Thyself

Part of speech: pronoun

Definitions

1. A reflexive pronoun used to emphasize the subject or to refer back to the person being spoken to in older or poetic English
2. An archaic or poetic form of addressing oneself directly, often for emphasis or introspection
3. A traditional English pronoun employed to reflect the action or state back upon the person addressed, typically found in classical literature

Etymology: "Thyself" is a plain compound: "thy," the old possessive form of "thou," joined to "self." The pairing followed the same pattern as "myself," "himself," and "yourself," where "self" attaches to a possessive or object pronoun to mark the reflexive, or emphatic, sense of "you" acting on or standing for you. In Middle English the word appeared in several spellings, including "thy-selfe," "thiself," and "thi-zelf," and it sat alongside "thou-self," a related form built on the subject pronoun "thou." Over the centuries "thou" and "thy" fell out of everyday English, and "thyself" went with them, surviving mainly in older religious texts, poetry, and archaic speech, where it still sounds formal or solemn.

Synonyms: yourself

Antonyms: another, someone else