Etymology

I-hood

Today it means: The state of one's own self or identity; one's conscious personality. Full definition →

German Ichheit
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. German · calque ofIchheit“selfhood”
  2. English todayI-hood

From I + -hood, chiefly a calque of German Ichheit (“selfhood”). Compare also Dutch ikheid (“individuality”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.