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].

Pronunciation

• /ˈɪliːɪzəm/ (RP)
• /ˈɪliɪzəm/ (GA)

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.
   • Lewis Walker (2002): “Illeism with a difference” occurs when a character refers to himself by name rather than a pronoun.
   • S. Viswanathan (2005): The device of illeism appears in Elizabethan drama and earlier traditions.
   • Anu Garg (2007): Illeism is especially common among professional athletes.
   • Douglas Bruster (2007): Editors sometimes misattribute lines due to characters using illeism.

Derived terms

• [illeist]

Related terms

• [illeity]

See also

• [nosism]
• [tuism]

Further reading

• Illeism on Wikipedia

English terms suffixed with -ism People