myself

A2 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

Also spelled masel, mysef, and mysel

US /maɪˈsɛlf/ See IPA manual

Freq #319

Meanings

1

pron
Used as the object of a verb or preposition when the speaker is also the subject.

I taught myself to play the guitar.
2

pron
Used to emphasise that I personally did or experienced something.

I myself have witnessed the event.
3

pron
In my normal, healthy state of body or mind.

After a good night's sleep, I felt like myself again.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

Word family

Related forms he herherselfhersenhershernhimhimselfhisselfhissenhishishisnimeithititselfhitselfitshis

Etymology

From Middle English myself, meself, from Old English mē selfum and similar phrases, equivalent to me + self, later partly reinterpreted as my + self / -self. Cognate with Scots mysel, mysell (“myself”), West Frisian mysels (“myself”), Dutch mijzelf (“myself”), German mich selbst, mir selbst (“myself”), Norwegian Bokmål meg selv (“myself”).

myself Middle English mē Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# myself

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** pron
**IPA (US):** /maɪˈsɛlf/
**Frequency rank:** 319

## Meanings
1. Used as the object of a verb or preposition when the speaker is also the subject.
2. Used to emphasise that I personally did or experienced something.
3. In my normal, healthy state of body or mind.

## Examples
- I taught myself to play the guitar.
- I myself have witnessed the event.
- After a good night's sleep, I felt like myself again.

## Synonyms
- me

## Related Forms
- he
- her
- herselfhersen
- hershern
- him
- himselfhisselfhissen
- his
- hishisn
- ime
- ithit
- itselfhitself
- itshis

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: myself
- Root: mē

## Etymology
From Middle English myself, meself, from Old English mē selfum and similar phrases, equivalent to me + self, later partly reinterpreted as my + self / -self. Cognate with Scots mysel, mysell (“myself”), West Frisian mysels (“myself”), Dutch mijzelf (“myself”), German mich selbst, mir selbst (“myself”), Norwegian Bokmål meg selv (“myself”).

## AI Etymology
Myself comes from Middle English myself, meself, from Old English mē selfum and similar phrases, equivalent to me + self, later partly reinterpreted as my + self / -self. Cognate with Scots mysel, mysell (“myself”), West Frisian mysels (“myself”), Dutch mijzelf (“myself”), German mich selbst, mir selbst (“myself”), Norwegian Bokmål meg selv (“myself”). In present-day English its meanings include used as the object of a verb or preposition when the speaker is also the subject, used to emphasise that I personally did or experienced something, and in my normal, healthy state of body or mind. The historical chain runs through myself (Middle English) and mē (Old English). Related and derived forms include he, her, and herselfhersen.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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