self-reference

American  

[self-ref-er-uhns, -ref-ruhns] / ˈsɛlfˈrɛf ər əns, -ˈrɛf rəns /

noun

1. reference made to oneself, to one's own character or experience, or to a group with which one identifies.

2. Logic. the property of a statement that is a statement about itself, as “This statement is grammatical.”

---

Sensitive Note

Social, ethnic, or other groups often use terms of self-reference in a neutral, even affectionate or jocular way, much like nicknames. These self-referential terms function to reinforce solidarity among members of the group. However, when used by outsiders, these very same terms are perceived as offensive by those who belong to the group. Examples of self-referential terms are Canuck, chick, dyke, geek, nigger, queer.

Other Word Forms

• self-referential
  adjective
• self-referring
  adjective
• self-referentially
  adverb

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

self-reference

Leaving aside the self-reference and winks at the audience, the director instead tells this highly metafictional story in a dozen docu-realistic vignettes, revealing the alienation of urban life and the cruelty of men.

From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2022

The shade, when it’s thrown, is aimed mostly at the Intellectual Property Industrial Complex, with its voracious appetite for repetition and shameless self-reference.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 21, 2021

Pincus-Witten taxed him with narcissism—not incorrectly, but he failed to credit the steely discipline with which Nauman marshals his uses of self-reference.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 29, 2018

Poetic self-reference matters more than strict consistency, attitude more than mythology.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2018

Sometimes, the language of artistic wording establishes a self-contained universe of self-reference and becomes not only the message, but also the context.

From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai