to declare oneself - Glite Dictionary

Examples

Why didn't Mitch simply declare himself?

Fiction book (2000)
Declaring himself "Hart," he declared himself hers.

Academic text (1997)
Jan admitted everything, begged his wife's forgiveness, and declared himself base and unworthy of her.

Academic text (1999)
Their leader declared himself Mahdi, the Muslim equivalent of the messiah, and demanded allegiance from all those present.

Academic text (2007)
One example: when Don Enrique de Villena wonders how to get rid of his wife in order to become Grand Master of Calatrava, Ferrus suggests he declare himself impotent and have the marriage annulled.

Academic text (1997)
During the romantic dinner, John stood up and declared himself ready to propose to Sarah.
After months of dating, Mark finally declared himself to Susan as wanting to marry her.
At the engagement party, Emma declared herself committed to Alex for the rest of their lives.

Synonyms

to propose

vsto declare oneself

114 3.5

To ask someone to marry you

is a formal announcement of intention rather than only the direct question

to pop the question

vsto declare oneself

13 4.6

To ask someone to marry you

is a formal announcement of intention rather than a sudden casual ask

How Committed

to declare oneself

Archaic

2 7.8

to propose

114 3.5

to date

∞ 1.3

Surface Forms

declare oneself infinitive

declared oneself past

declared oneself past participle

declaring oneself present participle

declares oneself third person singular

Morphology

declare + oneself

The verb 'declare' (to announce formally) plus the reflexive 'oneself' makes it clear that someone is announcing something about themselves, so a learner would infer a self-directed announcement. However, the specific conventional meaning 'to announce one's intention to marry or to propose' is narrower and culturally specific, not directly predictable from the parts, making this only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Declare oneself comes from old customs where a man would openly say he wanted to marry a woman, often asking for her hand in front of family. Here declare means 'announce' and oneself shows it is the person's own decision, so the phrase now means 'to openly say you want to marry someone'.