ego

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others
  2. noun your consciousness of your own identity
  3. noun (psychoanalysis) the conscious mind

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

egotism, self-importance

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