Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • pronoun Those ones identical with them.
  • pronoun Used reflexively as the direct or indirect object of a verb or as the object of a preposition.
  • pronoun Used for emphasis.
  • pronoun Used in an absolute construction.
  • pronoun Their normal or healthy condition.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • See himself.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • pronoun The plural of himself, herself, and itself. See himself, herself, itself.

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

  • pronoun The people previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition, where the people are also the subject of the verb; also used for emphasis.
  • pronoun The person of unspecified gender previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition, where the person is also the subject of the verb; also used for emphasis.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • But as the _Samoits_ themselves will say, they were called _Samoit_, that is, _of themselves_, as though they were _Indigen鎋, or people bred upon that very soyle that never changed their seate from one place to another, as most Nations have done.

    The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation 2003

  • Having shown, under a previous head, that servants _sold themselves_, and of course received the compensation for themselves, (except in cases where parents hired out the time of their children until they became of age [B],) a mere reference to the fact in this place is all that is required for the purposes of this argument.

    The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus American Anti-Slavery Society

  • To illustrate the blinding and perverting influence of even a small quantity of such liquor, let a strictly temperate man spend an evening with a dozen others indulging themselves "moderately:" they will be sure to say things which to him will appear foolish, if not wicked; and which will appear so to _themselves_ on reflection; though at the time they may not be conscious of any impropriety.

    Select Temperance Tracts American Tract Society

  • _When corn was to be ground, or bread made, both were done in the houses of the rich, and prepared by themselves; for the very few poor people whom the plague had spared were insufficient for the wants of the affluent, and they were consequently obliged to work for themselves_.

    An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa Territories in the Interior of Africa Abd Salam Shabeeny

  • Having shown, under a previous head, that servants _sold themselves_, and of course received the compensation for themselves, except in cases where parents hired out the time of their children till they became of age [B], a mere reference to the fact is all that is required for the purposes of this argument.

    The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 1 of 4 American Anti-Slavery Society

  • Having shown, under a previous head, that servants _sold themselves_, and of course received the compensation for themselves, except in cases where parents hired out the time of their children till they became of age [B], a mere reference to the fact is all that is required for the purposes of this argument.

    The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus American Anti-Slavery Society

  • Having shown, under a previous head, that servants _sold themselves_, and of course received the compensation for themselves, (except in cases where parents hired out the time of their children until they became of age [B],) a mere reference to the fact in this place is all that is required for the purposes of this argument.

    The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 1 of 4 American Anti-Slavery Society

  • _English_ were imployed under Hatches about the Ordnance, and other workes of order, and accommodating themselves: all which _Iohn Rawlins_ marked, as supposing it an intolerable slaverie to take such paines, and be subiect to such dangers, and still to enrich other men and maintaine their voluptuous filthinesse and lives, returning _themselves_ as

    Great Pirate Stories Joseph Lewis French 1897

  • A supplication was presented by "the Barons, gentlemen, Burgesses, and others" to "the nobility and Estates" (of whom they do not seem to reckon themselves part, contrasting _themselves_ with "yourselves").

    John Knox and the Reformation Andrew Lang 1878

  • But as the _Samoits_ themselves will say, they were called _Samoie_, that is, _of themselves_, as though they were _Indigenæ_, or people bred upon that very soyle that never changed their seate from one place to another, as most Nations have done.

    The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II Alexander Leslie 1866

Comments

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  • Tut tut. They are elves.

    November 18, 2009