What does ego mean?
Ego refers to a person's sense of self — their awareness of their own identity, worth, and individuality. In everyday speech, it most often denotes self-esteem or self-importance, frequently with a critical edge: an 'inflated' or 'fragile' ego suggests vanity or oversensitivity to criticism, while being asked to 'check your ego at the door' means setting aside personal pride for the sake of a group effort. In Freudian psychoanalysis, ego has a precise technical meaning: it is the largely conscious part of the personality that mediates between the impulsive id, the moralising superego, and the demands of the external world. The word comes directly from Latin, where it simply means 'I', making it one of the most direct borrowings in English. Related terms such as egotism and egocentric reinforce its connection to selfhood.
nounA person's sense of self-esteem, self-importance, or identity; the conscious thinking self. In Freudian psychology, the part of the mind that mediates between the id and the superego and deals with external reality.
- A person's sense of their own worth or importance; self-esteem, especially when inflated.
- (Psychoanalysis) The part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and unconscious, balancing the demands of the id, superego, and external reality.
- Philosophy: the self or 'I' as the subject of experience.
"His enormous ego made it difficult for colleagues to work with him."
"She set aside her ego and apologised first."
"Freud argued that a healthy ego keeps our primal urges in check with social reality."
The plural 'egos' is used when referring to the senses of self of multiple individuals.
"The negotiation failed because both CEOs had outsized egos."
The word for your sense of self is simply Latin for 'I' — every time you say 'ego,' you're literally saying 'me.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of ego
Ego is borrowed directly from Latin, where it is the first-person singular pronoun meaning 'I'. It entered English in the late 18th century, initially in philosophical contexts to denote the thinking self. Its psychoanalytic sense was established through Sigmund Freud's structural model of the mind in the 1920s, via translations of his German term 'das Ich' (literally 'the I'). Cognates appear across Indo-European languages, including Greek 'ego', German 'ich', and Sanskrit 'aham'.
How ego is actually used
In everyday usage 'ego' often carries a negative connotation, implying excessive pride or self-importance (as in 'an inflated ego'). In psychology it is a neutral technical term. The plural 'egos' is standard when referring to multiple individuals' senses of self.
Easily confused with ego
The ego is the rational, reality-oriented part of the psyche mediating between instinctual drives and moral constraints, whereas the id is the primitive reservoir of unconscious desires and impulses.