Phrase guide

know thyself

proverb · 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

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  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛlf

1

proverb

Meaning 1

Be aware of your own strengths and limitations.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: also

Topics: human-sciences, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Calque of Ancient Greek γνῶθι σεαυτόν (gnôthi seautón), one of the Delphic maxims, popularly attributed to various Ancient Greek sages. The proverb in Latin is given as nōsce tē ipsum.

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: رحم الله امرَأً عرف قدر نفسه — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Old Armenian: ծանի՛ր զքեզ (canír zkʻez) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Azerbaijani: özünü tanı — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Breton: en em anavez da-unan — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自知 (zìzhī) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Dutch: ken uzelf — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Esperanto: konu vin mem — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Finnish: tunne itsesi — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • French: connais-toi toi-même — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Galician: coñécete a ti mesmo — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • German: erkenne dich selbst — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Greek: γνώθι σαυτόν (gnóthi saftón) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Ancient Greek: γνῶθι σεαυτόν (gnôthi seautón) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Ancient Greek: γνῶθι σαυτόν (gnôthi sautón) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Italian: conosci te stesso — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Japanese: 汝自身を知れ (nanjijishin o shire) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Japanese: 汝自らを知れ (nanjimizukara o shire) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Korean: 너 자신을 알라 (neo jasineul alla) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Latin: nōsce tē — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kjenn deg selv — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kjenn deg sjølv — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Persian: خودت رو بشناس (xodat row bešenâs) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Polish: poznaj samego siebie — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Portuguese: conhece-te a ti mesmo — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Portuguese: conhece a ti mesmo — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Punjabi: ਆਪੇ ਨੂੰ ਪਛਾਣੋ (āpe nū̃ pachāṇo) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Russian: позна́й самого́ себя́ (poznáj samovó sebjá) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Serbo-Croatian: по̀зна̄ј се̏бе — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Serbo-Croatian: спо̀зна̄ј се̏бе — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Serbo-Croatian: pòznāj sȅbe — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Serbo-Croatian: spòznāj sȅbe — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Slovak: poznaj sám seba — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Spanish: conócete a ti mismo — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Swedish: känn dig själv — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Turkish: kendini bil — be aware of both your strengths and limitations
  • Ukrainian: пізна́й само́го себе́ (piznáj samóho sebé) — be aware of both your strengths and limitations