itselfpron.adj.adv.

Brit.

/ɪtˈsɛlf/, U.S.

/ᵻtˈsɛlf/

Forms: (Word division in Old and Middle English examples frequently reflects editorial choices of modern editors of texts, rather than the practice of the manuscripts.)

α. Old English hitsylf, Old English hyt sylf, Old English–Middle English hit sylf, Old English–1500s hit self, Middle English hitself, Middle English hit-self, Middle English hit-selfe, Middle English hitselue, Middle English hit selue, Middle English hit seluen, Middle English hitselven, Middle English hitsilf, Middle English hit silf, Middle English hit silfe, Middle English hytself, Middle English hyt self, Middle English hyt-selfe, Middle English itselff, Middle English it selff, Middle English it-selffe, Middle English it selue, Middle English it seluen, Middle English itseluyn, Middle English itselve, Middle English it-selve, Middle English it selven, Middle English it sijlfe, Middle English itsilf, Middle English it-silf, Middle English it silf, Middle English it-silfe, Middle English itsilff, Middle English itsilue, Middle English it-silue, Middle English–1500s hitselfe, Middle English–1500s hit selfe, Middle English–1500s hyt selfe, Middle English–1500s it-selfe, Middle English–1500s it selve, Middle English–1500s it silfe, Middle English–1500s yt selfe, Middle English–1600s itselfe, Middle English–1600s it selfe, Middle English–1700s it-self, Middle English–1700s it self, Middle English– itself, 1500s hytt selfe, 1500s it selffe, 1500s yt self, 1500s ytselfe, 1600s it sellffe, 1600s ittselfe, 1600s itt selfe, 1600s yt-self, 1900s– atself (Irish English (northern)), 1900s– itselv (nonstandard); Scottish pre-1700 hyttselff, pre-1700 it-self, pre-1700 it self, pre-1700 itselfe, pre-1700 it-selfe, pre-1700 it selfe, pre-1700 itselff, pre-1700 it-selff, pre-1700 it selff, pre-1700 itselffe, pre-1700 it selffe, pre-1700 it selue, pre-1700 it selve, pre-1700 yt selfe, pre-1700 1700s– itself.

β. 1500s–1700s its selfe, 1600s–1700s its self.

γ. English regional (chiefly northern and north midlands) 1800s itsell, 1800s– itsel; Scottish 1700s– itsel, 1700s– itsell, 1800s– hitsel (Shetland and Caithness), 1800s– itsel', 1900s– hidsel (Orkney and Caithness), 1900s– hitsell (Shetland), 1900s– idsel (Orkney).

δ. English regional 1800s itseln (Yorkshire), 1800s itsenn (Yorkshire), 1800s itsseln (Yorkshire), 1800s– itsen (Yorkshire and Lincolnshire).

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: it pron., self pron.

Etymology: < it pron. + self pron.Old English hit self represents both the neuter nominative (compare sense A. 1) and the neuter accusative (compare senses A. 3, A. 4). For discussion of the neuter dative form him self see himself pron. and n. The β. forms reflect reanalysis as showing its adj. and pron.; compare phrasal constructions with an adjective modifying self , as its very self , its own self (see self n. 1b and also ownself pron.). Compare the remodelling shown by myself pron. and thyself pron., and the analogous formations ourself pron., yourself pron., hisself pron., theirself pron. Compare also note at herself pron. In use as adverb (sense C.) after Irish féin self, commonly used to emphasize a pronoun, noun, etc. (see Sinn Fein n.), its uninflected form being rendered here by the English neuter.

A. pron. The emphatic and reflexive pronoun corresponding to it.

I. Emphatic uses.

a. Usually in apposition to a noun (as subject, predicate, or object): that particular, the very, that very; alone. Also used as subject instead of the subjective pronoun it (rare after Old English).

ΚΠ

eOE Laws of Ælfred (Corpus Cambr. 173) Introd. xxviii. 36 Gif hit ðonne cucu feoh wære, & he secgge, þæt..hit self acwæle,..ne þearf he þæt geldan.

OE Wulfstan Baptism (Hatton 113) (1957) 182 Ðeah þæt cild to ðam geong sy þæt hit specan ne mæge, þonne hit man fullað, his freonda forspæc forstent him eal þæt sylfe swylc[e] hit sylf spæce.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. lxiii. 5 Myn indignacioun itself halp to [me] [L. indignatio mea ipsa auxiliata est mihi].

?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iv. pr. vi. l. 3907 Alle þinges þat ben put vndir destine ben certys subgitz to purueaunce. to whiche purueaunce destine it self is subgit and vndir.

1508 J. Fisher Treat. Penyt. Psalmes sig. ss.iii^v It selfe erth sholde alway be bareyne & without fruyte yf it receyued no moysture & hete from heuen.

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxviij^v Unto their luste serueth heauen and hell, the earth and tyme it selfe.

1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. B1^v Beautie it selfe doth of it selfe [1623 itself] perswade.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 153 The solemne Temples, the great Globe it selfe, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolue.

1665 R. Boyle Disc. iii. v, in Occas. Refl. sig. D7 Particulars, which are not necessary to the Meditation it self.

1728 T. Sheridan tr. Persius Satyrs i. 19 Tho' the Poem it self be not well digested.

1793 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 679 And my fond heart, itsel sae true, It ne'er mistrusted thine.

a1822 P. B. Shelley Charles I i, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 242 Or joy itself Without the touch of sorrow.

1839 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe IV. vii. 530 Slang; a word which, as itself belongs to the vocabulary it denotes, I use with some unwillingness.

1938 New Statesman 25 June 1060/1 As to the great city itself, no satisfactory redevelopment of it is possible so long as..its overall density is increasing.

1989 G. Steiner Real Presences ii. vii. 122 Itself an echo to Hegel's Aufhebung or ‘sublation’, Derrida's famous neologism, la différance , is crucial to the deconstructionist and post-structuralist counter-theology of absence.

2003 New Yorker 3 Feb. 89/1 Dog breeds have changed over time. But has dogginess itself changed?

b. hyperbolically. In apposition to a noun denoting a quality, used predicatively: the essence or supreme instance of (that quality).

ΚΠ

1616 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor (rev. ed.) iii. v, in Wks. I. 39 I forgiue M^r. Stephen, for he is stupiditie it selfe!

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy Democritus to Rdr. 17 As of Aristotle [we read] that he was wisedome it selfe in the abstract.

1746 J. Hervey Medit. (1818) 60 Her form was symmetry itself.

1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 380 But the smell of our weasels, and ermines, and polecats, is fragrance itself when compared to that of the squash and the skink.

1842 G. T. Vigne Trav. Kashmir II. 404 The scenery is sameness itself.

1882 S. Cox in Expositor 4 197 The story of the creation told by Moses is simplicity and sobriety itself when compared with them.

1922 World Tomorrow July 221/1 The sketches and incidents are simplicity itself.

1978 F. Weldon Praxis xii. 82 They were kindness and generosity itself, everyone said so.

2005 Hotdog Dec. 36/1 The thought of eating ice cream in the sun or a pizza in Santa Margharita is ecstasy itself.

2. In predicative use: its true, natural, or normal self. Cf. himself pron. 5.

ΚΠ

1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets lxviii. sig. E3 Without all ornament, it selfe [1623 itself] and true.

1751 J. Harris Hermes iii. i. 312 Those essential and distinctive Attributes, which make it to be itself, and not any thing else.

1820 J. Keats Isabella in Lamia & Other Poems 65 An eye all pale, Striving to be itself.

1872 H. P. Liddon Some Elements Relig. v. 175 Prayer ceases to be itself, by degenerating..into a mechanical and unspiritual routine.

1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 44 When my gun was itself again, I changed the drum of ammunition, and hastened to fire at the nearest Hun.

1969 Manch. Guardian Weekly 1 May 20 Call it minimalism if you like, but the real point is that the thing insists on being just itself and nothing more.

1993 New Republic 8 Mar. 35/1 Language only seemed itself where sound and image, image and sound interpenetrated.

II. Reflexive uses.

3. As direct object.

ΚΠ

OE Blickling Homilies 187 Nu mæg soð hit sylf gecyþan.

OE Homily: Sermo Bone Praedicatio (Otho B.x) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 301 Swa raðe, swa þæt cild mage sprecan, tæce man him..þæt hit cunne hit sylf bletsian rihtlice.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) l. 19231 Ilke suike it selue bisuikis.

a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) 2 Cor. x. 5 And we distrien counsels, and alle hiȝnesse that hiȝeth it silf aȝens the science of God.

1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 298 As the heart doeth enlarge it selfe..so doeth it restraine and close vp it selfe.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iii. i. 80 All the more it seekes to hide it selfe, The bigger bulke it shewes.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) v. i. 533 Th' offence pardons it selfe .

1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 16 [It] does immediately..disperse it self all over them.

1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 379 S. Marino hath maintained it self in the condition of a free State..for above 1000 years.

1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xv. 449 A pure and humble religion gently insinuated itself into the minds of men.

1793 W. Roberts Looker-on No. 65. 514 This prominent part of their character began to develope itself.

1843 ‘L. Mariotti’ Italy, Past & Pres. (1848) I. p. xxviii That spirit of scholastic erudition which insinuated itself into Italian literature.

1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 130 The quiet, thoroughly defined, infinitely divided and modelled pyramid [of cloud] never develops itself.

1879 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times II. xxii. 122 Our constitutional system grows and developes itself year after year.

1903 Mansfield (Ohio) News 11 Apr. 8/3 A badly put up skirt will proclaim itself to be homemade from the housetops.

1947 N.Y. Times 27 July ii. 4/3 Even in its depiction of moviedom, Hollywood has seen fit to glamourize itself.

2006 N.Y. Times Mag. 17 Dec. 10/4 Class structure keeps reproducing itself.

4. As the object of a preposition or indirect object.In Old English only accusative (as the object of a preposition), the dative form being himself himself pron. (cf. him pron. 2a).

ΚΠ

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) x. 262 For ðan ðe hit [sc. the visible body] ne stod na ær þurh hit sylf.

OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xi. 17 Ælc rice on hyt sylf [L. in se ipsum] todæled byð toworpen.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. xxxviii. 1300 Þe substaunce of good odour conteyneþ [MS conceyueþ] in itsilf vertu of kynde hete þat clenseþ þe þikkenes þerof.

tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) ii. l. 148 Lond argillose, & not cley bi hit selue, Is commodose.

?c1450 (?a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 384 Þe þinge in it sijlfe beriþ witnesse.

1532 G. Hervet tr. Xenophon Treat. House Holde f. 16 Some hit bryngethe by hit selfe, and some it nouryshethe.

a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 56/1 Of it self so long a processe.

1611 Bible (King James) Psalms xli. 6 His heart gathereth iniquitie to it selfe .

1628 Bp. J. Hall Olde Relig. v. iii. 42 That which is perfect in it selfe.

1655 E. Terry Voy. E.-India 13 Fragrant herbs (which the soyl produceth of its self).

1659 J. Gauden Ἱερα Δακρυα iv. xii. 477 Episcopacy..sees it did it self as much wrong as any men could design.

1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xii. sig. Ee8^v The Sun has..elevated this Water in the form of Vapours, and drawn it near it self.

1702 H. Lee Anti-scepticism iv. x. 283 Matter, as such, has not Power to give itself Motion.

1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. xvi. 114 No man, whose understanding is not at cross-purposes with itself.

1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 11 A flower That faints into itself at evening hour.

1870 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 2) I. App. 739 This story may be true in itself.

1874 A. Trollope Phineas Redux II. xxxvii. 305 The borough had done itself much honour.

1905 R. Bell My Strange Pets 199 One of the birds..suddenly leaned forward and gave itself a vigorous shake.

1945 Electronics Mar. 129/1 The phaser used is made up of a variable length of coaxial line folded back on itself.

2011 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 29 July a3/4 An automatic toilet, called a washlet, the kind that flushes by itself.

†B. adj.

As possessive adjective: its own. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > owning > [adjective] > own > his, her, its, or their > its

hisOE

itselfa1400

itc1400

its1577

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 9466 So hy na-thing was neuer wroght, þat thoru it seluen miss ne moght Fall dun into lauer state.

C. adv.

Irish English. = even adv. 8.

ΚΠ

1800 M. Edgeworth Castle Rackrent 143 It was so bad with me, I could not taste a drop of the punch itself.

?1865 D. Boucicault Colleen Bawn i. 36 Divil a one! Why did ye make me promise not to say a word about it? didn't ye refuse even to see a doctor itself?

1907 J. M. Synge Playboy of Western World iii. 111 What would my daughter be doing if I was ruined or was hanged itself.

1958 B. Behan Hostage 4 Well, if I'm a whore itself, you don't mind taking the best part of my money.

1996 F. McCourt Angela's Ashes iii. 97 They wouldn't have the likes of that in America where they're mad for the steak and all classes of poultry, flying, walking or swimming itself.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	itself
释义	itselfpron.adj.adv. Brit. /ɪtˈsɛlf/, U.S. /ᵻtˈsɛlf/ Forms: (Word division in Old and Middle English examples frequently reflects editorial choices of modern editors of texts, rather than the practice of the manuscripts.) α. Old English hitsylf, Old English hyt sylf, Old English–Middle English hit sylf, Old English–1500s hit self, Middle English hitself, Middle English hit-self, Middle English hit-selfe, Middle English hitselue, Middle English hit selue, Middle English hit seluen, Middle English hitselven, Middle English hitsilf, Middle English hit silf, Middle English hit silfe, Middle English hytself, Middle English hyt self, Middle English hyt-selfe, Middle English itselff, Middle English it selff, Middle English it-selffe, Middle English it selue, Middle English it seluen, Middle English itseluyn, Middle English itselve, Middle English it-selve, Middle English it selven, Middle English it sijlfe, Middle English itsilf, Middle English it-silf, Middle English it silf, Middle English it-silfe, Middle English itsilff, Middle English itsilue, Middle English it-silue, Middle English–1500s hitselfe, Middle English–1500s hit selfe, Middle English–1500s hyt selfe, Middle English–1500s it-selfe, Middle English–1500s it selve, Middle English–1500s it silfe, Middle English–1500s yt selfe, Middle English–1600s itselfe, Middle English–1600s it selfe, Middle English–1700s it-self, Middle English–1700s it self, Middle English– itself, 1500s hytt selfe, 1500s it selffe, 1500s yt self, 1500s ytselfe, 1600s it sellffe, 1600s ittselfe, 1600s itt selfe, 1600s yt-self, 1900s– atself (Irish English (northern)), 1900s– itselv (nonstandard); Scottish pre-1700 hyttselff, pre-1700 it-self, pre-1700 it self, pre-1700 itselfe, pre-1700 it-selfe, pre-1700 it selfe, pre-1700 itselff, pre-1700 it-selff, pre-1700 it selff, pre-1700 itselffe, pre-1700 it selffe, pre-1700 it selue, pre-1700 it selve, pre-1700 yt selfe, pre-1700 1700s– itself. β. 1500s–1700s its selfe, 1600s–1700s its self. γ. English regional (chiefly northern and north midlands) 1800s itsell, 1800s– itsel; Scottish 1700s– itsel, 1700s– itsell, 1800s– hitsel (Shetland and Caithness), 1800s– itsel', 1900s– hidsel (Orkney and Caithness), 1900s– hitsell (Shetland), 1900s– idsel (Orkney). δ. English regional 1800s itseln (Yorkshire), 1800s itsenn (Yorkshire), 1800s itsseln (Yorkshire), 1800s– itsen (Yorkshire and Lincolnshire). Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: it pron., self pron. Etymology: < it pron. + self pron.Old English hit self represents both the neuter nominative (compare sense A. 1) and the neuter accusative (compare senses A. 3, A. 4). For discussion of the neuter dative form him self see himself pron. and n. The β. forms reflect reanalysis as showing its adj. and pron.; compare phrasal constructions with an adjective modifying self , as its very self , its own self (see self n. 1b and also ownself pron.). Compare the remodelling shown by myself pron. and thyself pron., and the analogous formations ourself pron., yourself pron., hisself pron., theirself pron. Compare also note at herself pron. In use as adverb (sense C.) after Irish féin self, commonly used to emphasize a pronoun, noun, etc. (see Sinn Fein n.), its uninflected form being rendered here by the English neuter. A. pron. The emphatic and reflexive pronoun corresponding to it. I. Emphatic uses. 1. a. Usually in apposition to a noun (as subject, predicate, or object): that particular, the very, that very; alone. Also used as subject instead of the subjective pronoun it (rare after Old English). ΚΠ eOE Laws of Ælfred (Corpus Cambr. 173) Introd. xxviii. 36 Gif hit ðonne cucu feoh wære, & he secgge, þæt..hit self acwæle,..ne þearf he þæt geldan. OE Wulfstan Baptism (Hatton 113) (1957) 182 Ðeah þæt cild to ðam geong sy þæt hit specan ne mæge, þonne hit man fullað, his freonda forspæc forstent him eal þæt sylfe swylc[e] hit sylf spæce. a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. lxiii. 5 Myn indignacioun itself halp to [me] [L. indignatio mea ipsa auxiliata est mihi]. ?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iv. pr. vi. l. 3907 Alle þinges þat ben put vndir destine ben certys subgitz to purueaunce. to whiche purueaunce destine it self is subgit and vndir. 1508 J. Fisher Treat. Penyt. Psalmes sig. ss.iii^v It selfe erth sholde alway be bareyne & without fruyte yf it receyued no moysture & hete from heuen. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxviij^v Unto their luste serueth heauen and hell, the earth and tyme it selfe. 1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. B1^v Beautie it selfe doth of it selfe [1623 itself] perswade. a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 153 The solemne Temples, the great Globe it selfe, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolue. View more context for this quotation 1665 R. Boyle Disc. iii. v, in Occas. Refl. sig. D7 Particulars, which are not necessary to the Meditation it self. 1728 T. Sheridan tr. Persius Satyrs i. 19 Tho' the Poem it self be not well digested. 1793 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 679 And my fond heart, itsel sae true, It ne'er mistrusted thine. a1822 P. B. Shelley Charles I i, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 242 Or joy itself Without the touch of sorrow. 1839 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe IV. vii. 530 Slang; a word which, as itself belongs to the vocabulary it denotes, I use with some unwillingness. 1938 New Statesman 25 June 1060/1 As to the great city itself, no satisfactory redevelopment of it is possible so long as..its overall density is increasing. 1989 G. Steiner Real Presences ii. vii. 122 Itself an echo to Hegel's Aufhebung or ‘sublation’, Derrida's famous neologism, la différance , is crucial to the deconstructionist and post-structuralist counter-theology of absence. 2003 New Yorker 3 Feb. 89/1 Dog breeds have changed over time. But has dogginess itself changed? b. hyperbolically. In apposition to a noun denoting a quality, used predicatively: the essence or supreme instance of (that quality). ΚΠ 1616 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor (rev. ed.) iii. v, in Wks. I. 39 I forgiue M^r. Stephen, for he is stupiditie it selfe! 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy Democritus to Rdr. 17 As of Aristotle [we read] that he was wisedome it selfe in the abstract. 1746 J. Hervey Medit. (1818) 60 Her form was symmetry itself. 1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 380 But the smell of our weasels, and ermines, and polecats, is fragrance itself when compared to that of the squash and the skink. 1842 G. T. Vigne Trav. Kashmir II. 404 The scenery is sameness itself. 1882 S. Cox in Expositor 4 197 The story of the creation told by Moses is simplicity and sobriety itself when compared with them. 1922 World Tomorrow July 221/1 The sketches and incidents are simplicity itself. 1978 F. Weldon Praxis xii. 82 They were kindness and generosity itself, everyone said so. 2005 Hotdog Dec. 36/1 The thought of eating ice cream in the sun or a pizza in Santa Margharita is ecstasy itself. 2. In predicative use: its true, natural, or normal self. Cf. himself pron. 5. ΚΠ 1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets lxviii. sig. E3 Without all ornament, it selfe [1623 itself] and true. View more context for this quotation 1751 J. Harris Hermes iii. i. 312 Those essential and distinctive Attributes, which make it to be itself, and not any thing else. 1820 J. Keats Isabella in Lamia & Other Poems 65 An eye all pale, Striving to be itself. 1872 H. P. Liddon Some Elements Relig. v. 175 Prayer ceases to be itself, by degenerating..into a mechanical and unspiritual routine. 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 44 When my gun was itself again, I changed the drum of ammunition, and hastened to fire at the nearest Hun. 1969 Manch. Guardian Weekly 1 May 20 Call it minimalism if you like, but the real point is that the thing insists on being just itself and nothing more. 1993 New Republic 8 Mar. 35/1 Language only seemed itself where sound and image, image and sound interpenetrated. II. Reflexive uses. 3. As direct object. ΚΠ OE Blickling Homilies 187 Nu mæg soð hit sylf gecyþan. OE Homily: Sermo Bone Praedicatio (Otho B.x) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 301 Swa raðe, swa þæt cild mage sprecan, tæce man him..þæt hit cunne hit sylf bletsian rihtlice. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) l. 19231 Ilke suike it selue bisuikis. a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) 2 Cor. x. 5 And we distrien counsels, and alle hiȝnesse that hiȝeth it silf aȝens the science of God. 1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 298 As the heart doeth enlarge it selfe..so doeth it restraine and close vp it selfe. a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iii. i. 80 All the more it seekes to hide it selfe, The bigger bulke it shewes. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) v. i. 533 Th' offence pardons it selfe . View more context for this quotation 1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 16 [It] does immediately..disperse it self all over them. 1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 379 S. Marino hath maintained it self in the condition of a free State..for above 1000 years. 1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xv. 449 A pure and humble religion gently insinuated itself into the minds of men. 1793 W. Roberts Looker-on No. 65. 514 This prominent part of their character began to develope itself. 1843 ‘L. Mariotti’ Italy, Past & Pres. (1848) I. p. xxviii That spirit of scholastic erudition which insinuated itself into Italian literature. 1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 130 The quiet, thoroughly defined, infinitely divided and modelled pyramid [of cloud] never develops itself. 1879 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times II. xxii. 122 Our constitutional system grows and developes itself year after year. 1903 Mansfield (Ohio) News 11 Apr. 8/3 A badly put up skirt will proclaim itself to be homemade from the housetops. 1947 N.Y. Times 27 July ii. 4/3 Even in its depiction of moviedom, Hollywood has seen fit to glamourize itself. 2006 N.Y. Times Mag. 17 Dec. 10/4 Class structure keeps reproducing itself. 4. As the object of a preposition or indirect object.In Old English only accusative (as the object of a preposition), the dative form being himself himself pron. (cf. him pron. 2a). ΚΠ OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) x. 262 For ðan ðe hit [sc. the visible body] ne stod na ær þurh hit sylf. OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xi. 17 Ælc rice on hyt sylf [L. in se ipsum] todæled byð toworpen. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. xxxviii. 1300 Þe substaunce of good odour conteyneþ [MS conceyueþ] in itsilf vertu of kynde hete þat clenseþ þe þikkenes þerof. tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) ii. l. 148 Lond argillose, & not cley bi hit selue, Is commodose. ?c1450 (?a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 384 Þe þinge in it sijlfe beriþ witnesse. 1532 G. Hervet tr. Xenophon Treat. House Holde f. 16 Some hit bryngethe by hit selfe, and some it nouryshethe. a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 56/1 Of it self so long a processe. 1611 Bible (King James) Psalms xli. 6 His heart gathereth iniquitie to it selfe . View more context for this quotation 1628 Bp. J. Hall Olde Relig. v. iii. 42 That which is perfect in it selfe. 1655 E. Terry Voy. E.-India 13 Fragrant herbs (which the soyl produceth of its self). 1659 J. Gauden Ἱερα Δακρυα iv. xii. 477 Episcopacy..sees it did it self as much wrong as any men could design. 1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xii. sig. Ee8^v The Sun has..elevated this Water in the form of Vapours, and drawn it near it self. 1702 H. Lee Anti-scepticism iv. x. 283 Matter, as such, has not Power to give itself Motion. 1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. xvi. 114 No man, whose understanding is not at cross-purposes with itself. 1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 11 A flower That faints into itself at evening hour. 1870 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 2) I. App. 739 This story may be true in itself. 1874 A. Trollope Phineas Redux II. xxxvii. 305 The borough had done itself much honour. 1905 R. Bell My Strange Pets 199 One of the birds..suddenly leaned forward and gave itself a vigorous shake. 1945 Electronics Mar. 129/1 The phaser used is made up of a variable length of coaxial line folded back on itself. 2011 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 29 July a3/4 An automatic toilet, called a washlet, the kind that flushes by itself. †B. adj. As possessive adjective: its own. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > owning > [adjective] > own > his, her, its, or their > its hisOE itselfa1400 itc1400 its1577 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 9466 So hy na-thing was neuer wroght, þat thoru it seluen miss ne moght Fall dun into lauer state. C. adv. Irish English. = even adv. 8. ΚΠ 1800 M. Edgeworth Castle Rackrent 143 It was so bad with me, I could not taste a drop of the punch itself. ?1865 D. Boucicault Colleen Bawn i. 36 Divil a one! Why did ye make me promise not to say a word about it? didn't ye refuse even to see a doctor itself? 1907 J. M. Synge Playboy of Western World iii. 111 What would my daughter be doing if I was ruined or was hanged itself. 1958 B. Behan Hostage 4 Well, if I'm a whore itself, you don't mind taking the best part of my money. 1996 F. McCourt Angela's Ashes iii. 97 They wouldn't have the likes of that in America where they're mad for the steak and all classes of poultry, flying, walking or swimming itself. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < pron.adj.adv.eOE
随便看	with the least with the longest with the mainour with the mainour usually manner with the mair with the mare with the most with the most inclined with the nones with the option with the option of a fine with the peace of a person with the pedal to the metal with the red hand with the rim of with the safety of with the same with the same breath with the short ell with the skin of one's teeth with the soonest with the sun with the tail between the legs with the time with the times