himself

The word “himself” means the reflexive form of "he" — used when a male subject and object are the same person. In plain terms, the "self" version of "him" — used when someone does something to or for themselves, or for emphasis.

“Himself” is pronounced hihm-SEHLF (/hɪmˈsɛlf/ in IPA).

Here is “himself” used in a sentence: “He blamed himself for the mistake.”

Words with a similar meaning to “himself” include hisself and hissen.

“Himself” is a pronoun.

The word “himself” comes from Old English. From Old English him selfum, equivalent to him + self.

“Himself” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.

“Himself” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the reflexive form of "he" — used when a male subject and object are the same person.

'Him' is an object pronoun that usually points to a male other than the subject: in 'He saw him', two different people are involved. 'Himself' is reflexive, used when the subject and object are the same man: in 'He saw himself', he is looking at his own reflection. The self is turned back on itself.

Use 'himself' in two main ways. As a reflexive pronoun, when a male subject acts on himself: 'He taught himself to code.' As an emphatic pronoun, to stress that it was that particular person and no other: 'The manager himself apologised.' In both, the man and the pronoun refer to the same person.