Etymograph

English

itself

Itself comes from Middle English hit-self, equivalent to it + -self.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hit-self
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1638itself

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hit-self
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1638itself

Earliest quotation: 1638, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy. […]: “Beautie alone is a ſoveraigne remedy againſt feare,griefe,and all…”

Formed from it + -self

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe- ‘this’

Proto-Germanic *hit ‘this’

Proto-West Germanic *hit

Old English hit

Middle English hit

English it

Linked words

through Middle English hit

it, hit

Today it means

pron it; A thing as the object of a verb or preposition that also appears as the subject

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Middle English hit-self / itself

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