PERSON

person, individual, someone, somebody, mortal, soul

(noun) a human being; “there was too much for one person to do”

person

(noun) a human body (usually including the clothing); “a weapon was hidden on his person”

person

(noun) a grammatical category used in the classification of pronouns, possessive determiners, and verb forms according to whether they indicate the speaker, the addressee, or a third party; “stop talking about yourself in the third person”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

person (plural persons or people)

An individual; usually a human being. [from 13th c.]

A character or part, as in a play; a specific kind or manifestation of individual character, whether in real life, or in literary or dramatic representation; an assumed character.

(Christianity) Any one of the three hypostases of the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit.

(chiefly, in science fiction) Any sentient or socially intelligent being.

(in a compound noun or noun phrase) Someone who likes or has an affinity for (a specified thing). [from 20th c.]

The physical body of a being seen as distinct from the mind, character, etc. [from 14th c.]

(law) Any individual or formal organization with standing before the courts. [from 14th c.]

(law) The human genitalia; specifically, the penis.

(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.]

(biology) A shoot or bud of a plant; a polyp or zooid of the compound Hydrozoa, Anthozoa, etc.; also, an individual, in the narrowest sense, among the higher animals.

Usage notes

• In senses 1.1, 1.3, and 1.4, the plural is most commonly people, with persons occasionally used in formal speech or writing. Some native speakers will find persons inappropriate, even in formal usage. In senses 1.2, 2, 3, and 5 persons is the only plural.

• Referring to an individual as a "person" (rather than a gentleman, lady, etc.) was formerly perceived as a slight.

Synonyms

• See also person

Hyponyms

• advance person

• businessperson

• cameraperson

• chairperson

• common person

• congressperson

• draftsperson

• first person

• foreperson

• houseperson

• layperson

• newsperson

• nonperson

• ombudsperson

• person of interest

• repairperson

• salesperson

• second person

• stick person

• stuntperson

• spokesperson

• third person

• unperson

• VIP

Verb

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

(obsolete, transitive) To represent as a person; to personify; to impersonate.

(transitive, gender-neutral) To man.

Anagrams

• Posner, nopers, preons, spreon

Proper noun

Person

A surname.

Anagrams

• Posner, nopers, preons, spreon

Source: Wiktionary


Per"son, n. Etym: [OE. persone, persoun, person, parson, OF. persone, F. personne, L. persona a mask (used by actors), a personage, part, a person, fr. personare to sound through; per + sonare to sound. See Per-, and cf. Parson.]

1. A character or part, as in a play; a specific kind or manifestation of individual character, whether in real life, or in literary or dramatic representation; an assumed character. [Archaic] His first appearance upon the stage in his new person of a sycophant or juggler. Bacon. No man can long put on a person and act a part. Jer. Taylor. To bear rule, which was thy part And person, hadst thou known thyself aright. Milton. How different is the same man from himself, as he sustains the person of a magistrate and that of a friend! South.

2. The bodily form of a human being; body; outward appearance; as, of comely person. A fair persone, and strong, and young of age. Chaucer. If it assume my noble father's person. Shak. Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined. Milton.

3. , self-conscious being, as distinct from an animal or a thing; a moral agent; a human being; a man, woman, or child. Consider what person stands for; which, I think, is a thinking, intelligent being, that has reason and reflection. Locke.

4. A human being spoken of indefinitely; one; a man; as, any person present.

5. A parson; the parish priest. [Obs.] Chaucer.

6. (Theol.)

Definition: Among Trinitarians, one of the three subdivisions of the Godhead (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost); an hypostasis. "Three persons and one God." Bk. of Com. Prayer.

7. (Gram.)

Definition: One of three relations or conditions (that of speaking, that of being spoken to, and that of being spoken of) pertaining to a noun or a pronoun, and thence also to the verb of which it may be the subject.

Note: A noun or pronoun, when representing the speaker, is said to be in the first person; when representing what is spoken to, in the second person; when representing what is spoken of, in the third person.

8. (Biol.)

Definition: A shoot or bud of a plant; a polyp or zooid of the compound Hydrozoa Anthozoa, etc.; also, an individual, in the narrowest sense, among the higher animals. Haeckel. True corms, composed of united personæ . . . usually arise by gemmation, . . . yet in sponges and corals occasionally by fusion of several originally distinct persons. Encyc. Brit. Artificial, or Fictitious, person (Law), a corporation or body politic. blackstone.

– Natural person (Law), a man, woman, or child, in distinction from a corporation.

– In person, by one's self; with bodily presence; not by representative. "The king himself in person is set forth." Shak.

– In the person of, in the place of; acting for. Shak.

Per"son, v. t.

Definition: To represent as a person; to personify; to impersonate. [Obs.] Milton.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

25 December 2024

UNAMBIGUOUS

(adjective) having or exhibiting a single clearly defined meaning; “As a horror, apartheid...is absolutely unambiguous”- Mario Vargas Llosa


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, on 25 September 2016, the Birla Institute of Management Technology (India) in Uttar Pradesh, India, constructed the largest coffee cups pyramid consisting of 23,821 cups. They used paper takeaway coffee cups to build the pyramid.

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