selfhood.

1. The distinct identity through which someone exists or understands themselves as an individual.

2. An excessive concern for oneself and one's own interests rather than other people's needs.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a sense of selfhood
• individual selfhood
• preserve selfhood

On the page

After the transfer, Mara doubted whether her selfhood had survived intact.

The novel treats memory as only one component of selfhood.

Usage notes

Primary category: sci-fi literary / speculative. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Two noun senses explicitly read: individuality/personal identity; selfishness. The second is not the default meaning of identity. Individual usefulness checked for a distinct speculative-writing function. Original definitions and examples; hypothetical theories and fictional applications are not presented as established findings. No inherent mood or intensity is assigned. Writing functions: identity through transformation, individual consciousness.