ego

English

Etymology

From Latin ego (“I”). Chosen by Freud’s translator as a translation of his use of German Ich as a noun for this concept from the pronoun ich (“I”). Doublet of I and Ich.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈiːɡəʊ/
  • (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈɛɡəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈiɡoʊ/
• Rhymes: -iːɡəʊ

Noun

ego (countable and uncountable, plural egos)

2. The self, especially with a sense of self-importance.
   • 1998, Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth:

     When every thought absorbs your attention completely, when you are so identified with the voice in your head and the emotions that accompany it that you lose yourself in every thought and every emotion, then you are totally identified with form and therefore in the grip of ego. Ego is a conglomeration of recurring thought forms and conditioned mental-emotional patterns that are invested with a sense of I, a sense of self.

3. (psychology, Freudian) The most central part of the mind, which mediates with one's surroundings.
   • 1954, Calvin S. Hall, A Primer of Freudian Psychology:

     In the well adjusted person the ego is the executive of the personality and is governed by the reality principle.

   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, London: Heinemann, →OCLC, page 19:

     ‘Everything begins with “I”, you mean. Which is ego,’ said Tom, placing an ankle behind his ear, ‘not id.’

4. A person's self-esteem and opinion of themselves.
   • 2024 January 10, Christian Wolmar, “A time for change? ... just as it was back in issue 262”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 60:

     My columns in the early days of the Labour government often featured John Prescott, who was in charge of transport as part of a mega-department created to match his ego.

Synonyms

• I, Ich

Coordinate terms

• (Freudian self): id, superego

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• EOG, GEO, GOE, Geo., Goe, geo, geo-, goe

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ego. Doublet of jo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian)

Noun

ego m (plural egos)

1. ego (the self)

   Synonym: jo

Related terms

• egoisme
• egoista

Further reading

• “ego” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ego (“I”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

ego n

1. ego
2. (psychoanalysis) ego

Declension

Synonyms

• já

Related terms

See also

• superego
• id

Further reading

• ego in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu
• ego in Akademický slovník cizích slov, 1995, at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz

Dutch

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin egō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeː.ɣoː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ego

Noun

ego n (plural ego's, diminutive egootje n)

1. ego, self

Derived terms

• egodocument

Related terms

• egoïsme, egoïst, egoïstisch

Anagrams

• oge

Finnish

Etymology

From Latin egō (“I”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeɡo/,
• Rhymes: -eɡo
• Syllabification^(key): e‧go

Noun

ego

1. ego
2. (psychoanalysis) ego

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• “ego”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Anagrams

• geo-

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from English ego, French égo, German Ego, Italian ego, Russian э́го (égo), Spanish ego. Decision no. 693, Progreso IV.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈe.ɡo/

Noun

ego (invariable)

1. ego

Derived terms

Indonesian

Etymology

From Latin ego (“I”), from Proto-Italic *egō, from Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂. Doublet of eke.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: égo

Noun

ego (first-person possessive egoku, second-person possessive egomu, third-person possessive egonya)

1. (psychology) ego.

Derived terms

Further reading

• “ego” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ego.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.ɡo/
• Rhymes: -ɛɡo
• Hyphenation: è‧go

Noun

ego m (invariable)

1. ego

Further reading

• ego in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• geo-, goe

Latin

Alternative forms

• eco (archaic)
• eo (late)

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *egō, from Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂. Compare Ancient Greek ἐγώ (egṓ).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈe.ɡoː/, or IPA^(key): /ˈe.ɡo/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈe.ɡo/,

Pronoun

egō̆ (first person, nominative, plural nōs)

1. I; first person singular personal pronoun, nominative case
   • 4th century, St Jerome, Vulgate, Tobit 3:19

     et aut ego indigna fui illis aut illi mihi forsitan digni non fuerunt quia forsitan viro alio conservasti me

     And either I was unworthy of them, or they perhaps were not worthy of me: because perhaps thou hast kept me for another man

Declension

• Mēd is an early form of mē.

Derived terms

• mecum
• egomet, meimet, mihimet, memet
• proximus egomet mihi

Descendants

• Sardinian: dego, deo, deu, ego, eo, eu

Reflexes of the late variant eo:

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: iou
  • Istro-Romanian: io
  • Megleno-Romanian: io
  • Romanian: eu, io
• Dalmatian:
  • ju
• Italo-Romance:
  • Corsican: eiu
  • Italian: io
    • → Interlingua: io
  • Gallurese: e
  • Neapolitan: io
  • Sassarese: éiu
  • Sicilian: eu
• Padanian:
  • Friulian: jo
  • Romansch: jau
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: jo
  • Franco-Provençal: je
  • Old French: je (see there for further descendants)
  • Gascon: jo
  • Old Occitan: eu, ieu; ie
    • Occitan: ieu
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: yo
  • Old Leonese:
    • Asturian: yo
    • Extremaduran: yo
    • Leonese: you
    • Mirandese: you
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: eu (see there for further descendants)
  • Old Spanish: yo (see there for further descendants)

Borrowings:

• → Catalan: ego
• → Dutch: ego
• → English: ego
• → French: ego
• → Galician: ego
• → German: Ego
• → Italian: ego
• → Portuguese: ego
• → Spanish: ego

See also

References

• “ego”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ego”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ego in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• ego in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be hardly able to restrain one's tears: vix me contineo quin lacrimem
    
  • I cannot sleep for anxiety: curae somnum mihi adimunt, dormire me non sinunt
    
  • I'm undone! it's all up with me: perii! actum est de me! (Ter. Ad. 3. 2. 26)
    
  • I was induced by several considerations to..: multae causae me impulerunt ad aliquid or ut...
    
  • I console myself with..: hoc (illo) solacio me consōlor
    
  • I console myself with..: haec (illa) res me consolatur
    
  • (great) advantage accrues to me from this: fructus ex hac re redundant in or ad me
    
  • I will refuse you nothing: nihil tibi a me postulanti recusabo
    
  • I express my approval of a thing: res a me probatur
    
  • as far as I can guess: quantum ego coniectura assequor, auguror
    
  • if I am not mistaken: nisi (animus) me fallit
    
  • unless I'm greatly mistaken: nisi omnia me fallunt
    
  • I am not unaware: me non fugit, praeterit
    
  • I cannot bring myself to..: a me impetrare non possum, ut
    
  • I forget something: oblivio alicuius rei me capit
    
  • experience has taught me: usus me docuit
    
  • this goes to prove what I say: hoc est a (pro) me
    
  • the matter speaks for itself: res ipsa (pro me apud te) loquitur
    
  • something harasses me, makes me anxious: aliquid me sollicitat, me sollicitum habet, mihi sollicitudini est, mihi sollicitudinem affert
    
  • I am discontented with my lot: fortunae meae me paenitet
    
  • I am not dissatisfied with my progress: non me paenitet, quantum profecerim
    
  • what will become of me: quid (de) me fiet? (Ter. Heaut. 4. 3. 37)
    
  • it's all over with me; I'm a lost man: actum est de me
    
  • I have great hopes that..: magna me spes tenet (with Acc. c. Inf.) (Tusc. 1. 41. 97)
    
  • hope has played me false: spes me frustratur
    
  • I have received a legacy from a person: hereditas ad me or mihi venit ab aliquo (Verr. 2. 1. 10)
    
  • I have no objection: per me licet
    
  • (ambiguous) to be burned to ashes: incendio deleri, absūmi
    
  • (ambiguous) to be carried off by a disease: morbo absūmi (Sall. Iug. 5. 6)
    
  • (ambiguous) to die a natural death: morbo perire, absūmi, consūmi
    
  • (ambiguous) according to my strong conviction: ex animi mei sententia (vid. sect. XI. 2)
    
  • (ambiguous) I put myself at your disposal as regards advice: consilii mei copiam facio tibi
    
  • (ambiguous) my dear father: pater optime or carissime, mi pater (vid. sect. XII. 10)
    
  • (ambiguous) I swear on my conscience: ex animi mei sententia iuro
    

Latvian

Noun

ego m (invariable)

1. ego

Noun

ego m (invariable)

1. eglantine

Synonyms

• smaržlapu roze

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

ego

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ego. Doublet of ja (“I”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.ɡɔ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɡɔ
• Syllabification: e‧go

Noun

ego n (indeclinable)

1. (psychoanalysis) ego (the most central part of the mind which mediates with one's surroundings)

Further reading

• ego in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• ego in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ego (“I”). Doublet of eu.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛɡu
• Hyphenation: e‧go

Noun

ego m (plural egos)

1. ego (the self)
2. (psychology) ego (most central part of the mind)

Derived terms

• massagear o ego

Related terms

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ego.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /êːɡo/
• Hyphenation: e‧go

Noun

ȇgo m (Cyrillic spelling е̑го)

1. ego

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ego (“I”). Doublet of yo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeɡo/
• Rhymes: -eɡo
• Syllabification: e‧go

Noun

ego m (plural egos)

1. ego

   Synonym: yo

Related terms

Further reading

• “ego”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Turkish

Etymology

From Latin ego (“I”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈe.ɡo/

Noun

ego (definite accusative egou, plural egolar)

1. ego (the self, especially with a sense of self-importance)
2. (psychoanalysis) ego

Related terms