(h)ə(r)ˈ ̷ ̷ pronoun
Etymology: Middle English hire self, from Old English hiere self, hire self, hyre self, dative of hēo self, hīo self she herself — more at he , self
1. : that identical female one : that identical one regarded as feminine (as by personification) — compare she I 1; used (1) reflexively as object of a preposition or direct or indirect object of a verb
she devotes a lot of time to her children and very little to herself
she bought herself some clothes
she considers herself lucky
(2) for emphasis in apposition with she, who, that, or a noun
she herself painted the room
she did it herself
the housewife herself bought the groceries
the housewife bought the groceries herself
armies threatened Rome herself
my mother, who was young once herself
(3) for emphasis instead of nonreflexive her as object of a preposition or direct or indirect object of a verb
I looked beside me then, and I saw herself — Padraic Colum
(4) for emphasis instead of she or instead of she herself as subject of a verb
she told me that neither her husband nor herself could attend the meeting
or as predicate nominative
it's herself she's trying to convince
or in comparisons after than or as
she met another woman as tall as herself
(5) in absolute constructions
herself an orphan, the authoress shows deep understanding of the problems of the orphan girl whose story she tells
2. : her normal, healthy, or sane condition
she came to herself
: her normal, healthy, or sane self
ill for a week, she is now herself again
3. Scotland : myself , yourself , himself , itself — used especially in literary representations of the English spoken by Scottish Highlanders; compare she I 2
4. Irish & Scotland : a woman of consequence ; especially : the mistress of the house
where's herself
5. : yourself
did she hurt herself
— compare himself 4