-person

See also: person and Person

English

Etymology

person used in compounds.

Suffix

-person (plural -persons or -people)

1. Someone who is an expert in an area.

   sportsperson

2. Someone who is employed or holds a position in an area.

   spokesperson

3. Someone who has special characteristics relating to a topic or area.

   superperson

4. (nonstandard) Someone of a particular nationality. (More often, the separate noun "person" is used, e.g. "Norse person".)

   Norseperson

   • 2001, Jim Foster, Still Complaining, →ISBN, page 31:

     I see a Scotsperson who will invent a voice machine that will enable a person far, far away to wake another in the dead of night to ask, “Is this the Couchiching Inn?”

Usage notes

See usage notes on person.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -person

• deskperson
• travelling salesperson

 

References

• “-person”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• Posner, nopers, preons, prones, spreon