The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Self-excite \Self`-ex*cite"\, v. t. (Elec.)
   To energize or excite (the field magnets of a dynamo) by
   induction from the residual magnetism of its cores, leading
   all or a part of the current thus produced through the
   field-magnet coils.
   [Webster 1913 Suppl.]