itself

American  

[it-self] / ɪtˈsɛlf /

pronoun

1. a reflexive form of it.

   The battery recharges itself.

2. an emphatic appositive of it, which, that, this, or a noun.

   which itself is also true; Even without flowers, the bowl itself is beautiful.

3. (used as the object of a preposition or as the direct or indirect object of a verb).

   The chameleon's ability to change color is a protection for itself.

4. its normal or customary self.

   After much tender care, the puppy was soon itself again.

---

itself British  

/ ɪtˈsɛlf /

pronoun

1. 1. the reflexive form of it 1

   2. (intensifier)

      even the money itself won't convince me

2. (preceded by a copula) its normal or usual self

   my cat isn't itself today

---

Usage

See myself.

Etymology

Origin of itself

before 1000; Middle English; Old English hit self. See it ¹, self

Example Sentences

But he urged the country to place itself "in the service of law and justice" and condemned "troubling hygienic and sanitary conditions" for prisoners.

From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026

XTX is building the $1 billion-plus complex itself, rather than renting computing power, the more typical approach in finance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

Dawkins was not using “selfish” in the conventional sense of the word, but as an overextended metaphor for the lengths that DNA will go to replicate itself.

From Salon • Apr. 23, 2026

These revive-the-dead ideas would rarely have much meat to them beyond the novelty of the tech itself.

From Slate • Apr. 23, 2026

It had breath and claws, and it moved in an odd shambling walk, growling to itself while the spit trailed from its muzzle.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver