oneself

[wʌnˈsɛlf]

/[wʌnˈsɛlf]/ pron

The verdict

“oneself” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a pronoun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - [man] sich selbst

Corpus desk

Index DE-oneself · oneself · German

oneself · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "O" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for oneself
PropertyValue
Headwordoneself
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPronoun
IPA[wʌnˈsɛlf]
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „oneself“ im Deutschen

oneselfliegt außerhalb der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Wörter, im Langschwanz technischer, archaischer oder seltener Formen, genau dort, wo Schreibzweifeln zuschlagen.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

oneself is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as apronoun, transcribed [wʌnˈsɛlf]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "[man] sich selbst".

No generated misspelling entries exist for oneself in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is oneself, spelled O-N-E-S-E-L-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    [man] sich selbst

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how oneself appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Teaching oneself to swim can be dangerous.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "oneself"?
"oneself" is spelled O-N-E-S-E-L-F. The IPA pronunciation is [wʌnˈsɛlf].
What does "oneself" mean?
As a pronoun, "oneself" means: [man] sich selbst
How do you pronounce "oneself"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "oneself" is [wʌnˈsɛlf]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "oneself" come from?
"oneself" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list