ego definition | Dictionary.com

e⋅go

[ee-goh, eg-oh]

–noun, plural e⋅gos.

1.	the “I” or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought.

2.	Psychoanalysis. the part of the psychic apparatus that experiences and reacts to the outside world and thus mediates between the primitive drives of the id and the demands of the social and physical environment.

3.	egotism; conceit; self-importance: Her ego becomes more unbearable each day.

4.	self-esteem or self-image; feelings: Your criticism wounded his ego.

(often initial capital letter

) Philosophy.

a.	the enduring and conscious element that knows experience.

b.	Scholasticism. the complete person comprising both body and soul.

6.	Ethnology. a person who serves as the central reference point in the study of organizational and kinship relationships.

Origin:
1780–90; < L: I; psychoanalytic term is trans. of G (das) Ich (the) I

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To ego

e·go (ē'gō, ěg'ō)

n. pl. e·gos

The self, especially as distinct from the world and other selves.
In psychoanalysis, the division of the psyche that is conscious, most immediately controls thought and behavior, and is most in touch with external reality.
1. An exaggerated sense of self-importance; conceit.
2. Appropriate pride in oneself; self-esteem.

[New Latin, from Latin, I; see eg in Indo-European roots. Sense 2, translation of German Ich, a special use of ich, I, as a psychoanalytic term.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ego

E"go\, n. [L., I.] (Met.) The conscious and permanent subject of all psychical experiences, whether held to be directly known or the product of reflective thought; -- opposed to non-ego.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : ego

Spanish: amor propio, orgullo,

German: das Ego,

Japanese: 自尊心

More Translations »

ego [(ee-goh)]

The “I” or self of any person (ego is Latin for “I”). In psychological terms, the ego is the part of the psyche that experiences the outside world and reacts to it, coming between the primitive drives of the id and the demands of the social environment, represented by the superego.

Note: The term ego is often used to mean personal pride and self-absorption: “Losing at chess doesn't do much for my ego.”

ego

1714, as a term in metaphysics, from L. ego "I" (cognate with O.E. ic, see I). Psychoanalytic sense is 1910; sense of "conceit" is 1891. Egocentric is from 1900; ego-trip first recorded 1969. Egomania is from 1825; egomaniac is from 1890.

"In the book of Egoism it is written, Possession without obligation to the object possessed approaches felicity." [George Meredith, "The Egoist" (1879)]

Main Entry: ego
Pronunciation: 'E-(")gO also 'eg-(")O
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural egos
1 : the self especiallyas contrasted with another self or the world
2 : the one of the three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory that serves as the organized conscious mediator between theperson and reality especially by functioning both in the perception of and adaptation to reality —compare ID, SUPEREGO

ego e·go (ē'gō, ěg'ō)
n.
In psychoanalytic theory, the division of the psyche that is conscious, most immediately controls thought and behavior, and mediates between the person and external reality.

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