SELF (selves)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: selves   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does self mean? 

• SELF (noun)
  The noun SELF has 2 senses:

1. your consciousness of your own identity

2. a person considered as a unique individual

  Familiarity information: SELF used as a noun is rare.

• SELF (adjective)
  The adjective SELF has 1 sense:

1. (used as a combining form) relating to--of or by or to or from or for--the self

  Familiarity information: SELF used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SELF (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Your consciousness of your own identity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

ego; self

Hypernyms ("self" is a kind of...):

consciousness (an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "self"):

anima ((Jungian psychology) the inner self (not the external persona) that is in touch with the unconscious)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person considered as a unique individual

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

one's own self

Hypernyms ("self" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "self"):

number one (a reference to yourself or myself etc.; 'take care of number one' means to put your own interests first)

• SELF (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(used as a combining form) relating to--of or by or to or from or for--the self

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

self-induced

Pertainym:

self (a person considered as a unique individual)

 Context examples 

What wild imaginations one forms where dear self is concerned!

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

She wished Isabella had talked more like her usual self, and not so much about money, and had not looked so well pleased at the sight of Captain Tilney.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Quite unlike his usual self, he scarcely said anything.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient appear to feel good or to be too happy, different from his/her usual self?

(NPI - Appear to Feel Good or to Be Too Happy, NCI Thesaurus)

Surely they don't want me for myself, for myself is the same old self they did not want.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Here was the task, not what she had expected, but better because self had no part in it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

If he don't bring me back a lady, and I don't pray for my own self, I'll pray for all.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Arthur spoke out heartily, like his old self:—Dr. Van Helsing, you may do what you will.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

In my position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place one’s self under obligations.’

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I've always liked you, I have, for a lad of spirit, and the picter of my own self when I was young and handsome.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)