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self

 - 8 dictionary results

self

  [self] noun, plural selves, adjective, pronoun, plural selves, verb
Use self in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person or thing referred to with respect to complete individuality: one's own self.
2. a person's nature, character, etc.: his better self.
3. personal interest.
4. Philosophy.
a. the ego; that which knows, remembers, desires, suffers, etc., as contrasted with that known, remembered, etc.
b. the uniting principle, as a soul, underlying all subjective experience.
–adjective
5. being the same throughout, as a color; uniform.
6. being of one piece with or the same material as the rest: drapes with a self lining.
7. Immunology. the natural constituents of the body, which are normally not subject to attack by components of the immune system (contrasted with nonself ).
8. Obsolete. same.
–pronoun
9. myself, himself, herself, etc.: to make a check payable to self.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
10. to self-pollinate.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE self, selfa; c. D zelf, G selb-, ON sjalfr, Goth silba

self-

 
a combining form of self and variously used with the meanings “of the self” (self-analysis) and “by oneself or itself” (self-appointed); and with the meanings “to, with, toward, for, on, in oneself” (self-complacent), “inherent in oneself or itself” (self-explanatory), “independent” (self-government), and “automatic” (self-operating).
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To self
self   (sělf)   
n.   pl. selves (sělvz)

  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.


[Middle English, selfsame, from Old English; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots.]
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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Word Origin & History

self 
O.E. self, seolf, sylf "one's own person, same," from P.Gmc. *selbaz (cf. O.N. sjalfr, O.Fris. self, Du. zelf, O.H.G. selb, Ger. selbst, Goth. silba), P.Gmc. *selbaz, from PIE *sel-bho-, from base *s(w)e- "separate, apart" (see idiom).
"Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth." [Alan Watts]
Self-made man first recorded 1832, Amer.Eng.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: self
Pronunciation: 'self
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural selves /'selvz/
1 : the union of elements(as body, emotions, thoughts, and sensations) that constitute the individuality and identity of a person
2 : material that is part of an individual organism self from nonself>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

self (sělf)
n. pl. selves (sělz)

  1. The total, essential, or particular being of a person; the individual.

  2. One's consciousness of one's own being or identity; the ego.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

Self language
A small, dynamically typed object-oriented language, based purely on prototypes and delegation. Self was developed by the Self Group at Sun Microsystems Laboratories, Inc. and Stanford University. It is an experimental exploratory programming language.
Release 2.0 introduces full source-level debugging of optimised code, adaptive optimisation to shorten compile pauses, lightweight threads within Self, support for dynamically linking foreign functions, changing programs within Self and the ability to run the experimental Self graphical browser under OpenWindows. Designed for expressive power and malleability, Self combines a pure, prototype-based object model with uniform access to state and behaviour. Unlike other languages, Self allows objects to inherit state and to change their patterns of inheritance dynamically. Self's customising compiler can generate very efficient code compared to other dynamically-typed object-oriented languages.
Version: 3.0 runs on Sun-3 (no optimiser) and Sun-4.
(http://sunlabs.com/research/self/).
["Self: The Power of Simplicity", David Ungar et al, SIGPLAN Notices 22(12):227-242, OOPSLA '87, Dec 1987].
(1999-06-09)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Encyclopedia

self

the "I" as experienced by an individual. In modern psychology the notion of the self has replaced earlier conceptions of the soul

Learn more about self with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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