person

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Contents

English [edit]

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Etymology [edit]

From Anglo-Norman parsone, persoun et al. (Old French persone (“human being”), French personne), and its source Latin persōna (“mask used by actor; role, part, character”),perhaps a loanword; compare Etruscan φersu (“mask”). Displaced native wight (from Old English wiht (“person, human being”)).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

person (plural persons or people) (by suppletion)

  1. An individual; usually a human being. [from 13th c.]
    • 1784, William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., PREFACE
      THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Perſons of the firſt diſtinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ſeveral new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and diſtinguiſh it from others; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.
  2. The physical body of a being seen as distinct from the mind, character etc. [from 14th c.]
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, III.1.2.iii:
      when the young ladies laughed at her for it, she replied, that it was not his person that she did embrace and reverence, but, with a Platonic love, the divine beauty of his soul.
    • 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:
      The Captain, inclining his military person, sat sideways to be closer and kinder [...].
    • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 418:
      At first blush it seemed that what was striking about him rested on the fact that his dress was exotic, his person foreign.
    • 2004, New York Times:
      Meanwhile, the dazed Sullivan, dressed like a bum with no identification on his person, is arrested and put to work on a brutal Southern chain gang.
  3. (law) Any individual or formal organization with standing before the courts. [from 14th c.]
    By common law a corporation or a trust is legally a person.
  4. (grammar) A linguistic category used to distinguish between the speaker of an utterance and those to whom or about whom he is speaking. See grammatical person. [from 14th c.]
  5. (in a compound noun or noun phrase) Someone who likes or has an affinity for (a specified thing). [from 20th c.]
    Jack's always been a dog person, but I prefer cats.
  6. (chiefly in science fiction) Any sentient or socially intelligent being.


Synonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Terms derived from "person"

Translations [edit]

individual
specifically a human being
the physical body of a specified individual
any individual or formal organization with standing before the courts
linguistic category
sentient being
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb [edit]

person (third-person singular simple present persons, present participle personing, simple past and past participle personed)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To represent as a person; to personify; to impersonate.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)
  2. (transitive, humorous, gender-neutral) To man.
    • 2007, Brian R. Brenner, Don't Throw This Away!: The Civil Engineering Life (page 40)
      We had hit the iceberg, and it was time to person the lifeboats.
    • 2008, William Guy, Something Sensational (page 337)
      We went so far as to stop in a hotel on the way out of Speyer — to ask for directions — but the teenaged girl personing the desk there seemed to be such an idiot […]

Statistics [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

Breton [edit]

Noun [edit]

person m

  1. vicar

Inflection [edit]

  Mutation of person  
Breton consonant mutation
unmutated soft aspirate hard mixed
singular person berson ferson unchanged unchanged
plural personed bersoned fersoned unchanged unchanged

Danish [edit]

Noun [edit]

person c (singular definite personen, plural indefinite personer)

  1. person
  2. character
  3. figure
  4. people

Inflection [edit]

    Inflection of person
common gender Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative, dative and accusative person personen personer personerne
genitive persons personens personers personernes

Esperanto [edit]

Noun [edit]

person

  1. accusative singular of perso

Finnish [edit]

Adjective [edit]

person

  1. Genitive singular form of perso.

Norwegian [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

person

  1. person

Inflection [edit]

    Inflection of person
indefinite singular definite singular indefinite plural definite plural
Bokmål m person personen personer personene
Nynorsk m person personen personar personane

Swedish [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

person c

  1. a human being
  2. an individual

Declension [edit]

Declension of person
singular plural
Common indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative person personen personer personerna
genitive persons personens personers personernas

Related terms [edit]

References [edit]

Welsh [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

person m (plural personau) 

  1. person

Synonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Noun [edit]

person m (plural personiaid) 

  1. parson, clergyman

Synonyms [edit]

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