Standard Lemma guide

illeism

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɪliːɪzəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈɪliɪzəm/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The practice of (excessively) referring to oneself in the third person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, often, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin ille (“that man; he”) + -ism, modelled on egoism.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 第三人称自称 — practice of (excessively) referring to oneself in the third person
  • Dutch: illeïsme — practice of (excessively) referring to oneself in the third person
  • French: illéisme — practice of (excessively) referring to oneself in the third person
  • Galician: ileísmo — practice of (excessively) referring to oneself in the third person
  • German: Illeismus — practice of (excessively) referring to oneself in the third person
  • Indonesian: ileisme — practice of (excessively) referring to oneself in the third person
  • Malay: illeisma — practice of (excessively) referring to oneself in the third person