impersonate

English

Etymology

From im- +‎ person +‎ -ate. Compare incorporate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɜːsəneɪt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Verb

impersonate (third-person singular simple present impersonates, present participle impersonating, simple past and past participle impersonated)

1. (transitive) To pretend to be (a different person); to assume the identity of.

   Synonym: personate

   The conman managed to impersonate several executives.

   Evil can and will always impersonate goodness.

2. (transitive, computing) To operate with the permissions of a different user account.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To manifest in corporeal form; to personify.

   Synonyms: embody, impersonize

   • 1918, Paul Studer, Le mystère d'Adam, an Anglo-Norman drama of the twelfth century‎^[1]:

     The shepherds were impersonated, then the Magi, finally Herod himself. In course of time all the elements of a fully developed Nativity play had thus been introduced.

Derived terms

• impersonation
• impersonator

 

Translations

assume the identity of

• Bulgarian: олицетворявам (bg) (olicetvorjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 假冒 (zh) (jiǎmaò)

• Esperanto: imiti
• Finnish: esiintyä (fi) (+ essive), esittää (fi) (+ partitive)
• French: imiter (fr)
• German: sich ausgeben als, nachahmen (de), verkörpern (de)
• Portuguese: imitar (pt), passar por, passar-se por
• Russian: имперсонировать (impersonirovatʹ), выдавать себя за (vydavatʹ sebja za)
• Spanish: copiar (es), imitar (es), suplantar (es), hacerse pasar por
• Zulu: ukulingisela

Anagrams

• permeations

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

impersonate

1. inflection of impersonare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

impersonate f pl

1. feminine plural of impersonato

Anagrams

• presentiamo, spianteremo