- (used as an intensive of me or I): I myself will challenge the winner.
- (used reflexively in place of me as the object of a preposition or as the direct or indirect object of a verb): I gave myself a good rubdown. She asked me for a picture of myself.
- Informal. (used in place of I or me, especially in compound subjects, objects, and complements): My wife and myself fully agree. She wanted John and myself to take charge. The originators of the plan were my partner and myself.
- (used in place of I or me after as, than, or but): He knows as much about the matter as myself.
- my normal or customary self: After a few days of rest, I expect to be myself again.
Origin of myself
Myself occurs only rarely as a single subject in place of I: Myself was the one who called. The recorded instances of such use are mainly poetic or literary. It is also uncommon as a simple object in place of me : Since the letter was addressed to myself, I opened it. As part of a compound subject, object, or complement, myself and to a lesser extent the other -self forms are common in informal speech and personal writing, somewhat less common in more formal speech and writing: The manager and myself completed the arrangements. Many came to welcome my husband and myself back to Washington.
Myself and other -self forms are also used, alone or with other nouns or pronouns, in constructions after as, than, or but in all varieties of speech and writing: The captain has far more experience than myself in such matters. Orders have arrived for everyone but the orderlies and yourself.
There is ample precedent, going as far back as Chaucer and running through the whole range of British and American literature and other serious formal writing, for all these uses. Many usage guides, however, state that to use myself in any construction in which I or me could be used instead (as My daughter and myself play the flute instead of My daughter and I, or a gift for my husband and myself instead of for my husband and me ) is characteristic only of informal speech and that such use ought not to occur in writing. See also me.
Examples from the Web for myself
You know, when I was younger, I used to make problems for myself, like it was too easy.The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile
January 3, 2015
I was going to do it myself, but was waiting for the new year.The Insurance Company Promised a Gender Reassignment. Then They Made a Mistake.
December 29, 2014
Walking along the Prado, every time, for better or worse, I pass different versions of myself and of Havana.The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind
December 19, 2014
With Big Eyes a lot of people, myself included, were glad to see you emerge from the rabbit hole that is the CG world.Tim Burton Talks ‘Big Eyes,’ His Taste For the Macabre, and the ‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel
December 17, 2014
Hitch picks up his cane, pushes her aside, and laboriously tries to get to his feet, saying, “I'll do it myself.”Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
December 13, 2014
Though younger than myself, she reciprocated the love she had inspired.
By some mysterious power you have ever known my heart better than I myself have known it.
There, I thought I'd reveal the distressing truth about myself while I had you at my mercy.
I'm afraid of myself, even in spite of our affairs being so bad.
I know that in Paris, for instance, I myself have no temptations.Malbone
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
- the reflexive form of I or me
- (intensifier)I myself know of no answer
- (preceded by a copula) my usual selfI'm not myself today
- not standard used instead of I or me in compound noun phrasesJohn and myself are voting together
Word Origin and History for myself
c.1500, alteration of meself, from Old English phrase (ic) me self, where me is "a kind of ethical dative" [OED], altered in Middle Ages from meself on analogy of herself, with her- felt as genitive; though analogous hisself remains bad form.