do it yourself

See also: do-it-yourself

English

Noun

do it yourself (uncountable)

1. The practice of doing home improvements and maintenance oneself, rather than employing a professional.
   • 1960 October, “New reading on railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 640:

     THE LONDON & NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY. By O. S. Nock. Ian Allan. 30s.
     [...] One scarcely imagined, for example, that the great steel works at Crewe owed its existence to Sir Richard Moon's penchant for the principle of "Do it yourself", a principle born of a methodical, economical and far-seeing mind.

2. (often attributive) The habit or approach of doing something for oneself, rather than for example buying a prepared product.
   • 2020, Matt Grimes, Mike Dines, Punk Now!!: Contemporary Perspectives on Punk:

     The relationship between punk's do-it-yourself philosophy and the music industry, along with fashion suppliers, […]

Synonyms

• DIY

Derived terms

• do-it-yourselfer
• do-it-yourselfism
• do-it-yourselfness
• do-it-yourself-ness

 

Related terms

• do-it-yourself
• help yourself
• self-build
• self-help
• self-serve

 

Translations

practice of doing home improvements and maintenance oneself — see also DIY

• Catalan: bricolatge (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 親力親為／亲力亲为 (can¹ lik⁶ can¹ wai⁴)

  Mandarin: 親力親為／亲力亲为 (zh) (qīnlìqīnwéi)

• Danish: gør-det-selv n, gør det selv n
• Esperanto: memfarado
• Finnish: tee se itse, itsetekeminen
• French: bricolage (fr) m
• Georgian: თვითმაკეთებლობა (tvitmaḳetebloba)
• German: mach es selbst, Heimwerken n, Selbermachen (de) n
• Hungarian: barkácsolás (hu), fúrás-faragás
• Irish: déan féin é
• Italian: fai da te m
• Maori: mahi kuhutahi
• Polish: majsterkowanie (pl) n
• Romanian: fă-o singur
• Russian: сделай сам (sdelaj sam), самоде́льничество n (samodélʹničestvo)
• Spanish: bricolaje m, hazlo tú mismo, ^{(please verify)} hágalo usted mismo
• Turkish: kendin yap