adj · name · noun · pron · verb · 21 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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rhymes with -ɛlf
CMU ARPABET:S EH1 L F
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Having its own or a single nature or character throughout, as in colour, composition, etc., without addition or change; of the same kind; unmixed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
a self bow: one made from a single piece of wood
a self flower or plant: one which is wholly of one colour
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Same, identical.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
Examples
self-coloured
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Belonging to oneself; own.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adj
Meaning 4
Of or relating to any molecule, cell, or tissue of an organism's own (belonging to the self), as opposed to a foreign (nonself) molecule, cell, or tissue (for example, infective, allogenic, or xenogenic).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: molecular biology
Topics: immunology, medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: nonself
5
name
Meaning 5
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
name
Meaning 6
A freed slave surname originating as an occupation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
name
Meaning 7
An unincorporated community in Boone County, Arkansas, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
One individual's personality, character, demeanor, or disposition.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
She remained her usual cheerful self despite recent setbacks
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
9
noun
Meaning 9
The subject of one's own experience of phenomena: perception, emotions, thoughts.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
10
noun
Meaning 10
An individual person as the object of the person's own reflective consciousness (plural selves).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
11
noun
Meaning 11
Self-interest or personal advantage.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
12
noun
Meaning 12
A seedling produced by self-pollination (plural selfs).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
13
noun
Meaning 13
A flower having its colour uniform as opposed to variegated.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
14
noun
Meaning 14
Any molecule, cell, or tissue of an organism's own (belonging to the self), as opposed to a foreign (nonself) molecule, cell, or tissue (for example, infective, allogenic, or xenogenic).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: molecular biology
Topics: immunology, medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
15
pron
Meaning 15
Himself, herself, itself, themself, themselves; that specific (person mentioned).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, rare
Examples
This argument was put forward by the defendant self.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
16
pron
Meaning 16
Myself, oneself.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: humorous
Topics: business, commerce, commercial
Examples
I made out a cheque, payable to self, which cheered me up somewhat.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
17
verb
Meaning 17
To fertilize by the same individual; to self-fertilize or self-pollinate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
18
verb
Meaning 18
To fertilize by the same strain; to inbreed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
19
adjective
Meaning 19
(used as a combining form) relating to--of or by or to or from or for--the self
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
self-knowledge
self-proclaimed
self-induced
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
20
noun
Meaning 20
your consciousness of your own identity
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
From Middle English salve, self, silf, from Old English self, seolf, sylf, from Proto-Germanic *selbaz, from Proto-Indo-European *selbh- (“one's own”). Cognates Cognates with Saterland Frisian sälven, säärm, sääuwen (“oneself”), West Frisian sels (“oneself”), Bavarian söbe (“identical, same”), söber (“self”), Dutch zelf (“myself, oneself”), German selber (“self”), selbst (“by oneself”), Luxembourgish selwer (“self”), Yiddish זעלב (zelb, “same”), Danish selv (“self”), Elfdalian siuov (“self”), Faroese sjálvur (“self”), Icelandic sjálfur (“self”), Norwegian Bokmål selv, Norwegian Nynorsk sjølv, Swedish själv (“self”), Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌱𐌰 (silba, “self”).
* From self. A surname taken up by freed slaves, who have become of themselves, they being self-owned.
Across languages
Translations
87 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
vetvetja
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Southern Altai:
ӧс
(ös)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Arabic:
نَفْس
(nafs)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Arabic:
نفس
(nafs)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Azerbaijani:
öz
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Baluchi:
وت
(wat)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Belarusian:
сам
(sam)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Bengali:
খোদ
(khōd)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Bhojpuri:
खुद
(khud)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Central Bikol:
sadiri
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Chinese Cantonese:
自己
(zi6 gei2)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Chinese Mandarin:
自己
(zìjǐ)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Chinese Mandarin:
自我
(zìwǒ)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Wu Chinese:
自家
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Crimean Tatar:
özü
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Danish:
selv
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Dutch:
zelf
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Finnish:
itse
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
French:
soi
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
West-Frisian:
sels
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
German:
Selbst
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Greek:
εαυτός
(eaftós)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Hawaiian:
ponoʻī
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Hebrew:
עֶצֶם
(étsem)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Hindi:
खुद
(khud)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Hindi:
ख़ुद
(xud)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Hindi:
स्वयं
(svayã)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Hindi:
नफ्स
(naphs)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Hindi:
ज़ात
(zāt)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Hungarian:
önvaló
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Ido:
ipsa
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Indonesian:
sendiri
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Irish:
féin
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Italian:
stesso
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Japanese:
自己
(jiko)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Japanese:
自身
(jíshin)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Japanese:
自我
(jiga)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Javanese:
dhéwé
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Kazakh:
өз
(öz)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Khakas:
пос
(pos)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Korean:
자신
(jasin)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Korean:
자기자신
(jagijasin)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Central Kurdish:
خۆ
(xo)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Laki:
وِژ
(wij)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Northern Kurdish:
xwe
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Southern Kurdish:
خوە
(xwe)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Latin:
idem
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Latvian:
patība
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Lithuanian:
pats
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Lithuanian:
pati
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Macedonian:
себство
(sebstvo)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Manchu:
ᠪᡝᠶ᠋ᡝ
(beye)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Māori:
whaiaro
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Marathi:
स्वतः
(svataḥ)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Norwegian:
selv
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Norwegian Nynorsk:
sjølv
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Persian:
خود
(xod)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Portuguese:
si-próprio
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Russian:
сам
(sam)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Russian:
себя́
(sebjá)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Russian:
собо́й
(sobój)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Sanskrit:
स्वयं
(svayaṃ)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Sanskrit:
आत्मन्
(ātmán)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Serbo-Croatian:
sebstvo
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Spanish:
yo
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Spanish:
ser
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Spanish:
uno mismo
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Swahili:
enyewe
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Swedish:
själv
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Tagalog:
sarili
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Tamil:
சுயம்
(cuyam)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Thai:
ตน
(dton)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Thai:
ตัวตน
(dtuua-dton)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Thai:
อัตตา
(àt-dtaa)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Tibetan:
རང་ཉིད
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Tocharian A:
āñcäm
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Tocharian B:
āñme
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Turkish:
kendi
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Turkish:
öz
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Tuvan:
бот
(bot)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Ukrainian:
сам
(sam)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Urdu:
خود
(xud)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Vietnamese:
bản thân
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Welsh:
hunan
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Yakut:
бэйэ
(beye)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Zazaki:
xo (diq)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
Zazaki:
ho (diq)
— individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness
