See Also:

myself (iou)



myself pronoun. OE.
[from ME pronoun + SELF adjective (but long interpreted as MY adjective + SELF noun). See also MESELF.]
I. Orig. emphatic.
In apposition to the subjective pronoun I or (less commonly) me: in my own person; for my part. OE.
J. Steinbeck If I keep oiling my rifle, I myself may be an officer one day. J. C. Powys I can tell you myself of one person. G. Greene Myself I don't care to go fifty yards from the waterfront. R. P. Jhabvala I had..hoisted my trunk and bedding on to my shoulders and carried them up myself.
(Not appositional.)
a. Subjective: I myself (in emphatic use now arch. & rhet.); (pred. after be & after than, as) I. ME.
S. Richardson Enough to make a better man than myself..run into madness. E. FitzGerald Myself when young did eagerly frequent Doctor and Saint. J. Conrad Being myself a quiet individual I take it that what all men are really after is..peace.
b. Objective: me personally (arch. in emphatic use). ME.
G. Borrow Several of the ultra-popish bishops..had denounced the Bible, the Bible Society, and myself. T. Hardy As for Steve and myself, we were deeply moved. J. Buchan My earliest recollections are not of myself, but of my environment. I. Murdoch Crystal was..like myself, unmarried.
II. refl.
Refl. (direct, indirect, & after prepositions) corresp. to the subjective pronoun I: (to, for, etc.) me personally, me. OE.
M. Amis I wrapped myself in a sheet and climbed the stairs like a ghost. J. Simms I found myself wondering whether I should not try to talk to her.
Phrases: be myself (a) act in my normal unconstrained manner; (b) feel as well as I usually do (usu. in neg. contexts). by myself on my own.