An archaic or dialectal reflexive pronoun sometimes used in place of 'himself,' though this usage is very rare and non-standard.
From 'hem' (an archaic form of 'him') plus 'self,' following the pattern of reflexive pronoun formation. This represents an older English grammatical structure largely abandoned in standard English.
'Hemself' is a ghost in the English pronoun system—early speakers experimented with forms like 'hemself,' 'hirself,' and 'himself' before settling on modern standard pronouns, and these variants survived longest in remote dialects.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.