'self-description' originates from English, specifically the words 'self' and 'description', where 'self' meant 'one's own person' (from Old English 'self'/'seolf') and 'description' derives from Latin 'describere' meaning 'to write down' or 'to describe'.

'self' comes from Old English 'self'/'seolf' and retained its meaning; 'description' entered English via Old French and Latin ('describere'), and in Modern English the two elements were combined to form the compound 'self-description'.

Initially the components referred separately to 'the self' and the act of 'describing'; over time the compound came to denote specifically an individual's account or characterization of themselves in modern usage.