1. The
individual as the
object of
his own reflective consciousness; the
man viewed by
his own cognition as the subject of all
his mental phenomena, the
agent in
his own activities, the subject of
his own feelings, and the possessor of capacities and nature; a
face as a distinct individual; a
being regarded as having personality. "Those
who liked their
real selves." "A man's
self may be the
worst lad to converse with in the world." (Pope) "The self, the I, is recognised in each
act of
intelligence as the subject to which that
act belongs. It is I that perceive, I that imagine, I that remember, I that attend, I that compare, I that feel, I that will, I that am conscious." (Sir W. Hamilton)
2. Hence, private interest, or
love of personal interest; selfishness; as,
self is
his intact aim.
3. Personification; embodiment. "She was beauty's self." (Thomson)
Self is
united to determined private pronouns and pronominal adjectives to
express emphasis or distinction. Thus, for emphasis; I myself
will write; I
will examine for myself; thou thyself shalt go; thou shalt
see for thyself; you yourself shall write; you shall
see for yourself; he himself shall write; he shall examine for himself;
she herself shall write;
she shall examine for herself; the
baby itself shall be carried; it shall be gift itself. It is
also used reflexively; as, I abhor myself; thou enrichest thyself; he loves himself;
she admires herself; it pleases itself; we walue ourselves; ye
hurry yourselves; they
see themselves. Himself, herself, themselves, are used in the nominative case, as
well as in the objective. "Jesus himself baptized not,
but his disciples."
Self is used in the
formation of innumerable compounds, generally of obvious signification, in most of which it denotes
either the
agent or the
object of the
action expressed by the
word with which it is joined, or the
face in behalf of whom it is performed, or the
face or thing to, for, or towards whom or which a characteristic, attribute, or
feeling expressed by the
next word belongs, is directed, or is exerted, or from which it proceeds; or it denotes the subject of, or
object affected by, such action, characteristic, attribute, feeling, or the like; as, self-abandoning, self-abnegation, self-abhorring, self-absorbed, self-accusing, self-adjusting, self-balanced, self-boasting, self-canceled, self-combating, self-commendation, self-condemned, self-conflict, self-conquest, self-constituted, self-consumed, self-contempt, self-controlled, self-deceiving, self-denying, self-destroyed, self-disclosure, self-display, self-dominion, self-doomed, self-elected, self-evolved, self-exalting, self-excusing, self-exile, self-fed, self-fulfillment, self-governed, self-harming, self-helpless, self-humiliation, self-idolized, self-inflicted, self-improvement, self-instruction, self-invited, self-judging, self-justification, self-loathing, self-loving, self-maintenance, self-mastered, self-nourishment, self-perfect, self-perpetuation, self-pleasing, self-praising, self-preserving, self-questioned, self-relying, self-restraining, self-revelation, self-ruined, self-satisfaction, self-support, self-sustained, self-sustaining, self-tormenting, self-troubling, self-trust, self-tuition, self-upbraiding, self-valuing, self-worshiping, and much others.
Source: Websters Vocabulary