ourself

Name: ourself, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/(ˌ)aʊə(ɹ)ˈsɛlf/

//(ˌ)aʊə(ɹ)ˈsɛlf// pron

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“ourself” is uncommon English (frequency #50,710 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a pronoun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,710
frequency rank, English: 15,494
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The reflexive of the royal or editorial we: myself (as used by one who is a monarch, writer or speaker when referring to oneself as we).

Key facts for ourself
Property	Value
Headword	ourself
Language	English
Part of speech	Pronoun
IPA	/(ˌ)aʊə(ɹ)ˈsɛlf/
Letters	7
Frequency rank	#50,710
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ourself” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). ourself lands here:

#50,710

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ourself is uncommon English at frequency #50,710 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as apronoun, transcribed /(ˌ)aʊə(ɹ)ˈsɛlf/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for ourself, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English oure-selfe; equivalent to our + -self. The correct English form is ourself, spelled O-U-R-S-E-L-F.

Definition

1
The reflexive of the royal or editorial we: myself (as used by one who is a monarch, writer or speaker when referring to oneself as we).
2
The reflexive of the generic we: oneself.
3
Reflexive of "we" referring to an individual person being addressed, especially a person in the speaker's care.
4
The reflexive of we: ourselves.

Etymology

From Middle English oure-selfe; equivalent to our + -self.

This word in other languages

nous-même(Français)uns(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ourself"?

"ourself" is spelled O-U-R-S-E-L-F. The IPA pronunciation is /(ˌ)aʊə(ɹ)ˈsɛlf/.

What does "ourself" mean?

As a pronoun, "ourself" means: The reflexive of the royal or editorial we: myself (as used by one who is a monarch, writer or speaker when referring to oneself as we).

How do you pronounce "ourself"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ourself" is /(ˌ)aʊə(ɹ)ˈsɛlf/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "ourself"?

From Middle English oure-selfe; equivalent to our + -self. See the full etymology section above for more details.

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.

Using “ourself”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is O-U-R-S-E-L-F - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /(ˌ)aʊə(ɹ)ˈsɛlf/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.