themself

themself
themself
The standard reflexive form of they and them is themselves (as in The children have hurt themselves), but a form themself is recorded (with plural reference) from the 14c to the 16c, when it fell out of use. In the 1980s it was rediscovered in the search for gender-neutral pronouns, and it occurs from time to time (even in more formal contexts) with reference to common-gender singular noun or pronouns, without yet being generally accepted:

• I think somebody should immediately address themself to this problem —A. T. Ellis, 1987

Pretender: a person who puts themself forward as having a rightful claim to someone else's throneA. Isaacs, 2000.

The plural form themselves is also used in this way, but the effect is if anything more awkward:

• It may be best, however, to confess to someone who will never meet her boyfriend,…just in case that third party got tremendously drunk at a party themselves, and blurted it out to someone else —Independent, 1998.

The final battle for a set of gender-free pronouns will probably be fought over themself, but for now beware of it.

Modern English usage. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • themself — ► PRONOUN (third person sing. ) informal ▪ used instead of ‘himself’ or ‘herself’ to refer to a person of unspecified sex. USAGE The standard reflexive form corresponding to they and them is themselves, as in they can do it themselves. The… …   English terms dictionary

  • themself — themselfˈ pronoun (informal; unrecognized in standard English) Introduced as a sing pronoun to avoid ↑himself or ↑herself when the sex of the person is unspecified • • • Main Entry: ↑themselves …   Useful english dictionary

  • themself — [[t]ðəmse̱lf[/t]] PRON REFL: v PRON, prep PRON Themself is sometimes used instead of themselves when it clearly refers to a singular subject. Some people consider this use to be incorrect. No one perceived themself to be in a position to hire… …   English dictionary

  • themself — pronoun [third person singular] informal used instead of ‘himself’ or ‘herself’ to refer to a person of unspecified sex. Usage The standard reflexive form corresponding to they and them is themselves. The singular form themself has been used… …   English new terms dictionary

  • themself — them|self [ ðəm self ] pronoun Themself is a reflexive pronoun, being a reflexive form of they. used instead of himself or herself for referring back to the subject of a sentence, especially when the subject is a word such as everyone, someone,… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • themself — UK [ðəmˈself] / US pronoun Summary: Themself is a reflexive pronoun, being a reflexive form of they. used instead of himself or herself for referring back to the subject of a sentence, especially when the subject is a word such as everyone ,… …   English dictionary

  • themself — pronoun /ˈðɛmˌsɛlf/ Reflexive and emphatic form of them when them is used as a non gender specific singular pronoun (singular they). Someone has hurt themself. Syn: himself, herself, themselves, thonself, xirself, eirself …   Wiktionary

  • themself — them|self [ðəmˈself] pron spoken used when you are talking about one person, but you want to avoid saying himself or herself because you do not know the sex of the person. Many people think this use is incorrect ▪ It makes me happy to help… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • give smb enough rope and they will hang themself — give someone enough time and freedom to do what they want and they will make a mistake or get into trouble and be caught Don t worry about trying to control him. If you give him enough rope he will hang himself …   Idioms and examples

  • theirself / theirselves / themself / themselves —    Only themselves is correct as a reflexive or emphatic pronoun: They gave themselves all the credit for the rescue …   Confused words

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