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self definition

self (self)

noun pl. selves

  1. the identity, character, or essential qualities of any person or thing
  2. one's own person as distinct from all others
  3. one's own welfare, interest, or advantage; selfishness obsessed with self

Etymology: ME < OE, prob. < IE *selo- < base *se-, refl. pron., orig. separate, apart (> L sibi, se) + *(o)lo-, pron. suffix: basic sense “itself, by itself”

pronoun

Informal myself, himself, herself, or yourself tickets for self and wife

adjective

  1. being uniform or the same throughout
  2. of the same kind, nature, color, material, etc. as the rest a self lining, self trim

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

medical self definition - medical

self Synonyms

self

modif.

of one's self, by one's self, by one's own effort; see alone 1, individual 1.


self

n.

oneself, one's being, inner nature, ego, individual, person; see also character 2.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

self Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • employ: Coach wanted for evenings mainly lessons on a self employed basis.

Adjective modifier

  • inner: Buddha allowed only " the miracles of the revelation of man's inner self.

Modifies a noun

  • catering: Crown Gardens offers stylish luxury self catering accomodation in central Brighton.

Noun used with modifier

  • luxury: Crown Gardens offers stylish luxury self catering accomodation in central Brighton.
self usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

self quotes

To live in prison is to live without mirrors. To live without mirrors is to live without the self.

-Atwood, Margaret Eleanor

The selfcannot be escaped, but it can be, with ingenuity and hard work, distracted. 62

-Barthelme, Donald

Just when we are safest, there's a sunset-touch, A fancy from a flower-bell, some one's death, A chorus-ending from Euripides,ö And that's enough for fifty hopes and fears As old and new at once as Nature's self, To rap and knock and enter in our soul. Take hands and dance there, a fantastic ring, Round the ancient idol, on his base again,ö The grand Perhaps.

-Browning, Robert

self quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"self." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/self>

APA Style

self. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/self

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