ego

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɛɡəʊ/; /ˈiːɡəʊ/ (UK); /ˈiɡoʊ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ego (“I”),^[2][3][4] cognate with Old English ic (see I).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In metaphysics, the self, that which feels, acts or thinks: by 1707 in Etymonline, implied in egoity;^[3] 1789 in Barnhart and the OED, in Cowper's letters.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Egotism (1714) suggests the word was used earlier.^[2] The psychoanalytic sense, the conscious part of the mind contrasted with the id, appeared in 1910 in a translation of Freud's Ich;^[2] the OED records the psychological sense from 1894.^[5] Conceit, self-importance, is first recorded in 1891, in Kipling's The Light that Failed.^[2][3][5] Ego trip is attested by 1969.^[3] Egoism and egoist are from 1785, from French.^[2]

Timeline

• 1707 – the self (metaphysics).^[3]
• 1714 – egotism.^[2]
• 1785 – egoism.^[2]
• 1891 – conceit.^[2]
• 1910 – the psychoanalytic ego.^[2]
• 1969 – ego trip.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The self, especially as distinct from the world and other selves.
2. (psychoanalysis) The conscious part of the mind, which mediates between the id and reality.
3. Self-esteem; one's image of oneself: to boost one's ego.
4. An exaggerated sense of self-importance; conceit.

Word family

• egoless
• egophony
• nonego
• egocentric
• egoism
• egoist
• egoistic
• egomania

Related words

• egotism
• id
• superego
• alter ego

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press