Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- pronoun That one identical with her.
- pronoun Used reflexively as the direct or indirect object of a verb or as the object of a preposition.
- pronoun Used for emphasis.
- pronoun Used in an absolute construction.
- pronoun Her normal or healthy condition or state.
from The Century Dictionary.
- An emphasized or reflexive form of the third personal pronoun, feminine, corresponding in all uses to himself.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- pronoun An emphasized form of the third person feminine pronoun; -- used as a subject with
she ; ; also used alone in the predicate, either in the nominative or objective case - pronoun Her own proper, true, or real character; hence, her right, or sane, mind
- pronoun alone; apart; unaccompanied.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- pronoun reflexive
her ; the female object of a verb or preposition that also appears as the subject - pronoun emphatic
she ; an intensive repetition of the female subject, often used to indicate the exclusiveness of that person as the only satisfier of the predicate - pronoun slang A
self-important female
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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An Irish paper, in noticing a coroner's inquest on a young woman who had drowned herself, says, the jury, after an hour's deliberation, brought in a verdict of _wilful murder against herself_.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 10, No. 274, September 22, 1827 Various
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Even Minna in misfortune would have allowed herself to be persuaded either to increase or to assuage the misfortune of her friend through herself .
Act V. Scene IX 1909
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After that perhaps you won't believe that our neighbour, Madame Tchepuz, Elena Antonovna, told me herself, mind _herself_, that she had murdered her nephew? '
Rudin Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev 1850
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Henry, when the little girl held the geraniums up to him, observed, that the back of her hand was bruised and black; he asked her how she had hurt herself, and she replied innocently, "that she had not hurt _herself_, but that her schoolmistress was a very _strict_ woman."
Tales and Novels — Volume 01 Maria Edgeworth 1808
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The furnishing of the house Mrs. Bettesworth took upon herself; and Sally _took upon herself_ to find fault with every article that her mother bought.
Tales and Novels — Volume 02 Maria Edgeworth 1808
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- Mrs. Milles flatters herself falsely; it has never been Mrs. Rice's wish to have her son settled near herself-& there is now a hope entertained of her relenting in favour of Deane.
Jane Austen's Letters To Her Sister Cassandra and Others 1796
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V. v.220 (297,9) the temple/Of virtue was she; yea, and she herself] That is, She was not only _the temple of virtue_, but _virtue herself_.
Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Samuel Johnson 1746
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It may well be that Nurse Chaplin herself is amongst those for whom the symbol does not represent an opposition to our very way of life.
Archive 2010-03-01 Hal Duncan 2010
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I guess Palin herself is sexist since she willingly posed for that shot.
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She says she thinks people who call her a chav are "racist" but uses the word herself all the time.
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