English
self-effacement
From self- + effacement.
A compound of self- + effacement
Old French esfacier ‘to remove’
French effacer ‘to erase’
French effacement ‘erasure’
English effacement
Today it means
noun The act of keeping oneself in the background, as in humility.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “self-effacement”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / self-effacement