yourself, pron.
(jʊəˈsɛlf, jɔːˈsɛlf)
Forms: see your and self.
[ME. ȝour self(e, ȝour selven, superseding earlier nom. ȝe selfe, and acc.-dat. eow selve(n, ȝou self: see self A. 2–4. The development of the sing. use through the honorific pl. use followed the precedent of ye, you, your.]
The emphatic and reflexive pronoun corresponding to you.
I. In plural sense: now replaced by yourselves.
† 1. emphatic, = yourselves 1, 2. Obs.
| c 1325 in E.E.P. (1862) 134 Þe soþeȝe may ȝor self ise. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 1095 Al þe nede & þe noy þat ȝe now suffren By a-sent of ȝour-silf, ȝe sain þat ȝe dryen. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 179 Þat.. her-by schulde be..worschipe to god & endeles good to ȝouwre self. c 1400 Destr. Troy 5036 All the wise how it was ye wetyn your selfe. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 195 Preistis, thole to preiche, Sen ȝe ȝour self can preiche na thing. |
| β 13.. Cursor M. 780 (Gött.) Als goddes suld ȝur seluen be. c 1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) xxx, Ȝe most noue take ȝour leue, For ȝoure seluun knauyn the cace. |
† 2. refl. = yourselves 4. Obs.
| 13.. Cursor M. 16653 (Gött.) Ne wepe ȝe noght for me, Bot on ȝur childer and ȝurself [Cott. ȝowself]. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 4 Wil ȝe not sei wiþin ȝor self we haue þe fadir Abraham. 1426 Audelay Poems 9 Do fore ȝoure self ore ȝe gone, Or mede of God get ȝe none. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 9 Ye proude galants that thus your selfe disguise. 1572 Abp. Parker Corr. (Parker Soc.) 391 Think you, that this way you among yourself shall escape? |
| β c 1400 Destr. Troy 12843 But the noble Duke Nestor onon to hom said:..‘Sendis fro youre-seluyn to your syde londis.’ 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 2730 Ye sholde alway your syluen shewe Wyth cherysshyng ffyr of plesaunce. |
II. In singular sense (originally as a honorific plural: cf. you II, your 2 b): replacing thyself.
* Emphatic.
3. a. In apposition with ye or you (usually as subj., less commonly as pred. or obj.), or after a verb in the imperative.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 350 Þaȝ ȝe ȝour-self be talenttyf to take hit to your-seluen. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3309 And ye sothely, your selfe,..Shal be worshipped worthely. a 1553 Udall Royster D. iii. v. (Arb.) 58 R. Royster. If it were an other but thou, it were a knaue. M. Mery. Ye are an other your selfe, sir. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. i. i. 154 Henceforth, carry your letters youre selfe. c 1600 ― Sonn. xiii, You are No longer yours, then you your selfe here liue. 1707 Freind Peterborow's Cond. Sp. 211 You will hardly believe your self, what this Letter informs you of. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vi. ii, Suppose she should have fixed on the very Person whom you yourself would wish. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxvii, I hope I may see you happily married yourself some of these days. 1861 C. M. Yonge Stokesley Secret vi, ‘Johnnie!—get sticks, I say.’..Johnnie uttered a gruff ‘Get 'em yourself.’ 1890 Burnand Very Much Abr. 103 You certainly gave me to understand you had been there yourself. |
b. Added as a retort after repeating something just said to oneself. colloq.
| 1897 H. G. Wells Plattner Story, & Others 214 William came up beside her and said, ‘Hello!’ ‘Hello yourself!’ she said. 1944 S. Bellow Dangling Man 39 ‘Minna,’ I said, ‘Minna yourself!’ a 1945 C. Williams Seed of Adam (1948) 77 Hell (to Grace) Stop that noise! Grace Noise yourself! |
4. a. Used as simple subject, with the verb either in the pl. (as with you), or in the 3rd pers. sing. (self being taken as a n.).
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 2489 Your seluyn sothely asayet haue before. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xviii. (Percy Soc.) 81 Your selfe hath caught it in so sure a net. 1586 A. Day Engl. Secretorie ii. (1625) 22 Your owne selfe doe know, that both he and the rest were to me knowne before time. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, ii. i. 18 Madam, your selfe is not exempt from this. 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 47 Your selfe deny this elsewhere. 1641 ‘Smectymnuus’ Vind. Answ. §13. 122 But your selfe grants..that Timothy was not yet Bishop. a 1745 Swift Verses, To a Lady 126 Conversation is but carving; Carve for all, yourself is starving. 1799 Washington Lett. Writ. 1893 XIV. 150 Does the Presidt. and yourself wear them? Mod. (vulgar) How's yourself? |
b. as predicate, or after as or than. Now esp. in Anglo-Irish.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1849 Sho might haue bene mariede to more þen your selfe. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iii. v. 46 Is it your selfe? 1709 Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. 31, I know nothing so valuable as your self. 1805 G. Colman John Bull iv. i. 65 Och! and is it yourself I see, at last? 1847 R. S. Surtees Hawbuck Gr. xii, ‘Why, what a mess you're in, Beaney!’.. ‘Am I?.. I can't be much worse than yourself; look at your breeches!’ 1896 M. Beaumont Joan Seaton x, It's yourself, Sweetheart, it's yourself I think most of now. 1896 C. M. Yonge Release ii. ix. 160 And is it yourself, Miss Caroline, as would honour me by sailing under my flag. 1907 J. M. Synge Tinker's Wedding ii. 32 And it's yourself is wedding her, Michael Byrne? 1970 N. Marsh When in Rome iv. 92 The monk..spoke with a superb brogue... ‘Ah, it's yourself again,’ he said. |
c. as direct or indirect object, or after a preposition (or like adj. and adv.).
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1548, I..euer-more wylle Be seruaunt to your-seluen. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2327 Yff it like your Aliegiaunce, þat I, your lefe son, Be sent from your seluon. 1634 Prynne in Documents agst. P. (Camden) 34 This odious scandall..which I wish may not truly reflect upon your self. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. ii. i, Spoke like ye'rsell, auld birky. 1766 Gentl. Mag. May 234/1 Good fortune befall Yourself, and the B-n-r-d family all. 1807 A. Seward Lett. (1811) VI. 331 On a balance of their beauty and deformity, not one of them equals yourself or Southey. 1852 Miss Mulock Agatha's Husb. iv, What a strong friendship used to exist between Uncle Brian, yourself, and Anne Valery. |
5. In pregnant sense: Your being or personality; also, your true self, you as you are in your natural or normal condition: cf. self D. 1, 2.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 42 What euill starre On you hath fround,..That of your selfe ye thus berobbed arre. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xiii, O that you were your selfe. 1740 Richardson Pamela (1741) I. ii. 5 For fear you should be brought to any thing..wicked, by being set so above your⁓self. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vi. v, ‘Dear aunt, you frighten me out of my senses.’ ‘O, my dear,..you will soon come to youself again.’ 1889 ‘J. S. Winter’ Mrs. Bob viii, ‘Now you look like yourself’, she said fondly. |
**
6. Reflexive, as direct or indirect object, or after a preposition: taking the place of you 4 d.
| 13.. to your-seluen [see 3]. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 3759 To occupye your sylff alway. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 102 Least that by the doyng the contrary, you bring your selfe into such a pecke of troubles. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. i. i, Nor would I, you should melt away your selfe In flashing brav'rie. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. v. 75 Good Madam keepe your selfe within your selfe. 1680 R. L'Estrange Erasm. Colloq. 127 'Twas well you bethought your self before you were in for good and all. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mrs. S. C― 1 Apr., I am going to tell you a thing that will make you wish yourself here. 1865 ‘L. Carroll’ Alice's Adv. in Wonderland ix, Pray don't trouble yourself. 1882 ‘Edna Lyall’ Donovan xix, You'll do for yourself one of these days. |
***
7. As indefinite pronoun (emphatic or reflexive): = oneself: cf. you 6, your 6.
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. iii. 56 Here is a Table of Latitudes..and the way to calculate it your self. 1881 Baily's Mag. Apr. 97 Our friend learned that one of the secrets of their success was picking the line of country quickly yourself. 1918 Times Lit. Suppl. 2 May 207/2 The monkey..has a rule that everything which cannot be eaten must be used to scratch yourself with. |