self: [OE] Self is a general Germanic word, closely related to German selbe, Dutch zelf, Swedish sjelv, and Danish selv. These all point back to a prehistoric Germanic *selba-. Where this came from is not known for certain, although it seems likely to be related in some way to various pronouns denoting ‘oneself’, such as German sich and French se. According to John Hacket in his Scrinia reserata 1693, the word selfish was coined in the early 1640s by the Presbyterians.
self (pron.)
Old English self, seolf, sylf "one's own person, -self; own, same," from Proto-Germanic *selbaz (cognates: Old Norse sjalfr, Old Frisian self, Dutch zelf, Old High German selb, German selb, selbst, Gothic silba), Proto-Germanic *selbaz "self," from PIE *sel-bho-, suffixed form of root *s(w)e-, pronoun of the third person and reflexive (referring back to the subject of a sentence), also used in forms denoting the speaker's social group, "(we our-)selves" (see idiom).
Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth. [Alan Watts]
Its use in compounds to form reflexive pronouns grew out of independent use in Old English. As a noun from early 14c.
实用例句
1. He has never exhibited the self-confidence, bordering on arrogance, of his predecessor.
他从未表现出他前任的那种近乎傲慢的自信。来自柯林斯例句
2. I felt so self-conscious under Luke's mother's intense gaze.
在卢克母亲审视的目光下，我感到极不自在。来自柯林斯例句
3. She has now changed into a happy, self-confident woman.
如今她已经变成一个快乐、自信的女人。来自柯林斯例句
4. He is being treated for a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
他因开枪自残受伤正在接受治疗。来自柯林斯例句
5. She summoned up all her pity for him, to smother her self-pity.
