“Themselves” is used to refer to a singular individual in a gender-neutral manner, especially when the gender is unknown or when an individual prefers gender-neutral language. For example, “Each student must choose for themselves whether to participate.” 3. Plural Form “Themselves” is used...
Absolutely not. For one thing,themselfreferring back to both a plural or singular generic/unspecifiedantecedentis almost as old as singulartheyin the written record: it’s recorded around 1350–1400, if considered nonstandard today. In these two contexts,themselvesis preferred overthemself(and overt...
The meaning of THEMSELF is themselves —used chiefly as a gender-neutral reflexive form of they when referring to a single person in an indefinite way (as in 'each person can decide for themself') or to a person who is nonbinary.