itself
- 1Used as the object of a verb or preposition when it refers to the same thing as the subject of the clause.
The company found itself unable to pay its debts.
The door locks by itself after ten seconds.
UsageCommon with verbs like presents itself and finds itself. By itself means without help: a door that locks by itself.
- 2Used to emphasize a noun or pronoun, usually right after it, often stressing that the thing alone, and not anything connected with it, is involved.
The house itself is sound; only the roof needs repair.
She enjoyed the evening, though the play itself struck her as dull.
UsageUsually right after the noun, and the sentence still works without it: the play itself was dull, the play was dull.
Note
Here nothing turns back on the subject. The pronoun leans on a noun to sharpen it: the door itself, individuality itself. Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy writes "a banquet it selfe" as two words, a reminder that it and self were once written apart.
- 3Used where modern English would use plain 'it', referring back to a subject mentioned earlier in the sentence or passage.
The oil by degrees gets covered with a curdy mass, which after some time settles to the bottom, while itself becomes limpid and colorless.
1842, Andrew Ure, A Dictionary of ArtsUsageFound in older prose. In your own writing, use plain it instead.
Note
An older habit lets the form stand alone as a subject, where today's English says plain it or it itself. Andrew Ure's A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines describes oil whose curds settle "while itself becomes limpid and colorless."
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English hit-self, formed from "it" combined with "-self".
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Itself derives from Middle English hit-self and combines it with -self. en.wiktionary.org