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self-
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pref.
1. Oneself; itself: self-control.
2. Automatic; automatically: self-loading.

[Middle English, from Old English, from self, self; see SELF.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
self (sĕlf)
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n. pl. selves (sĕlvz)
1. The total, essential, or particular being of a person; the individual: "An actor's instrument is the self" (Joan Juliet Buck).
2. The essential qualities distinguishing one person from another; individuality: "He would walk a little first along the southern walls, shed his European self, fully enter this world" (Howard Kaplan).
3. One's consciousness of one's own being or identity; the ego: "For some of us, the self's natural doubts are given in mesmerizing amplification by way of critics' negative assessments of our writing" (Joyce Carol Oates).
4. One's own interests, welfare, or advantage: thinking of self alone.
5. Immunology That which the immune system identifies as belonging to the body: tissues no longer recognized as self.
pron.
Myself, yourself, himself, or herself: a living wage for self and family.
adj.
1. Of the same character throughout.
2. Of the same material as the article with which it is used: a dress with a self belt.
3. Obsolete Same or identical.
intr.v. selfed, self·ing, selfs
To fertilize or pollinate itself. Used of hermaphroditic organisms.

[Middle English, selfsame, from Old English; see s(w)e- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.