himself

himself
herself, himself, itself
These pronouns have two primary roles, (1) as reflexives (He was talking about himself / Mary was looking at herself in the mirror / He made himself a cup of coffee), and (2) as emphatic words in apposition to a noun or pronoun (The supervisor herself called / The lock itself is still working). Himself is still used as a gender-neutral pronoun despite the weakening of this role with the simple pronoun he, probably because the alternatives available for he are more complex when applied to himself:

• None of us was willing to commit himself to a clear-cut opinion —R. Linder, 1955

• In this way the casual viewer…is liable to come away with the impression that here is an anti-Semite attempting to denazify himself —Daily Telegraph, 1970

• This problem faced by the teacher who sees himself as deliverer of prepacked information is admirably expressed by Caldwell Cook —H. Pluckrose, 1987

• The investigator himself may not know whether these effects have occurred —A. Ashworth, 1992.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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  • Himself — Him*self , pron. 1. An emphasized form of the third person masculine pronoun; used as a subject usually with he; as, he himself will bear the blame; used alone in the predicate, either in the nominative or objective case; as, it is himself who… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Himself — Him*self , Himselve Him*selve , Himselven Him*selv en (?), pron. pl. Themselves. See {Hemself}. [Obs.] Chaucer. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • himself — /him self /; medially often /im self /, pron. 1. an emphatic appositive of him or he: He himself spoke to the men. 2. a reflexive form of him: He cut himself. 3. (used in absolute constructions): Himself the soul of honor, he included many… …   Universalium

  • himself — pronoun Date: before 12th century 1. a. that identical male one used reflexively, for emphasis, in absolute constructions, and in place of him especially when joined to another object < he considers himself lucky > < he himself did it > < himself …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Himself (disambiguation) — Himself is a reflexive pronoun.Himself may also refer to:* , a 1983 stand up comedy film * Himself (Bill Cosby album), a 1982 comedy album …   Wikipedia

  • Himself (Bill Cosby album) — Infobox Album | Name = Himself Type = Album Artist = Bill Cosby Recorded = 1982 Hamilton Place Theatre Hamilton, Ontario Released = December 1982 Genre = Comedy Length = Label = Motown/PolyGram Records 635 364 Producer = Reviews = *Allmusic… …   Wikipedia

  • By himself — Himself Him*self , pron. 1. An emphasized form of the third person masculine pronoun; used as a subject usually with he; as, he himself will bear the blame; used alone in the predicate, either in the nominative or objective case; as, it is… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • To leave one to himself — Himself Him*self , pron. 1. An emphasized form of the third person masculine pronoun; used as a subject usually with he; as, he himself will bear the blame; used alone in the predicate, either in the nominative or objective case; as, it is… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • The Man Who Folded Himself — infobox Book | name = The Man Who Folded Himself title orig = translator = image caption = Cover of first edition (hardcover) author = David Gerrold illustrator = cover artist = country = United States language = English series = genre = Science… …   Wikipedia

  • Every Man for Himself — can refer to:* Every Man for Himself (Lost), an episode of the TV series Lost. * Every Man for Himself (album), an album by Hoobastank. * Sauve qui peut (la vie) , a film directed by Jean Luc Godard, titled Every Man for Himself in the USA. *… …   Wikipedia

  • The Man Who Haunted Himself — Directed by Basil Dearden Produced by Michael Relph Starring …   Wikipedia

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