Etymology Map
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Selfie

2 stages from Australian English to English.

Today it means a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone

Where does the word "selfie" come from? It comes from Australian English selfie, adopted directly into English (2013).

1
Stage 1 of 2
selfie
Australian English · 2002
"self-portrait photo"
first recorded in a 2002 post on an ABC online forum by a man apologising for a blurry photo of his injured lip, 'it was a selfie'; Australian English loves -ie endings like barbie
2
Stage 2 of 2
selfie
English · 2013
"self-taken photo"
front-facing phone cameras made it global, and Oxford Dictionaries chose it as Word of the Year for 2013
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Selfie’s story begins in Australian English: selfie meant “self-portrait photo.” First recorded in a 2002 post on an ABC online forum by a man apologising for a blurry photo of his injured lip, 'it was a selfie'; Australian English loves -ie endings like barbie. It reached English by 2013 as selfie. Front-facing phone cameras made it global, and Oxford Dictionaries chose it as Word of the Year for 2013. Today, selfie means a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone.