alter ego

See also: alter-ego, Alter Ego, and álter ego

English

Examples

Etymology

From Latin alter ego (literally “other me”).[1][2]

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɔːl.təɹ iːɡəʊ/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɔl.tɚ iɡoʊ/
    Audio (US):(file)

Noun

alter ego (plural alter egos)

  1. An individual's alternate personality or persona; another self.
    Clark Kent's coworkers finally discovered his alter ego, Superman.
    • 1897, Mary H. Kingsley, Travels in West Africa, page 538:
      […] a belief in the possibility of a man possessing an alter ego in the form of some animal such as a crocodile or a hippopotamus. It is believed that such a person's life is bound up with that of the animal to such an extent that, whatever affects the one produces a corresponding impression upon the other, and that if one dies the other must speedily do so too.
    • 1938, Robert Berkov, “China's Chiang”, in Strong Man of China: The Story of Chiang Kai-shek‎[2], Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, page 1:
      As one commentator has remarked, all the confusing old three-syllable names that used to index Chinese politics can now be forgotten — the names and their bearers have ceased to be of the slightest importance. In their place stands one man — a small, frail, volatile but tremendously energetic man — who oddly enough has become the alter ego of that powerful, sprawling, sleepy giant that is China.
    • 2012 May 1, Ben Child, “Mark Ruffalo gets green light to play Hulk in six-movie deal”, in the Guardian‎[3]:
      Ruffalo's turn as Bruce Banner and his angry green alter-ego has been widely praised. Avengers Assemble (titled The Avengers outside the UK) is on course to be one of the year's biggest films and has received strong reviews.
  2. A very close and intimate friend.
    • 1974 April 13, “Sex Isn't Everything! (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, page 10:
      GWM, 5'10", 175, 40, non-smoker, MCC-er. Good build. Int. in classical music, books, travel. Seeks alter ego with own peace for honest relationship.
  3. (law) A corporation used by a person to conduct personal business in an attempt to shield himself or herself from personal liability, and which a court may penetrate by "piercing the corporate veil" to impose liability on the person when they commit fraud or injustice.

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • alter (“one identity of a person with dissociative identity disorder”, noun)
  • alteregoism

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations by Jon R. Stone[1]
  2. ^ “alter ego”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Danish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin alter ego.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈalˀdʌ ˈeːɡo]

Noun

alter ego n (singular definite alter egoet, plural indefinite alter egoer)

  1. alter ego
    Synonyms: andet jeg, stedfortræder

Declension

Declension of alter ego
neuter
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative alter ego alter egoet alter egoer alter egoerne
genitive alter egos alter egoets alter egoers alter egoernes

Further reading

Finnish

Etymology

From Latin alter ego.

Noun

alter ego

  1. alter ego (somebody's alternate personality or persona)

Declension

Inflection of alter ego (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative alter ego alter egot
genitive alter egon alter egojen
partitive alter egoa alter egoja
illative alter egoon alter egoihin
singular plural
nominative alter ego alter egot
accusative nom. alter ego alter egot
gen. alter egon
genitive alter egon alter egojen
partitive alter egoa alter egoja
inessive alter egossa alter egoissa
elative alter egosta alter egoista
illative alter egoon alter egoihin
adessive alter egolla alter egoilla
ablative alter egolta alter egoilta
allative alter egolle alter egoille
essive alter egona alter egoina
translative alter egoksi alter egoiksi
abessive alter egotta alter egoitta
instructive — alter egoin
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of alter ego (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative alter egoni alter egoni
accusative nom. alter egoni alter egoni
gen. alter egoni
genitive alter egoni alter egojeni
partitive alter egoani alter egojani
inessive alter egossani alter egoissani
elative alter egostani alter egoistani
illative alter egooni alter egoihini
adessive alter egollani alter egoillani
ablative alter egoltani alter egoiltani
allative alter egolleni alter egoilleni
essive alter egonani alter egoinani
translative alter egokseni alter egoikseni
abessive alter egottani alter egoittani
instructive — —
comitative — alter egoineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative alter egosi alter egosi
accusative nom. alter egosi alter egosi
gen. alter egosi
genitive alter egosi alter egojesi
partitive alter egoasi alter egojasi
inessive alter egossasi alter egoissasi
elative alter egostasi alter egoistasi
illative alter egoosi alter egoihisi
adessive alter egollasi alter egoillasi
ablative alter egoltasi alter egoiltasi
allative alter egollesi alter egoillesi
essive alter egonasi alter egoinasi
translative alter egoksesi alter egoiksesi
abessive alter egottasi alter egoittasi
instructive — —
comitative — alter egoinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative alter egomme alter egomme
accusative nom. alter egomme alter egomme
gen. alter egomme
genitive alter egomme alter egojemme
partitive alter egoamme alter egojamme
inessive alter egossamme alter egoissamme
elative alter egostamme alter egoistamme
illative alter egoomme alter egoihimme
adessive alter egollamme alter egoillamme
ablative alter egoltamme alter egoiltamme
allative alter egollemme alter egoillemme
essive alter egonamme alter egoinamme
translative alter egoksemme alter egoiksemme
abessive alter egottamme alter egoittamme
instructive — —
comitative — alter egoinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative alter egonne alter egonne
accusative nom. alter egonne alter egonne
gen. alter egonne
genitive alter egonne alter egojenne
partitive alter egoanne alter egojanne
inessive alter egossanne alter egoissanne
elative alter egostanne alter egoistanne
illative alter egoonne alter egoihinne
adessive alter egollanne alter egoillanne
ablative alter egoltanne alter egoiltanne
allative alter egollenne alter egoillenne
essive alter egonanne alter egoinanne
translative alter egoksenne alter egoiksenne
abessive alter egottanne alter egoittanne
instructive — —
comitative — alter egoinenne
third-person possessor
singular plural
nominative alter egonsa alter egonsa
accusative nom. alter egonsa alter egonsa
gen. alter egonsa
genitive alter egonsa alter egojensa
partitive alter egoaan
alter egoansa 		alter egojaan
alter egojansa
inessive alter egossaan
alter egossansa 		alter egoissaan
alter egoissansa
elative alter egostaan
alter egostansa 		alter egoistaan
alter egoistansa
illative alter egoonsa alter egoihinsa
adessive alter egollaan
alter egollansa 		alter egoillaan
alter egoillansa
ablative alter egoltaan
alter egoltansa 		alter egoiltaan
alter egoiltansa
allative alter egolleen
alter egollensa 		alter egoilleen
alter egoillensa
essive alter egonaan
alter egonansa 		alter egoinaan
alter egoinansa
translative alter egokseen
alter egoksensa 		alter egoikseen
alter egoiksensa
abessive alter egottaan
alter egottansa 		alter egoittaan
alter egoittansa
instructive — —
comitative — alter egoineen
alter egoinensa

Synonyms

  • toinen minä

Further reading

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin alter egō̆.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈal.tɛr ˈɛ.ɡɔ/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Syllabification: al‧ter e‧go

Noun

alter ego n (indeclinable)

  1. (psychology, psychiatry) alter ego (individual's alternate personality or persona; another self)
    Synonym: drugie ja

Further reading

  • alter ego in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • alter ego in Polish dictionaries at PWN
  • alter ego in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈaw.teɾ ˈɛ.ɡu/ [ˈaʊ̯.teɾ ˈɛ.ɡu]
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈaw.teɾ ˈɛ.ɡo/ [ˈaʊ̯.teɾ ˈɛ.ɡo]
  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈal.tɛɾ ˈɛ.ɡu/ [ˈaɫ.tɛɾ ˈɛ.ɣu]

Noun

alter ego m (plural alter egos)

  1. alter ego (alternate personality or persona)
    Synonym: outro eu

Spanish

Alternative forms

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin alter ego (“other self”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌalteɾ ˈeɡo/ [ˌal̪.t̪eɾ ˈe.ɣ̞o]
    • Syllabification: al‧ter e‧go
  • IPA(key): /ˌalteˈɾeɡo/ [ˌal̪.t̪eˈɾe.ɣ̞o]

Noun

alter ego m (plural alter egos)

  1. alter ego (alternate personality or persona)
    Synonym: otro yo

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

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