Adjacent Words

Person definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PERSON, n. per'sn. [L. persona; said to be compounded of per, through or by, and sonus, sound; a Latin word signifying primarily a mask used by actors on the state.]
1. An individual human being consisting of body and soul. We apply the word to living beings only, possessed of a rational nature; the body when dead is not called a person. It is applied alike to a man, woman or child.
A person is a thinking intelligent being.
2. A man, woman or child, considered as opposed to things, or distinct from them.
A zeal for persons is far more easy to be perverted, than a zeal for things.
3. A human being, considered with respect to the living body or corporeal existence only. The form of her person is elegant.
You'll find her person difficult to gain.
The rebels maintained the fight for a small time, and for their persons showed no want of courage.
4. A human being, indefinitely; one; a man. Let a person's attainments be never so great, he should remember he is frail and imperfect.
5. A human being represented in dialogue, fiction, or on the state; character. A player appears in the person of king Lear.
These tables, Cicero pronounced under the person of Crassus, were of more use and authority than all the books of the philosophers.
6. Character of office.
How different is the same man from himself, as he sustains the person of a magistrate and that of a friend.
7. In grammar, the nominative to a verb; the agent that performs or the patient that suffers any thing affirmed by a verb; as, I write; he is smitten; she is beloved; the rain descends in torrents. I, thou or you, he, she or it, are called the first, second and third persons. Hence we apply the word person to the termination or modified form of the verb used in connection with the persons; as the first or the third person of the verb; the verb is in the second person.
8. In law, an artificial person, is a corporation or body politic.
In person, by one's self; with bodily presence; not be representative.
The king in person visits all around.
PER'SON, v.t. To represent as a person; to make to resemble; to image. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" [syn: person, individual, someone, somebody, mortal, soul]
2: a human body (usually including the clothing); "a weapon was hidden on his person"
3: 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"

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French persone, from Latin persona actor's mask, character in a play, person, probably from Etruscan phersu mask, from Greek pros?pa, plural of pros?pon face, mask — more at prosopopoeia Date: 13th century 1. human, individual — sometimes used in combination especially by those who prefer to avoid man in compounds applicable to both sexes <chairperson> <spokesperson> 2. a character or part in or as if in a play ; guise 3. a. one of the three modes of being in the Trinitarian Godhead as understood by Christians b. the unitary personality of Christ that unites the divine and human natures 4. a. archaic bodily appearance b. the body of a human being; also the body and clothing <unlawful search of the person> 5. the personality of a human being ; self 6. one (as a human being, a partnership, or a corporation) that is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties 7. reference of a segment of discourse to the speaker, to one spoken to, or to one spoken of as indicated by means of certain pronouns or in many languages by verb inflection • personhood noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 an individual human being (a cheerful and forthright person). 2 the living body of a human being (hidden about your person). 3 Gram. any of three classes of personal pronouns, verb-forms, etc.: the person speaking (first person); the person spoken to (second person); the person spoken of (third person). 4 (in comb.) used to replace -man in offices open to either sex (salesperson). 5 (in Christianity) God as Father, Son, or Holy Ghost (three persons in one God). 6 euphem. the genitals (expose one's person). 7 a character in a play or story. Phrases and idioms: in one's own person oneself; as oneself. in person physically present. person-to-person 1 between individuals. 2 (of a phone call) booked through the operator to a specified person. Etymology: ME f. OF persone f. L persona actor's mask, character in a play, human being

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Person Per"son, v. t. To represent as a person; to personify; to impersonate. [Obs.] --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Person Per"son, n. [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. A living, 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.) 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.) 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.) 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 person[ae] . . . 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Person Per"son, n. [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. A living, 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.) 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.) 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.) 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 person[ae] . . . 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(people, persons) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. Note: The usual word for 'more than one person' is 'people'. The form 'persons' is used as the plural in formal or legal language. 1. A person is a man, woman, or child. At least one person died and several others were injured... Everyone knows he's the only person who can do the job... The amount of sleep we need varies from person to person... N-COUNT 2. Persons is used as the plural of person in formal, legal, and technical writing. ...removal of the right of accused persons to remain silent... N-PLURAL 3. If you talk about someone as a person, you are considering them from the point of view of their real nature. Robin didn't feel good about herself as a person. N-COUNT 4. If someone says, for example,'I'm an outdoor person' or 'I'm not a coffee person', they are saying whether or not they like that particular activity or thing. (mainly SPOKEN) I am not a country person at all. I prefer the cities. N-COUNT: a supp N 5. If you do something in person, you do it yourself rather than letting someone else do it for you. She went to New York to receive the award in person. PHRASE: PHR after v 6. If you meet, hear, or see someone in person, you are in the same place as them, rather than, for example, speaking to them on the telephone, writing to them, or seeing them on television. It was the first time she had seen him in person. PHRASE: PHR after v 7. Your person is your body. (FORMAL) The suspect had refused to give any details of his identity and had carried no documents on his person. N-COUNT: poss N 8. You can use in the person of when mentioning the name of someone you have just referred to in a more general or indirect way. (WRITTEN) We had a knowledgeable guide in the person of George Adams. PHRASE: PHR n 9. In grammar, we use the term first person when referring to 'I' and 'we', second person when referring to 'you', and third person when referring to 'he', 'she', 'it', 'they', and all other noun groups. Person is also used like this when referring to the verb forms that go with these pronouns and noun groups. N-COUNT: usu supp N see also first person, second person, third person

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Individual, one, somebody, someone. 2. Body, bodily substance, bodily form, human frame, living body. 3. Character, part, rôle. 4. Moral agent, living soul, self-conscious being. 5. Human being, human creature.

Moby Thesaurus

Adamite, actor, actually, an existence, anatomy, antagonist, antihero, article, being, bit, bit part, bodily, body, body-build, bones, build, carcass, cast, cat, chap, character, child, clay, clod, cookie, coot, corpus, creature, critter, cue, customer, duck, earthling, entelechy, entity, fat part, feeder, fellow, figure, first person, flesh, form, fourth person, frame, galoot, groundling, guy, hand, head, heavy, hero, heroine, homo, hulk, human, human being, in person, in the flesh, individual, ingenue, integer, item, joker, lead, lead role, leading lady, leading man, leading woman, life, lines, living soul, man, material body, module, monad, mortal, nose, object, obviative, one, organism, part, party, persona, personage, personality, personally, physical body, physique, piece, point, protagonist, proximate, role, second person, shape, side, single, singleton, soma, somebody, someone, something, soubrette, soul, specimen, stick, straight part, supporting character, supporting role, tellurian, terran, themselves, thing, third person, title role, torso, trunk, unit, villain, walk-on, walking part, woman, worldling