herself, pron.
(həˈsɛlf)
[OE. hire self, selfre, f. hire her, dat.-acc. pers. pron. + self. Self was in OE. an adj. which could be inflected in concord with any case of the pronoun; e.g. héo self, hire selfre, h{iacu}e selfe; the dative form is the source of the modern use. For the history of the constructions see self.]
I. Emphatic use. = Very her, very she, that very woman, etc. = L. ipsa.
1. As dative and (later) general objective.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 219 [Ysaie] nemnede hire cun to more and hire su[l]f to gerde. a 1400–50 Alexander 347 Þan suld he say to hire-selfe sadly þire wordis. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 1 Men did more earnestly..seke Vertu for hir selfe. Mod. She was told that it was meant for herself. |
2. Standing in apposition with the nominative pronoun, or with a n. in nominative or objective.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 157 Heo werð hire solf waschen of hire fule sunnen. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. v. iv. 98 And Iulia her selfe did giue it me. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 60 Envy her self at last..Shall give her Hands. 1762 Goldsm. Cit. W. xviii. ¶10 He..went in pursuit of Hansi herself. 1838 Thirlwall Greece V. 43 Sparta herself forming the first. 1864 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. vi. (1875) 78 The Saracen wasted the Mediterranean coasts, and sacked Rome herself. Mod. I heard it from a lady who herself was present. |
3. Taking the place of the nominative pronoun.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10822 (Gött.) Of þat ellde hir self was in [Cott. þat sco was in]. a 1400–50 Alexander 266 Sone as hire selfe it sawe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4642 Hir seluyn is wrothe, And has wroght vs þis wedur. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. i. 81 The iealous ore-worne Widdow, and her selfe..Are mighty Gossips. 1808 T. Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 112 A determination..that herself and her allies will demand from Great Britain no renunciation of her maritime principles. 1814 Byron Lara ii. xxv, Herself would..seat her down upon some linden's root. |
b. Used alone in predicate after be, become, etc., and in adverbial extensions = by herself. to be herself: to be in her normal condition of mind and body, to be in full possession of her faculties: see self.
| c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 453 Oure lady wente here seluyn alone. c 1430 Syr Tryam. 408 There sche travaylyd of a chylde, Hyrselfe allone, withowtyn moo. 1636 Massinger Gt. Dk. Flor. iv. ii, Being herself, then, She must exceed his praise. a 1700 Dryden (J.), The more she looks, the more her fears increase At nearer sight; and she's herself the less. |
c. By Welsh or Gaelic speakers (or in ridicule of their speech) herself, her own self (her nain sel') is used in the same way as her pers. pron. 2 b.
| c 1707 in Scot. Antiq. (1898) XII. 105 Her nane sell does not well farstand tese Nice Points. 1814 Scott Wav. xxix, It was either ta muckle Sunday hersell, or ta little government Sunday. 1828 [see her pers. pron. 2 b]. |
II. Reflexive use. = L. sibi, se; Ger. sich.
4. Dative, and objective with preposition.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 5 Heo hæfde hire sylfre ᵹeworht þæt mæste wite. c 1230 Hali Meid. 5 Ha naueð nawt freo of hire seluen. a 1300 Cursor M. 19790 Bi hir self sco satt vpright. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xvii. 67 As a woman disperate and from herselfe. 1531 Tindale Exp. 1 John (1537) 7 The scripture abydeth pure in herselfe. 1690 Lond. Gaz. No. 2581/4 Much inclined to talk to her self. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 304 Made her..Swerve from her duty to herself and us. |
5. Accusative or direct object.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. i. 2 (Camb. MS.) She constreynede and shronk hyr seluen. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 30 She about her white swere It did, and henge hir selven there. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xvi. 62 She hath habandonned hersilfe..to receyue the false eneas. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. Prol. 256 Syne for disdene alace! her selfin slew. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. i. xiv. (1622) 27 He had been taken by the enemy, if the first legion had not opposed her selfe. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 216 She supported herself..with a greatness of soul altogether incredible. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 303 You have..Perplext her, made her half forget herself. |
III. From the 14th c. probably, as in the corresponding his self, there has been a tendency to treat her as the possessive pronoun, and self as n., whence such expressions as her very self, her own self, her good, dear, sweet self, and the like. See myself, self.
(The formal identity of her personal pron. and her possessive (cf. c 1200 in 1) conceals the difference which is manifest in the parallel himself, his very self.)