A word used to refer back to a thing, animal, or idea that is the subject of the sentence, often to show that it is acting on or affecting itself. It can also add emphasis, as in “the machine itself.”
From “it” plus “self,” patterned after forms like “himself” and “herself.” Old English used similar reflexive constructions, and over time they became fixed single words. The form “itself” has been stable in English for many centuries.
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