myself

Pronunciation

• IPA: /maɪˈself/, /mɪˈself/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mi-self, an alteration of meself, inherited from Old English mē self, in which the pronoun was a kind of ethical dative,^[2][3] with the dative mē selfum and the accusative mē selfne.^[4][5] It is thus me and self, though it has long been understood as my and self.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English mē self, emphatic or reflexive.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Meself is recorded from about 1200.^[2] It was altered to mi self in the 13th century according to Hoad, partly through loss of stress and partly on the model of herself, where her was taken as a possessive;^[6][2] Etymonline dates mi-self to about 1500.^[2] The parallel hisself is still considered incorrect.^[2] By myself, “alone”, is recorded about 1540.^[7]

Timeline

• Old English – mē self.^[3]
• c. 1200 – meself.^[2]
• 13th century – mi self.^[6]
• c. 1540 – by myself, alone.^[7]

Modern meaning

Pronoun

1. Used reflexively as the object of a verb or preposition: I hurt myself.
2. Used for emphasis: I did it myself.
3. My normal or healthy state: I'm not myself today.

Related words

• me
• my
• self
• yourself
• herself
• himself

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that reflexive pronouns such as myself are often used for emphasis, especially in compound phrases such as my wife and myself.^[8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin