from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Person \Per"son\ (p[~e]r"s'n; 277), 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]
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His first appearance upon the stage in his new
person of a sycophant or juggler. --Bacon.
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No man can long put on a person and act a part.
--Jer. Taylor.
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To bear rule, which was thy part
And person, hadst thou known thyself aright.
--Milton.
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How different is the same man from himself, as he
sustains the person of a magistrate and that of a
friend! --South.
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2. The bodily form of a human being; body; outward
appearance; as, of comely person.
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A fair persone, and strong, and young of age.
--Chaucer.
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If it assume my noble father's person. --Shak.
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Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined.
--Milton.
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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.
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Consider what person stands for; which, I think, is
a thinking, intelligent being, that has reason and
reflection. --Locke.
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4. A human being spoken of indefinitely; one; a man; as, any
person present.
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5. A parson; the parish priest. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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{Artificial person}, or {Fictitious person} (Law), a
corporation or body politic; -- this term is used in
contrast with {natural person}, a real human being. See
also {legal person}. --Blackstone.
{Legal person} (Law), an individual or group that is allowed
by law to take legal action, as plaintiff or defendent. It
may include natural persons as well as fictitious persons
(such as corporations).
{Natural person} (Law), a man, woman, or child, in
distinction from a corporation.
{In person}, by one's self; with bodily presence, rather than
by remote communication; not by representative. "The king
himself in person is set forth." --Shak.
{In the person of}, in the place of; acting for. --Shak.
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