Etymograph

English

selfdom

Selfdom comes from Old English selfdōm ‘independence’.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150selfdōm1‘independence’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500selfdom1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1981selfdom1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English selfdom
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1981, Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune (Science Fiction): “The target of the Jihad was a machine-attitude as…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150selfdōmWiktionary, English selfdom‘independence’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500selfdomWiktionary, English selfdom
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1981selfdomWiktionary, English selfdom. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1981, Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune (Science Fiction): “The target of the Jihad was a machine-attitude as…”

Formed from self + -dom

Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ- ‘one's own’

Proto-Germanic *selbaz

Old English self ‘self’

Middle English salve

English self

Every English word from Old English selfdōm

Today it means

noun selfhood.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “selfdom”. 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 / Old English selfdōm / selfdom

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