selfness C2+ Topic:People & Society US /ˈsɛlfnəs/ UK /ˈsɛlfnəs/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the quality of individual selfhood; egotism or self-regard The mystics sought to dissolve the selfness that bound them to ego. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the quality of individual... selfhoodegotismindividualityself-regard ↔ Opposites selflessness Word family Related forms selfselfhoodselfish Etymology AI details From 'self' (Old English 'self', from Proto-Germanic *selbaz) + '-ness'. self Old English *selbaz Proto-Germanic View etymology graph -> Topics People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # selfness **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈsɛlfnəs/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈsɛlfnəs/ ## Meanings 1. the quality of individual selfhood; egotism or self-regard ## Examples - The mystics sought to dissolve the selfness that bound them to ego. ## Synonyms - selfhood - egotism - individuality - self-regard ## Antonyms - selflessness ## Related Forms - self - selfhood - selfish ## Roots and Affixes - Root: self - Root: *selbaz ## Etymology From 'self' (Old English 'self', from Proto-Germanic *selbaz) + '-ness'. ## AI Etymology Selfness comes from 'self' (Old English 'self', from Proto-Germanic *selbaz) + '-ness'. The historical chain includes Old English self and Proto-Germanic *selbaz. Older glosses in the chain include "self" and "-ness", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, selfness is best read as compound, yielding an English noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun, with the sense "the quality of individual selfhood; egotism or self-regard". related forms include self, selfhood, and selfish. The result is an English noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning. ## Topics - People & Society - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown