Etymograph

English

self

Self comes from Old English self ‘self’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ- ‘one's own’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selbʰ-1‘one's own’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*selbaz1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150self1‘self’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500salve1
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598self1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English self
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Portia: To these injunctions every one doth swear That…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selbʰ-Wiktionary, English self‘one's own’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*selbazWiktionary, English selfreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150selfWiktionary, English self‘self’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500salveWiktionary, English self
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598selfWiktionary, English self. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Portia: To these injunctions every one doth swear That…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swé

such, suicide, solo, idiot, sole, solitary, sans, solitude, desolate, desolation, solitaire, swain, idiocy, sullen, solus, sere, 19 more

through Middle English salve

salve

Today it means

pron Himself, herself, itself, themself, themselves; that specific (person mentioned).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “self”. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ- / self

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