Dictionary

find oneself en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈfaɪnd wʌnsɛlf/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To learn, or attempt to learn, the essence or nature of one's character and the aims or desires one pursues in life.
   • When he was in his early twenties, he backpacked around Europe to find himself.
   • All that mattered now was figuring out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. It was time to find herself again. The shelby she'd been without Drew. Strong and confident. 2017 June, Lexi Blake, Revenge, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 292:
   • I don't know what was said, my baby / I thought that everything was fine / You say you got to get away, to find yourself 1981, Atlantic Starr, “Send For Me”, in Radiant:
2. (idiomatic) To unexpectedly or unintentionally begin to do or experience something.
   • [Danny] Boyle revives some of the stylistic tics which found themselves being ripped off by geezer-gangster Britflicks back in the day, but now the freezeframes are briefer, sharper; the movie itself refers back to the original with variant flashback versions of famous scenes, but also Super 8-type images of the boys' poignant boyhood in primary school. 2017 January 19, Peter Bradshaw, “T2 Trainspotting review – choose a sequel that doesn’t disappoint”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 20 Jan 2017:
   • he found himself enveloped in a frothy abundance of frills and fal-lals, lace at the wrists, lace round the neck, with flutters of ribbon here and there. 1914, Ernest Scott, The Life of Captain Matthew:
   • Anne and Henrietta, finding themselves the earliest of the party the next morning, agreed to stroll down to the sea before breakfast. 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter XII, in Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume III, London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC, page 241:
   • There is a scene in the popular movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" when the character Cameron finds himself at the Art Institute of Chicago transfixed by "A Sunday Afternoon on The Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat. 2015, Nathan W. Harter, “Cameron Finds Himself Transfixed by “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte””, in Leadership and Coherence: A Cognitive Approach (Leadership: Research & Practice), New York, N.Y.; Hove, East Sussex: Routledge, →ISBN, page 71:
   • As you enter the cafe, you find yourself wondering why they decided to paint the entire room blue.
   • When news of his wife’s murder spread around the media, he found himself in front of a press conference explaining his actions.
3. (idiomatic) To be in a particular state of mind.
   • How do you find yourself this morning?
4. (literally) To find (something) for oneself.
   • On entering the ſervice he finds himſelf a horſe, and when that dies he is mounted by government; when his horſe dies proper officers make out a certificate thereof, which is called a ſaketnameh, in order that his pay may be regulated accordingly, for until he has found another horſe, he ceaſes to draw any pay for one; and if he neglects to obtain the certificate, he is not allowed any thing from the time of the laſt muſter. 1800, Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, “The Ahdy”, in Francis Gladwin, transl., Ayeen Akbery; or The Institutes of the Emperor Akber. Translated from the Original Persian … In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Printed by G. Auld, Greville-Street, for J. Sewell [et al.], →OCLC, part II (Containing Regulations for the Military Department), page 205:
   • I need to find myself a boat.
5. (literally) To discover oneself to be in a particular place.
   • If you found yourselves some day at the base of Mont Blanc, where that giant of mountains strikes his immovable foundations into the earth, and if you saw some little ants issuing from their hillock, labouring, scraping, picking, running, taking, one a blade of grass, another a grain of sand, would you believe that Mont Blanc was about to be annihilated? 1851, J[ean]-H[enri] Merle D’Aubigné, “Discourse I. The Testimony of God.”, in W. K. Tweedie, transl., Rationalism and Popery Refuted: Three Courses on the Authority of the Scriptures. … Translated from the French, with a Preface, London; Edinburgh: Johnstone & Hunter, →OCLC, page 8:
   • I got drunk and woke to find myself in the neighbour’s garden the next morning.

Forms

Translations (30)

nb befinne seg (to be in a particular state of mind) · ro se trezi (to unexpectedly or unintentionally begin to do or experience something) · nb føle seg (to be in a particular state of mind) · fi olla ... tuulella (to be in a particular state of mind) · hu találja magát (to discover oneself to be in a particular place) · cmn 发现自我 (to learn what kind of person one is) · fi löytää itsensä (to learn what kind of person one is) · da finde sig (to discover oneself to be in a particular place) · uk опиня́тися (to discover oneself to be in a particular place) · fi löytää itsensä (to discover oneself to be in a particular place) · da befinde sig selv (to learn what kind of person one is) · fi löytää itselleen (to find (something) for oneself) · nl zich in een bepaalde plek bevinden (to discover oneself to be in a particular place) · fr se surprendre à (to unexpectedly or unintentionally begin to do or experience something) · ro se regăsi (to learn what kind of person one is) · da finde sig selv (to learn what kind of person one is) · de die Identität finden (to learn what kind of person one is) · pl rozumieć się (to learn what kind of person one is) · eo sintrovi (to discover oneself to be in a particular place) · fr trouver sa voie (to learn what kind of person one is) · da have det (to be in a particular state of mind) · nb finne seg (to find (something) for oneself) · fi löytää itsensä (to unexpectedly or unintentionally begin to do or experience something) · nb finne seg selv (to learn what kind of person one is) · da opdage man er (to unexpectedly or unintentionally begin to do or experience something) · it ritrovarsi (to discover oneself to be in a particular place) · ro se pomeni (to unexpectedly or unintentionally begin to do or experience something) · pl zrozumieć się (to learn what kind of person one is) · uk опини́тися (to discover oneself to be in a particular place) · da finde sig (to find (something) for oneself)