I. ˈself, ˈseu̇f, South often ˈse(ə)f pronoun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English self, seolf, sylf; akin to Old Frisian & Old Saxon self, Old High German selb, Old Norse sjālfr, Gothic silba; akin to Latin se oneself — more at suicide
1. : myself
he died when we — self , two brothers, one sister — were very young — Current Biography
2. : himself , herself
his family, living in a four-roomed house, consisted of self , wife, and six — I.J.C.Brown
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English self, seolf, sylf
1. obsolete : belonging to oneself : own
by self and violent hands took off her life — Shakespeare
2. obsolete : identical , same
that self chain about his neck which he forswore most monstrously to have — Shakespeare
3.
a. : having a single character or quality throughout : uniform , unmixed ; specifically : having one color only : self-colored
self a flower
b. of an archer's bow : made of a single piece of wood — contrasted with backed
c. : of the same kind (as in color, material, or pattern) as something with which it is used
a self belt
a self trimming
III. noun
( plural selves ˈselvz, ˈseu̇vz, South often ˈse(ə)vz ; see sense 6 )
Etymology: Middle English, from self, pron.
1.
a. : the entire person of an individual
his fair daughter's self … is my object — Robert Browning
b. : the realization or embodiment of an abstract quality
she was beauty's self — James Thomson †1748
2.
a. : a personality or mode of behavior regarded as typical of a particular individual
his true self was at last revealed
b. : an aspect of one's personality predominant at a certain time or under certain conditions
his better self
his weaker self
his reckless self
my clothes keep my various selves buttoned up together — L.P.Smith
c. : a person in his normal state of health or best physical or mental condition
feel like my old self today
looked like his old self in the ring
3.
a. : the integrated unity of subjective experience specifically including those characteristics and attributes of the experiencing organism of which it is reflexively aware
b. : the internal regulatory system of response and activity tendencies within the organism : the source of social adaptation and growth of the individual personality
c. : the dynamic organization of patterns of behavior acquired through social frustration
4. : personal interest or advantage : self-interest
the really successful people in it are those who put service before self — Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
5.
a. usually capitalized , objective idealism : the supreme self : absolute
b.
(1) often capitalized , Hinduism : atman
(2) Buddhism : a dynamic unstable agglomerate of skandhas that in itself possesses no inherent substantiality or enduring quality and that continues in constant flux until final dissolution at death
6. plural selfs -fs
a. : an individual produced by self-fertilization — distinguished from crossbred
b. : a self-colored individual
IV. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to cause (individuals of the same race or strain) to breed together : inbreed
2. : to pollinate with pollen from the same flower or plant : self-fertilize : self-pollinate
intransitive verb
: to engage in self-pollinating : undergo self-pollination
try to prevent test strains from selfing
V. noun
: material that is part of an individual organism
ability of the immune system to distinguish self from nonself