Link Centre Dictionary

selfsame

self·same

UK/ˈsɛlfseɪm/ US/ˌsɛlfˈseɪm/ uncommon archaic

adjective

1.

being the exact same one; not any other:

  • “this is the identical room we stayed in before”
  • “the themes of his stories are one and the same”
  • “saw the selfsame quotation in two newspapers”
  • “on this very spot”
  • “the very thing he said yesterday”
  • “the very man I want to see”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

PIE word *swé From Middle English self sam, self same, selve same (“the very same, selfsame”) [and other forms], from self (“that specific (person mentioned), herself, himself, itself, themselves”, pronoun) (from Old English self, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“self”)) + sam, same (“(adjective) equal, identical; unchanging; referred to earlier, abovenamed, aforementioned; (adverb) again, repeatedly”) (from Old Norse samr (“same; agreeing, of one mind”), ultimately probably from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one, together”)). The English word is analysable as self + same. Cognates * Danish selvsamme (“identical, selfsame”) * Old High German selbsama (“identical, selfsame”)

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.