FromMiddle Englishtheimself. Equivalent tothem +-self. Reinforced by analogy with the singular-plural distinction betweenyourself andyourselves.
themself (third person,singular reflexive ofthey)
- (reflexive pronoun, sometimes proscribed)The reflexive form ofthey, thethird-person singularpersonal pronoun. The single person previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition(also used for emphasis).
Someone could hurtthemself.
Anyone who wants a car like mine can buy onethemself.
1899 December 6, “Paw Baldness”, inShiner Gazette:[…] they woulden't[sic] always be trying to makeThemself Look Diffarunt[sic] from what nature made Them.
2009 January 8, Samantha Maiden, “Hoaxer, out yourself: 'Demidenko'”, inThe Australian[1], archived fromthe original on15 December 2012:THE author who masqueraded as Helen Demidenko yesterday urged the hoaxer who deceived the respected right-wing journal Quadrant to unmaskthemself.
2013 January 8, John Stoltenberg,Gonerz:... somedays there will be an odd number of quadders and so somebody might have to sit bythemself in the back.
2022 April 22, Jessica Schneider, “Person sets self on fire at Supreme Court plaza”, inCNN[2]:Someone setthemself on fire Friday at the plaza in front of the US Supreme Court building, a court spokesperson said.
2024,Geoffrey K. Pullum,The Truth About English Grammar, Polity Press,→ISBN, page38:Sometimes in modern usageTheysg has the reflexive formthemself, as inSometimes a person can surprise themself. (Microsoft Word’s grammar-checking tool doesn’t like this, and peremptorily changes it tothemselves – what a nerve!)
- (nonstandard, sometimes proscribed)Synonym ofthemselves(the third-person plural).
1822, John Strype,Ecclesiastical Memorials, Relating Chiefly to Religion, page119:[…] and the same is here thought of al men to be sovailable and sufficient, as can be required, accept and take the said commission and dispensation so thankfully, andthemself so satisfied with the same, that they repute and thinkthemself not only singularlyobstringed and bound to the Popes[…]
- The use ofthemself instead ofthemselves is sometimes proscribed,[1] but it is relatively common "considering that singularthey is unquestionably far less frequent than pluralthey".[2] Furthermore, the use ofthemself as a singular andthemselves as a plural is in "clear parallel [to] common usage of the second-person forms, whereyourselves can be contrasted withyourself",[3] and the same is true in the first person, whereourselves contrasts withourself.
- For more on the use ofthey as a singular pronoun, seethey.
- For information on the use ofhe andhimself as a generic singular pronoun, seehe.
- ^Carl W. Hart (2012),Rocket English Grammar,→ISBN,page55: “Many English teachers believethemself is a serious crime against English grammar. They are not happy when people usethey,them, ortheir to talk about only one person, but they really hate it when people usethemself.”
- ^Geoffrey Sampson, Anna Babarczy (2013),Grammar Without Grammaticality: Growth and Limits of Grammatical Precision,→ISBN, page56
- ^Laura Paterson (2014),British Pronoun Use, Prescription, and Processing,→ISBN, page170
