Illeism

English

Etymology

An engraving of the 1st century bust of Julius Caesar from the Farnese collection, on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy. In his Commentarii de Bello Gallico (58–49 BCE), Caesar used illeism to give an air of impartiality to the account, including justifications of his own actions.

From Latin ille (“that man; he”) + -ism, modelled on egoism.

Katakana transliteration

• イリーイズム (irīizumu)

Noun

illeism (uncountable)

1. The practice of (often excessive) referring to oneself in the third person.
2. Excessive use of the pronoun “he”, especially in reference to oneself; the habit of speaking of oneself in the third person.
   • Douglas Bruster (2007): Editors sometimes misattribute lines due to characters using illeism.

Derived terms

• [illeist]

Related terms

• [illeity]

See also

• [nosism]
• [tuism]

Example video

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Illeism Meaning - Illeism Examples - Illeism Defined - Rhetoric - Illeism by iswearenglish

"Illeism" shown on TV

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Jimmy’s illeism causes a misunderstanding (Seinfeld Season 6, Episode 19 – “The Jimmy”)

Other Dictionary Entries

• Merriam Webster's Entry for "Illeism"
• TheFreeDictionary's Entry for "Illeism"
• YourDictionary's Entry for "Illeism"
• Wiktionary's Entry for "Illeism"
• Grokipedia's Entry for "Illeism"

Further reading

• "Word of the week: Illeism" Article by SongBar
• WorldWideWorlds Article on "Illeism"
• Illeism on Wikipedia
• "Illeism: The ancient trick to help you think more wisely" by David Robson, BBC News
• "Illeism" on r/Philosophy
• ThoughtCo's Article about "Illeism"

English terms suffixed with -ism People