Itself in Different Languages
Discover 'Itself' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'itself' is a small but powerful term, often used to emphasize the autonomy and independence of a noun. It carries a significant weight in English language and literature, and its cultural importance extends far beyond the realm of grammar. Understanding the word 'itself' in different languages can provide valuable insights into the nuances of various cultures and their unique ways of expressing thoughts and ideas.
For instance, in Spanish, 'itself' is translated as 'ese mismo' or 'ella misma' depending on the gender of the noun. Meanwhile, in German, the word 'sich' is used to convey the same meaning. In French, 'itself' is translated as 'même' or 'lui-même', depending on the context.
Delving deeper into the translations of 'itself' can reveal fascinating historical contexts and cultural differences. Join us as we explore the many facets of this simple yet powerful word in various languages around the world.
Itself
Itself in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | self | ||
| In Afrikaans, | |||
| Amharic | ራሱ | ||
| The word ራሱ (itself) can also be used to refer to the essence of something or its innermost nature. | |||
| Hausa | kanta | ||
| The word "kanta" in Hausa can also mean "it" or "him" when referring to a male entity. | |||
| Igbo | n'onwe ya | ||
| N'onwe ya, a compound word from n'onwe (self or owner) and ya (its, his, her), also means 'it's own' or 'its own business'. | |||
| Malagasy | mihitsy | ||
| The word "mihitsy" can also refer to an independent or solitary person or thing. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | lokha | ||
| Nyanja 'lokha' is used as a reflexive, but historically meant 'self', and it can also mean an 'idol' or a 'corpse'. | |||
| Shona | pachawo | ||
| Pachawo is derived from the Proto-Bantu verb *pa- (to) which is also the source of other reflexive and reciprocal prefixes throughout the Niger-Congo language family. | |||
| Somali | laftiisa | ||
| The word "laftiisa" also has the meaning "his own" or "her own" when used in the possessive form. | |||
| Sesotho | ka boeona | ||
| This word can have the following meanings: the self same, the very same, himself, herself, itself, thyself, yourself, yourself, themselves, or by itself. | |||
| Swahili | yenyewe | ||
| The word "yenyewe" can also mean "on its own" or "independently" in Swahili. | |||
| Xhosa | ngokwayo | ||
| The word 'ngokwayo' is derived from the Xhosa word 'ukukwazi', which means 'to be able'. It can be used as a pronoun, an adverb, or a conjunction. | |||
| Yoruba | funrararẹ | ||
| In some dialects of Yoruba, "funrarẹ" means "on its own" or "separately." | |||
| Zulu | uqobo | ||
| In Zulu, the word "uqobo" also means "the very thing," or "the selfsame thing. | |||
| Bambara | a yɛrɛ ye | ||
| Ewe | ŋutɔ | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ubwayo | ||
| Lingala | yango moko | ||
| Luganda | yennyini | ||
| Sepedi | ka boyona | ||
| Twi (Akan) | ankasa | ||
Itself in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | بحد ذاتها | ||
| Hebrew | את עצמה | ||
| The word "את עצמה" can also mean "her" or "herself". | |||
| Pashto | پخپله | ||
| The Pashto word "پخپله" ("itself") also serves as the oblique form (i.e., the form not in the subject) of the reflexive pronoun.} | |||
| Arabic | بحد ذاتها | ||
Itself in Western European Languages
| Albanian | vetveten | ||
| The noun "vetveten" in Albanian can also refer to the "very essence" or "inmost nature" of something. | |||
| Basque | bera | ||
| The Basque word "bera" can also refer to "the same one", "the very same" or "she, he" depending on the context. | |||
| Catalan | a si mateix | ||
| The Catalan word "a si mateix" can also mean "by oneself" or "on one's own". | |||
| Croatian | sebe | ||
| The word 'sebe' in Croatian can also be used as a possessive adjective meaning 'own' or 'his/her own'. | |||
| Danish | sig selv | ||
| The word "sig selv" is also used in Danish to refer to someone's better half, their spouse or lover. | |||
| Dutch | zelf | ||
| "Zelf" is cognate with English "self" and German "selbst," sharing an etymology with Proto-Indo-European *swé, meaning "own." | |||
| English | itself | ||
| The word "itself" derives from the Old English word "hit self," meaning "it itself," and can also be used as an intensive pronoun emphasizing the noun it modifies. | |||
| French | lui-même | ||
| The word "lui-même" can also mean "himself" or "himself".} | |||
| Frisian | sels | ||
| The Frisian word "sels" also means "seal" (animal) and "sail". | |||
| Galician | en si | ||
| "En si", "por sí misma" o "interiormente", es la forma apocopada de "en sí mesma" en gallego. | |||
| German | selbst | ||
| The word "selbst" in German also means "self" and is often used in philosophical contexts to refer to the subjective or individual self. | |||
| Icelandic | sjálft | ||
| The Icelandic word "sjálft" originally meant "body" or "person" but took on its current meaning of "itself" in the 14th century. | |||
| Irish | féin | ||
| The word "féin" in Irish can also mean "indeed" or "of course". | |||
| Italian | si | ||
| In medieval Latin, "si" also meant "yes". | |||
| Luxembourgish | selwer | ||
| The word 'selwer' in Luxembourgish is derived from the Old High German word 'selbir', meaning 'self', and is also related to the English word 'self'. | |||
| Maltese | innifsu | ||
| The Maltese word "innifsu" is thought to derive from the Arabic "bi-nafsihi" meaning "by itself". | |||
| Norwegian | seg selv | ||
| In Norwegian, "seg selv" is also used to mean "himself" or "herself" when the gender of the subject is unknown or irrelevant. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | em si | ||
| The word "em si" can also be used to mean "in itself" or "intrinsically". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | fhèin | ||
| In Gaelic, "fhèin" can also mean "own" or "very". | |||
| Spanish | sí mismo | ||
| The Spanish word "sí mismo" can also mean "him- or herself". | |||
| Swedish | sig | ||
| The Old Norse word "sig" originally meant "victory," hence the meaning "one" (the winner), as it is used today. | |||
| Welsh | ei hun | ||
| The word "ei hun" in Welsh has connections to the Old English word "heonan" meaning "within". | |||
Itself in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | сама | ||
| Belarusian word "сама" can also mean "she" or "oneself" when used in certain contexts. | |||
| Bosnian | sama | ||
| The word "sama" in Bosnian can also mean "same" or "alone". | |||
| Bulgarian | себе си | ||
| In Bulgarian, "себе си" can also refer to a person's self-esteem and inner worth. | |||
| Czech | sám | ||
| The term "sám" can also be used as a reflexive particle to indicate that an action is carried out by the subject upon itself; e.g., "umýt se" ("to wash oneself"). | |||
| Estonian | ise | ||
| "Ise" is a cognate of Finnish "itse". The Estonian word originates directly from the Finnish "itse" via the Swedish "själv" in the Middle Ages. | |||
| Finnish | itse | ||
| The Finnish word "itse" evolved from the word *ipse,* meaning "one's own," and a related word *itsekäs* means "selfish." | |||
| Hungarian | maga | ||
| The word "maga" in Hungarian is a reflexive pronoun meaning "itself," "himself," or "herself" and is related to the word "magam," which means "myself." | |||
| Latvian | pati | ||
| From Proto-Baltic *pḗti, also related to Proto-Indo-European *péti (foot), from which also come English “ped-” and Latin “pēs”. | |||
| Lithuanian | pats | ||
| The word "pats" in Lithuanian can also mean "one's own" or "belonging to oneself". | |||
| Macedonian | себе | ||
| The word "себе" originally comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "се" or "сьбє, which means "in, towards". | |||
| Polish | samo | ||
| The Polish word "samo" can mean not only "itself" but also "alone" or "only." | |||
| Romanian | în sine | ||
| A potential origin of the Romanian word "în sine" is the Latin phrase "in seipso" meaning "within itself". | |||
| Russian | сам | ||
| The word сам in Russian can be used as reflexive pronoun, as an adverb meaning 'alone', or as a noun meaning 'the self'. It is derived from the Proto-Slavic *samъ, from Proto-Indo-European *somó-s, and is cognate with Latin se and English self. | |||
| Serbian | себе | ||
| The word "себе" in Serbian can also mean "to oneself" or "for oneself". | |||
| Slovak | sám | ||
| Sám in Slovak has a dual meaning: „itself” and „alone”. | |||
| Slovenian | sama | ||
| In Old Church Slavonic, "sama" was used as the feminine singular form of the reflexive pronoun "se". | |||
| Ukrainian | себе | ||
| "Себе" can also refer to oneself or a person's own interests. | |||
Itself in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | নিজেই | ||
| "নিজেই" is derived from the Sanskrit word "nizhtha" meaning "own essence." | |||
| Gujarati | પોતે | ||
| The word "પોતે" in Gujarati can also mean "oneself", "in person", or "personally". | |||
| Hindi | अपने आप | ||
| The Hindi word "अपने आप" can also mean "automatically" or "on its own". | |||
| Kannada | ಸ್ವತಃ | ||
| ಸ್ವತಃ is derived from the Sanskrit word स्वतः (svatah), meaning 'of its own accord', 'by itself', or 'independently'. | |||
| Malayalam | സ്വയം | ||
| Malayalam word "സ്വയം" (svayam) can also mean "by oneself" or "in person." | |||
| Marathi | स्वतः | ||
| The word 'स्वतः' originates from the Sanskrit word 'स्वतः', which means 'by oneself or of one's own accord'. | |||
| Nepali | आफैं | ||
| The word "आफैं" originally meant "self" or "own" and also refers to an entity acting upon itself. | |||
| Punjabi | ਆਪਣੇ ਆਪ ਨੂੰ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | ම | ||
| The Sinhala word "ම" can also mean "this" or "here" in some contexts. | |||
| Tamil | தன்னை | ||
| In Tamil, "தன்னை" can also mean "one's own self" or "of itself."} | |||
| Telugu | స్వయంగా | ||
| The word 'స్వయంగా' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'स्वयं' (svayam), meaning 'self', and is also used in the sense of 'automatically' or 'independently'. | |||
| Urdu | خود | ||
| "خود" is also used to mean 'the self,' and can refer to a person, their feelings, or their character. | |||
Itself in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 本身 | ||
| "本身" is also used in the following expressions: "身不由己" (against one's will), "身居要职" (hold an important position), and "身披重任" (bear a heavy responsibility). | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 本身 | ||
| 本身 originally referred to one's body or nature and, in the sense of "itself," first appeared in the Song dynasty. | |||
| Japanese | 自体 | ||
| The word "自体" (jita) can also mean "body" or "substance" in Japanese. | |||
| Korean | 그 자체 | ||
| 그 자체 is a native Korean word but can also be used as a translation of the Japanese word じたい (jitai) which means "substance". | |||
| Mongolian | өөрөө | ||
| The morpheme "өөр" in Mongolian has many meanings, such as "other", "separate", and "different", and "өөрөө" is formed by reduplication and used to emphasize the meaning of "itself". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | သူ့ဟာသူ | ||
| The word “သူ့ဟာသူ” can literally mean 1. the person's own (as in something), 2. his/her own, and more figuratively 3. one's own self / oneself / itself. | |||
Itself in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | diri | ||
| The word "diri" is also used to refer to "one's person" or "one's identity" in Indonesian, similar to the English word "self." | |||
| Javanese | dhewe | ||
| The Javanese word "dhewe" is related to the Malay "diri" and the Sanskrit "swa", all meaning "self". | |||
| Khmer | ខ្លួនវាផ្ទាល់ | ||
| In old Khmer, the word "khleun va pdal" was used to refer to "oneself" or "one's body". | |||
| Lao | ຕົວຂອງມັນເອງ | ||
| This phrase can also mean 'all by itself' or 'on its own'. | |||
| Malay | sendiri | ||
| The word "sendiri" in Malay can also mean "alone" or "by oneself". | |||
| Thai | ตัวเอง | ||
| "ตัว" means "body" while "เอง" means "self". Therefore, "ตัวเอง" originally meant "own body" and is now used reflexively as "itself". | |||
| Vietnamese | chinh no | ||
| Chinh no can also mean "the essence" or "the very nature" of something. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | mismo | ||
Itself in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | özü | ||
| In Azerbaijani, "özü" can also refer to "essence" or "core." | |||
| Kazakh | өзі | ||
| "өзі" is derived from the Proto-Turkic word "öz" meaning "self, own" and can also mean "the very fact that" or "the only reason why." | |||
| Kyrgyz | өзү | ||
| In Kyrgyz, "өзү" can also refer to a person's self-esteem or personal character. | |||
| Tajik | худаш | ||
| "худаш" also refers to "one's own" or "belonging to oneself" and is cognate with the Persian خود "self" and the Sanskrit स्वयम् "self." | |||
| Turkmen | özi | ||
| Uzbek | o'zi | ||
| Ози "о'зи" ("ози") имеет "уз" да число арабского-фарси эпохали вавились также для большинства "хози" вида или удобного "нега". | |||
| Uyghur | ئۆزى | ||
Itself in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | iho | ||
| In Hawaiian, the word "iho" can also refer to the "navel" or the "lower body". | |||
| Maori | ano | ||
| In Maori, "ano" can also mean "alone" or "only" when used as an adjective. | |||
| Samoan | lava ia | ||
| The Samoan word "lava ia" not only means "itself" but can also be used to mean "alone" or "by itself". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | mismo | ||
| The Tagalog word "mismo" is derived from the Spanish word "mismo", which means "same" or "selfsame". | |||
Itself in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | jupa pachpa | ||
| Guarani | ijeheguiete | ||
Itself in International Languages
| Esperanto | mem | ||
| "Mem" comes from the Latin "memet", meaning "itself" | |||
| Latin | ipsum | ||
| The word 'ipsum' in Latin was occasionally used to refer to the letter "a". | |||
Itself in Others Languages
| Greek | εαυτό | ||
| The word "εαυτό" in Greek is derived from the reflexive pronoun "εαυτού", which means "of oneself". It can also be used as an emphatic pronoun, meaning "himself", "herself", or "itself". | |||
| Hmong | nws tus kheej | ||
| The first syllable is borrowed from the Thai word "ตัว", meaning "body". | |||
| Kurdish | xwe | ||
| 'Xwe,' can also be used to describe the self as opposed to an external influence, such as: 'bixwe (on its own), xweser (self), xwedan (to own)'. | |||
| Turkish | kendisi | ||
| The word 'kendisi' can also mean 'self' or 'person' in Turkish. | |||
| Xhosa | ngokwayo | ||
| The word 'ngokwayo' is derived from the Xhosa word 'ukukwazi', which means 'to be able'. It can be used as a pronoun, an adverb, or a conjunction. | |||
| Yiddish | זיך | ||
| 'זיך' can also be used to mean 'self' as in the English word 'selfish,' and like 'selfish' it is generally used in a derogatory sense to refer to someone only interested in their own needs or desires. | |||
| Zulu | uqobo | ||
| In Zulu, the word "uqobo" also means "the very thing," or "the selfsame thing. | |||
| Assamese | নিজেই | ||
| Aymara | jupa pachpa | ||
| Bhojpuri | खुदे के बा | ||
| Dhivehi | އަމިއްލައަށް | ||
| Dogri | खुद ही | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | mismo | ||
| Guarani | ijeheguiete | ||
| Ilocano | a mismo | ||
| Krio | insɛf sɛf | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | خۆی | ||
| Maithili | स्वयं | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯁꯥ ꯃꯊꯟꯇꯥ꯫ | ||
| Mizo | amah ngei pawh a ni | ||
| Oromo | ofii isaatii | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ନିଜେ | | ||
| Quechua | kikin | ||
| Sanskrit | स्वयं | ||
| Tatar | үзе | ||
| Tigrinya | ንባዕሉ’ዩ። | ||
| Tsonga | hi yoxe | ||