Etymologically
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myself

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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.

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