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self-actualization

[self-ak-choo-uh-luh-zey-shuh n, self-ak-]
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noun Psychology.
  1. the achievement of one's full potential through creativity, independence, spontaneity, and a grasp of the real world.
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Origin of self-actualization

First recorded in 1935–40
Also called actualization.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for self-actualization

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • They bring something to the dialogue in which self-actualization occurs.

    Herein is Love

    Reuel L. Howe

  • But in the philosophy of Hegel religion is a part of God--a stage in the development or self-actualization of God.

    Christianity and Greek Philosophy

    Benjamin Franklin Cocker

British Dictionary definitions for self-actualization

self-actualization

noun
  1. psychol the process of establishing oneself as a whole person, able to develop one's abilities and to understand oneself
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for self-actualization

n.

1939, from self- + actualization. Popularized, though not coined, by U.S. psychologist and philosopher Abraham H. Maslow (1908-1970).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper