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person definition

per·son (pʉrsən)

noun

  1. a human being, esp. as distinguished from a thing or lower animal; individual man, woman, or child: now usually pluralized as people, which formerly was used only to indicate an indefinite number of persons
  2. Now Rare an individual regarded slightingly, as one of a lower status
    1. a living human body
    2. bodily form or appearance to be neat about one's person
  3. personality; self; being
  4. Gram.
    1. a characteristic, as of pronouns and verbs, indicating whether a given utterance refers to the speaker(s), the one(s) spoken to, or the one(s) spoken about; also, an analytic category based on this characteristic
    2. the form a verb takes to indicate this characteristic
  5. Archaic a role in a play; character
  6. Law any individual or incorporated group having certain legal rights and responsibilities
  7. Christian Theol. any of the three modes of being (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) in the Trinity

Etymology: ME persone < OFr < L persona, lit., actor's face mask, hence a character, person, prob. < Etr phersu, mask

person Idioms

in person

actually present

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:
person Synonyms

person

n.

  1. An individual

    human being, child, somebody, self, oneself, I, me, soul, spirit, mortal, character, individuality, personage, personality, personal identity; see also man 2, woman 1.

  2. An individual enjoying distinction

    distinguished person, personality, success; see character 4, personage 2.

  3. Bodily form

    physique, frame, form; see body 1.

in person

personally, in the flesh, present; see near, there.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

person Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • appoint: Reporting process Each club with juniors has been requested to appoint a person responsible.

Adjective modifier

  • disabled: Perhaps, you have an older or disabled person living with you.

Preposition: with

  • dementia: Abbeyfield is showing that active involvement can improve the wellbeing of each person with dementia.

Preposition: per

  • night: Open from March to October, prices start from £ 20 per person per night.

Modifies a noun

  • specification: Do use any information about the job or the person specification in deciding what to put on your form.
person usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

person quotes

To us he is no more a person Now but a whole climate of opinion.

-Auden,W(ystan) H(ugh)

Celuy vit seulement, lequel vit aujourdhuy. Only the person who lives for today lives at all.

-Bellay,Joachim du

I am more stupid about some things than about others; not equally stupid in all directions; I am not a well- rounded person.

-Bellow, Saul

person quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"person." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/person>

APA Style

person. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/person

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