Definition of "themselves" []

• Those ones identical with them: (pronoun)
• Used reflexively as the direct or indirect object of a verb or as the object of a preposition: prepared themselves for the trip; gave themselves plenty of time; were left to themselves. (pronoun)
• Used for emphasis: The cooks themselves eat after all the guests have finished. (pronoun)
• Used in an absolute construction: Newcomers themselves, they knew few people at the party. (pronoun)
• Their normal or healthy condition: The members of the crew were themselves again after the crisis passed. (pronoun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "But as the _Samoits_ themselves will say, they were called _Samoit_, that is, _of themselves_, as though they were _Indigen鎋, or people bred upon that very soyle that never changed their seate from one place to another, as most Nations have done."
• "Having shown, under a previous head, that servants _sold themselves_, and of course received the compensation for themselves, (except in cases where parents hired out the time of their children until they became of age [B],) a mere reference to the fact in this place is all that is required for the purposes of this argument."
• "Having shown, under a previous head, that servants _sold themselves_, and of course received the compensation for themselves, except in cases where parents hired out the time of their children till they became of age [B], a mere reference to the fact is all that is required for the purposes of this argument."