Meanings
nounself-evidence (uncountable)
- uncountableThe quality of being self-evident.
Any... man knows, that the whole is equal to all its parts, or any other maxim, and all from the same reason of self-evidence.
1689, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, IV. vii. 10
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*swé?
- Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
- Proto-Germanic*selbaz
- Old Englishself
- Old Englishself-
- Middle Englishself-
- Englishself-
- Englishevidence
- Englishself-evidence
Translations
Bulgarian очеви́дност
- очеви́дност (očevídnost)the quality of being self-evident
Chinese Mandarin 不言而喻
- 不言而喻 (bùyán'éryù)the quality of being self-evident
Dutch duidelijkheid, vanzelfsprekendheid
- duidelijkheidthe quality of being self-evident
- vanzelfsprekendheidthe quality of being self-evident
Finnish itsestäänselvyys
- itsestäänselvyysthe quality of being self-evident
German Selbstverständlichkeit
- Selbstverständlichkeitthe quality of being self-evident
Italian ovvietà
- ovvietàthe quality of being self-evident
Polish bycie zrozumiałym sam przez się
- bycie zrozumiałym sam przez sięthe quality of being self-evident
Romanian înțelegere de la sine
- înțelegere de la sinethe quality of being self-evident
Russian очеви́дность
- очеви́дность (očevídnostʹ)the quality of being self-evident
Cite this entry
APA
self-evidence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-evidence
MLA
“self-evidence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-evidence. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-evidence,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-evidence.
Source: self-evidence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.