/ˈnɑːɹ.sɪ.sɪ.zəm/·noun·1898 (Havelock Ellis, in 'Auto-Erotism: A Psychological Study')·Established
Origin
Narcissism derives from Greek 'narke' (numbness), linking thenarcissus flower's stupefying scent to the myth of a youth paralysed by his own reflection, before Havelock Ellis and Freud repurposed the ancient image of torpor into modern psychology's definitive term for pathological self-fixation.
Definition
Excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, derived via Latin from Greek Nárkissos, the mythological youth who fell in love with his own reflection, whose name is connected to nárkē ('numbness, torpor'), from PIE root *(s)nerk- relating to withering and constriction.
The Full Story
English (via German and Latin/Greek)Late 19th centurywell-attested
The term 'narcissism' derives from the Greek myth of Narkissos (Νάρκισσος), a beautiful youth who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water and wasted away staring at it, eventually transforming into the flower that bears his name. The mythwas most famously told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses (8 CE). The psychological concept was first introduced by the English sexologist Havelock Ellis in 1898, who used the term 'Narcissus-like' to describe a pattern of excessive self-admiration as a sexual
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Theword 'narcissism' — our primary label for excessive self-regard — shares its root with 'narcotic.' Both descend from Greek 'narke,' meaning numbness or torpor. The narcissus flower was named for its reputedly stupefying fragrance, and Ovid's Narcissus was not admiring himself so much as paralysed by his own image, unable to move or eat until he wasted away. Etymologically, narcissism is not a disorder of
expanded the concept in his 1914 essay 'Zur Einführung des Narzißmus' (On Narcissism), redefining it from a narrow sexual perversion into a fundamental component of human psychological development,
'numbness' or 'stupor,' referring to the narcotic properties of the narcissus flower's bulb. This traces to the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)nerk-, meaning 'to wither, to shrink, to become numb.' From this same root descend Latin 'narcoticus' and ultimately English 'narcotic,' as well as the flower name 'narcissus.' The semantic journey from physical numbness to self-absorbed stupefaction captures a remarkable metaphorical arc spanning millennia. Key roots: *(s)nerk- (Proto-Indo-European: "to wither, shrink, become numb or stiff"), νάρκη (narkē) (Ancient Greek: "numbness, torpor, stupor"), Νάρκισσος (Narkissos) (Ancient Greek: "mythological youth of fatal self-love; the narcissus flower").