itself
/ɪtˈsɛlf/pronoun
itself is spelled I-T-S-E-L-F: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 126 times per million words in written English, the 831st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a pronoun, itself means “it; A thing as the object of a verb or preposition that also appears as the subject” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in itself?
| Letters | 6: I-T-S-E-L-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 126 times per million words; the 831st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is itself?
Itself appears 126 times per million words in written English, the 831st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce itself?
- US /ɪtˈsɛlf/
- Australia /ɪtˈself/
- /ɪtˈsɛl/
Itself has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-itself.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with itself?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as itself from its last stressed vowel (/ɛlf/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: stifle.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of itself
- it
- himself masculine
- herself feminine
- themself
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does itself mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
pronoun
- 1
neuterit; A thing as the object of a verb or preposition that also appears as the subject
When the opportunity presented itself, no feasible course of action suggested itself (to us).
- 2
neuterit; used to intensify the subject, especially to emphasize that it is the only participant in the predicate
The door itself is quite heavy.
- 3
archaicneuterit; used to refer back to an earlier subject
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Itself in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | se , soi-même |
| German | von selbst, von allein, selbst, sich selbst |
| Portuguese | se, a si mesmo , ele/ela mesmo, próprio, própria |
| Spanish | se, solo, a si mismo, por si mismo , sí mismo, mismo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does itself come from?
From Middle English hit-self, equivalent to it + -self.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).