Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who is given to illeism.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun someone who practices illeism

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin ille "that" + -ist

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word illeist.

Examples

  • Over the past 13 years, Garg has shared thousands of words with fellow linguaphiles, including illeist (someone who refers to himself in the third person, a la Bo Jackson), and petrichor (the pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell), and origin trivia like the fact that “shampoo” comes from the Hindi word “chumpee,” meaning “head massage.”

    A Word From the Wordsmith - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com 2007

  • Over the past 13 years, Garg has shared thousands of words with fellow linguaphiles, including illeist (someone who refers to himself in the third person, a la Bo Jackson), and petrichor (the pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell), and origin trivia like the fact that “shampoo” comes from the Hindi word “chumpee,” meaning “head massage.”

    A Word From the Wordsmith - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com 2007

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • referring to oneself in the third person.

    October 31, 2007

  • uselessness has be known to do this on occasion.

    October 31, 2007

  • Reesetee never does this, though.

    October 31, 2007

  • A list of famous illiests is on Illeism at Wikipedia

    October 31, 2007