Etymograph

English

yourself

Yourself comes from Middle English yourself ‘yourselves (emphatic)’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yourself1‘yourselves (emphatic)’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2025yourself1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English yourself
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2025, Madeline Holcombe, It might be time to ‘reparent’ yourself. Here’s how to get s: “As an adult, you would find yourself being a…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yourselfWiktionary, English yourself‘yourselves (emphatic)’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2025yourselfWiktionary, English yourself. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2025, Madeline Holcombe, It might be time to ‘reparent’ yourself. Here’s how to get s: “As an adult, you would find yourself being a…”

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Today it means

pron Your own self (singular).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “yourself”. 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 / Middle English yourself / yourself