de soi-même

\də swa mɛm\

/\də swa mɛm\/ adv

The verdict

“de soi-même” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Spontanément, sans y être contraint ou incité.

Corpus desk

Index FR-de-soi-meme · de soi-même · French

de soi-même · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" 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 de soi-même
PropertyValue
Headwordde soi-même
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\də swa mɛm\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « de soi-même » en français

de soi-mêmen'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

de soi-même is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \də swa mɛm\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Spontanément, sans y être contraint ou incité.".

Zero misspellings are on record for de soi-même in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No borrowing history is documented 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 French form is de soi-même, spelled D-E- -S-O-I---M-Ê-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Spontanément, sans y être contraint ou incité.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le chauffard s’est présenté de lui-même au commissariat.
  2. Elles sont parvenues d’elles-mêmes à changer le regard que le monde leur portait.

This word in other languages

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 "de soi-même"?
"de soi-même" is spelled D-E- -S-O-I---M-Ê-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is \də swa mɛm\.
What does "de soi-même" mean?
As an adverb, "de soi-même" means: Spontanément, sans y être contraint ou incité.
How do you pronounce "de soi-même"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "de soi-même" is \də swa mɛm\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "de soi-même" come from?
"de soi-même" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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