A person’s essential being, including their thoughts, feelings, and identity. It can also simply mean the person themself, as distinguished from others.
From Old English 'self', related to Old High German 'selb' and Latin 'ipse', all meaning 'same' or 'own person'. It goes back to an ancient Indo-European root about sameness and identity.
The word 'self' is very old, but modern psychology has loaded it with huge questions about identity, memory, and personality. Every time you say 'myself', you’re casually touching one of the biggest philosophical puzzles humans have.
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