ego
//ˈiɡo//
Forms
- Plural
- egos
- present (v1)
- ego
- past (v2)
- egoed
- past participle (v3)
- egoed
- present participle
- egoing
- 3rd person singular
- egos
Definitions
1.The self, especially with a sense of self-importance.
2.The most central part of the mind, which mediates with one's surroundings.
- ‘Everything begins with “I”, you mean. Which is ego,’ said Tom, placing an ankle behind his ear, ‘not id.’
- In the well adjusted person the ego is the executive of the personality and is governed by the reality principle.
3.A person's self-esteem and opinion of themselves.
- Too many gay people "come out" publicly, yet fail to achieve truly healthy egos. They "adjust" to being less than whole or integrated persons.
- 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.
4.The individual from whose point of view a family tree or pedigree chart is drawn, or the reference point from whom kinship terminology is relative. (Used without the definite article the.)
1.To damage someone's ego.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4837
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
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.