix of believing in oneselves and believing in luck.

   • 1994, Christina Crawford, No Safe Place: The Legacy of Family Violence, Barrytown, N.Y.: Station Hill Press, →ISBN, page 9:

     These possibilities are so similar to what actually happened to us as children raised in violence that the current situation may feel like a replay of the past — of being powerless, disbelieved, and unable to defend oneselves or to escape from the problem.

   • 2014, Bruce A. Arrigo, editor, Encyclopedia of Criminal Justice Ethics, volume 2, Los Angeles, C.A. […]: SAGE reference, →ISBN, page 1004, column 1:

     A cost-benefit analysis as applied to volition is the process through which individuals identify their overarching goal or goals, perhaps freely, perhaps not, then choose a particular course of action. The individual would then consider the following variables: the most likely benefits of a particular course of action to oneself (and perhaps others), the possible negative consequences of the act (to oneselves and perhaps others), the likelihood of achieving the benefits, the likelihood of negative consequences and their likely degree, and based on all these factors, whether the course of action will achieve the goal (benefit) with the fewest consequences (costs).

   • 2020 January 9, Marina Hyde, “Meghan and Harry’s story is quite the drama, but it’s no abdication crisis”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-08-08:

     As things stand, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be dividing their time between the UK and North America, and have issued a statement announcing they will "step back as 'senior' members of the royal family". This feels very middle-management speak. I'm not sure it [the statement] is for oneselves to describe oneselves as "senior" members of the royal family in print.

Usage notes

• If an antecedent is specified, themselves is generally preferred, even if the antecedent is ones: "Most of the students were quiet, but the ones in the back constantly bickered among themselves."