yourself

English Online Dictionary. What means yourself‎? What does yourself mean?

English

Alternative forms

• yerself
• yo'self
• yoself
• Yourself (honorific)

Etymology

From Middle English yourself, equivalent to your +‎ -self.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, strong) IPA^(key): /jɔːˈsɛlf/, /jʊəˈsɛlf/
• (Received Pronunciation, weak) IPA^(key): /jəˈsɛlf/
• (General American, strong) IPA^(key): /jɔɹˈsɛlf/, /jʊɹˈsɛlf/
• (General American, weak) IPA^(key): /jɚˈsɛlf/
• Hyphenation: your‧self
• Rhymes: -ɛlf

Pronoun

yourself (referring to the person being spoken to, previously mentioned, the reflexive case of you)

1. (reflexive pronoun) Your own self (singular).

2. You (singular); used emphatically, especially to indicate exclusiveness of the referent's participation in the predicate, i.e., that no one else is involved.

   You yourself know that what you wrote was wrong.

   After a good night's sleep you'll feel like yourself again.

   1. (pseudo-formal, proscribed) You (singular); when "you" is not mentioned previously, a hypercorrection sometimes perceived as being more polite in formal and professional conversation.

      I spoke with yourself last in February.

Usage notes

Use of "yourself" as in "I spoke with yourself last in Februrary." may be preceived as "more formal", but this usage is proscribed because "yourself" in this case is used as an untriggered reflexive (I.e. "yourself" is used to mean "you" without the pronoun "you" being used previously in the sentence.).

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Middle English

Alternative forms

• youreself, yourselff

Etymology

your +‎ self

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjuːrsɛlf/

Pronoun

yourself

1. Emphatic plural 2nd person pron.

Descendants

• English: yourself
• Yola: yerzel

References

• “yǒur-self, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.