Dictionary

herself en · PRON

Pronunciation

• /ɐˈsɛl/ (Northumbria)
• /æˈsɛl/ (Northumbria)
• (US) audio
• /hɜːˈsɛlf/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /hɝˈsɛlf/ (General-American)
• /ɚsɛlf/ (General-American)
• /(h)əsɛlf/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English. Equivalent to her + -self.

Meanings

1. (feminine, personal, pronoun, reflexive, singular, third-person) Her; the feminine object of a verb or preposition that also appears as the subject.
   • Lizzo, who is known for messages of self-love and wider acceptance, has recently said as much as she shared that she is encouraging a stance of body neutrality for herself and others. 2023 May 29, Madeline Holcombe, “Lizzo is teaching us about body neutrality. Here is what it means and how to get there”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Apr 2024:
   • Sandra injured herself.
   • The United States is causing problems for herself with this policy.
   • This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
2. (emphatic, feminine, personal, pronoun, singular, third-person) She; an intensifier of the female subject or object, often used to indicate the directness or exclusiveness of that person .
   • She was injured herself.
3. (Ireland, feminine, personal, pronoun, singular, third-person) The subject or non-reflexive object of a predicate; she (used of upper-class ladies, or sarcastically, of women who imagine themselves to be more important than others)
   • Have you seen herself yet this morning?
   • What's herself up to this time?
   • Was anyone hurted? Sure, they were just trailin' theirselves off the ground. Ye wud have died larfin'. There's Jimmy Hanlon was never his own man since, and I had me nose broke on me—I find it yet—and some says there was a wee girl from Tanderagee got herself killed. 1915, Charles L Graves, Humours of Irish life, pages 241-242:

Forms

Deriveds

every woman for herself

Relateds

Ime · they · he · themhem · mymineme · me · thou · your · all yours y'all's you guys' your guys' · her · thyselftheeselfthysen · she · themselvestheirsen · y'allselves · oursourn · our · themself · himselfhisselfhissen · The following table shows a list of English personal pronoun · itselfhitself · one · yourselves · mine · all your y'all's your all's you guys' your guys' · yoursyourn · archaic forms are in italics. 1 See Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for attested neopronoun. · yourselfyoursen · itshishits · itshis · ourselvesourselfoursen · us · – · their · him · we · you · one's · ithit · hishisn · including archaic and dialectal forms. Dialectal and obsolete · thythine · myselfmemysen · theirstheirn · hershern · his · themselves · herselfhersen · youye · thine · you ally'all you guys yous · them · theirs · 'em · oneself · thee

Translations (70)

ca es ((reflexive object) her) · se iežas ((reflexive object) her) · nv tʼáá hó ((reflexive object) her) · be сабо́й ((reflexive object) her) · eo sin ((reflexive object) her) · la sibi ((reflexive object) her) · ru сама́ ((as intensifier) she) · es se ((reflexive object) her) · no seg ((reflexive object) her) · de sie selbst ((as intensifier) she) · ckb خۆی ((as intensifier) she) · es ella misma ((reflexive object) her) · hu maga ((as intensifier) she) · pt se ((reflexive object) her) · la suī ((reflexive object) her) · rmf pes ((reflexive object) her) · ca mateixa ((as intensifier) she) · uk вона́ сама́ ((as intensifier) she) · la sēsē ((reflexive object) her) · it lei stessa ((as intensifier) she) · sv sig själv ((as intensifier) she) · de sich ((reflexive object) her) · la sē ((reflexive object) her) · cs jí ((as intensifier) she) · ro se ((reflexive object) her) · be сабе́ ((reflexive object) her) · be -цца ((reflexive object) her) · es ella misma ((as intensifier) she) · cmn 她自己 ((as intensifier) she) · ko 그 여자 자신 ((as intensifier) she) · sh себе ((reflexive object) her) · cy ei hun ((reflexive object) her) · ar نَفْسُهَا ((as intensifier) she) · nv tʼáá bí ((reflexive object) her) · dsb se ((reflexive object) her) · fi hän ... itse ((as intensifier) she) · grc ἑαυτήν ((reflexive object) her) · ru себя́ ((reflexive object) her) · grc ἑαυτῇ ((reflexive object) her) · grc αὐτή ((as intensifier) she) · be сябе́ ((reflexive object) her) · vo oki ((reflexive object) her) · pt a si (própria/mesma) ((reflexive object) her) · yi זיך ((reflexive object) her) · be яна́ сама́ ((as intensifier) she) · se ieš ((as intensifier) she) · ja 彼女自身 ((as intensifier) she) · grc ἑαυτῆς ((reflexive object) her) · ro ea însăși ((as intensifier) she) · fi itsensä ((reflexive object) her) · nrf ielle-mesme ((as intensifier) she) · es sí misma ((reflexive object) her) · pt ela mesma ((as intensifier) she) · lv viņa pati ((as intensifier) she) · hu magát ((reflexive object) her) · cy ei hunan ((reflexive object) her) · sv sig ((as intensifier) she) · sh sebe ((reflexive object) her) · sk ona sama ((as intensifier) she) · fr elle-même ((reflexive object) her) · tyv боду ((reflexive object) her) · la ipsa ((as intensifier) she) · ase A@Chesthigh SmallFrontandback ((as intensifier) she) · sah бэйэтэ ((reflexive object) her) · nl zijzelf ((as intensifier) she) · kjh позы ((reflexive object) her) · mfe limem ((reflexive object) her) · rom pes ((reflexive object) her) · fr elle-même ((as intensifier) she) · jam arself ((reflexive object) her)