Self (?), a. Having its own or a single nature or character, as in color, composition, etc., without addition or change; unmixed; as, a self
bow, one made from a single piece of wood; self flower or plant, one
which is wholly of one
color; self-colored.
Self , n.; pl.
Selves (&?;). 1.
The individual as the object
of his own reflective consciousness; the man viewed by his own cognition as the subject of all his mental phenomena, the agent in his
own activities, the subject of his own feelings, and the possessor of capacities and character; a person as a distinct individual; a being regarded as having personality.
"Those who liked their real selves." Addison.
A man's self may be
the worst fellow to converse with in the world.
Pope. The
self, the I, is recognized in
every act of intelligence as the subject to which that act belongs. It is I that perceive, I that imagine, I that remember, I that attend, I that compare, I that feel, I that will, I that am conscious.
Sir
W. Hamilton. 2. Hence, personal interest, or love of private interest; selfishness; as, self is his
whole aim.
3. Personification; embodiment. [Poetic.]
She was beauty's self.
Thomson. &fist; Self is united to
certain personal
pronouns and pronominal
adjectives to express emphasis or distinction. Thus, for emphasis; I myself will write; I
will examine for myself; thou thyself shalt go; thou shalt see for thyself; you yourself shall write; you shall see for
yourself; he himself shall write; he shall examine for himself; she herself shall write; she shall examine for herself; the child itself shall be carried; it shall be present itself. It is also used
reflexively; as, I abhor myself; thou enrichest thyself;
he loves himself; she admires herself; it pleases itself; we walue ourselves; ye hurry yourselves; they see themselves. Himself, herself,
themselves, are
used in the nominative case, as well as in the objective. "Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples." John iv. 2.
&fist;
self is used in the formation of innumerable compounds, usually of obvious signification, in most of which
it denotes either the agent or
the object of the action
expressed by the word with which it is
joined, or the person in behalf of whom it is
performed, or the person or thing to, for,
or towards whom or which
a quality, attribute, or feeling expressed by the following word belongs, is directed, or is exerted, or
from which it proceeds; or it denotes the
subject of, or object affected by, such action, quality, attribute, feeling, or the like; as,
self-abandoning, self-abnegation, self-abhorring, self-absorbed, self-accusing, self-adjusting, self-balanced, self-boasting, self-canceled, self-combating, self-commendation, self-condemned, self-conflict, self-conquest, self-constituted, self-consumed, self-contempt, self-controlled, self-deceiving, self-denying, self-destroyed, self-disclosure, self-display, self-dominion, self-doomed,
self-elected, self-evolved, self-exalting, self-excusing, self-exile, self-fed, self- fulfillment, self-governed, self-harming, self- helpless, self-humiliation, self-idolized, self-
inflicted, self-improvement, self-instruction, self-invited, self-judging, self-justification, self-loathing, self-loving, self-maintenance, self-mastered, self-nourishment, self-perfect, self-perpetuation, self-pleasing, self-praising, self-preserving, self-questioned, self-relying, self-restraining, self-revelation, self-ruined, self-satisfaction, self-support, self-sustained, self-sustaining, self-tormenting, self-troubling, self-trust, self-tuition, self-upbraiding, self-valuing, self-worshiping, and many others.
Self (s&ebreve;lf), a. [AS. self, seolf, sylf; akin to OS.
self, OFries. self, D. zelf, G. selb, selber, selbst, Dan. selv. Sw. sjelf, Icel.
sjālfr, Goth. silba. Cf. Selvage.]
Same; particular; very; identical. [Obs., except in the
compound selfsame.] "On these self hills." Sir. W. Raleigh.
To
shoot another arrow that self way
Which you did
shoot the first.
Shak. At that self moment enters
Palamon.
Dryden.