persona

See also: personá, persóna, and personā

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin persōna (“mask; character”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from personō (“to sound through”); or from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “face; appearance; mask used in ancient theatre to denote a character or, more generally, a social role”); or from Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu). Doublet of person and parson.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɝˈsoʊnə/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɜː(ɹ)ˈsəʊnə/, /pə(ɹ)ˈsəʊnə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: per‧so‧na

Noun

persona (plural personas or personae or personæ)

1. A social role.
2. A character played by an actor.
3. (psychology) The mask or appearance one presents to the world.
4. (marketing, user experience) An imaginary person representing a particular type of client or customer, considered when designing products and services that will appeal to them.

Descendants

• → Japanese: ペルソナ (perusona)

Translations

social role

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 人物 (zh) (rénwù)

• French: rôle social m casquette (fr) f (informal)

• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} ペルソナ (perusona)
• Swedish: profil (sv) c framtoning (sv) c
• Ukrainian: суспі́льна роль (suspílʹna rolʹ)

character played by an actor

• French: personnage (fr) m
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} ペルソナ (perusona)
• Portuguese: personagem (pt) m or f

• Russian: персона́ж (ru) m (personáž)
• Spanish: personaje (es) m
• Ukrainian: персона́ж (uk) (personáž)

the appearance one presents to the world

• French: persona (fr) f
• German: Persona f
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} ペルソナ (perusona)

• Russian: персо́на (ru) f (persóna)
• Spanish: personaje (es) m
• Swedish: persona (sv) c image (sv) c fasad (sv) c
• Ukrainian: персо́на (persóna)

See also

• alter ego
• moniker

Further reading

• persona on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Persona (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Alter ego on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Pearson, Peronas, S'porean, pronase

---

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin persōna (“person”).

Noun

persona f (plural persones)

1. person

---

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Occitan persona, from Latin persōna (“person”).

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /pəɾˈso.nə/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /pərˈso.nə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /peɾˈso.na/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ona

Noun

persona f (plural persones)

1. person

Derived terms

• personificar

Related terms

• personal
• personatge

Further reading

• “persona” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “persona” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “persona” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “persona” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

From English persona, ultimately from Latin persōna. Doublet with persoon (“person”).

Noun

persona f (plural persona's)

1. (marketing, user experience) an imaginary person representing a particular type of client or customer, considered when designing products and services that will appeal to them; a persona

---

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): [perˈsona]
• Hyphenation: per‧so‧na
• Rhymes: -ona

Adjective

persona (accusative singular personan, plural personaj, accusative plural personajn)

1. personal

---

Finnish

Adjective

persona

1. Essive singular form of perso.

---

Indonesian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin persona.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pərˈsona]
• Hyphenation: pêr‧so‧na

Noun

pêrsona

1. person,
   1. an individual; usually a human being.
   2. (grammar) a linguistic category used to distinguish between the speaker of an utterance and those to whom or about whom he is speaking.
2. persona,
   1. a social role.
   2. the mask or appearance one presents to the world.

Further reading

• “persona” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

---

Italian

Etymology

From Latin persōna (“person”), of Etruscan origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /perˈso.na/
• Hyphenation: per‧so‧na

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

persona f (plural persone)

1. person, pl people, persons
2. someone, somebody, anybody

   Synonyms: qualcuno, nessuno

3. body, figure
4. (law) person, body

   Synonyms: corpo, personale, aspetto

5. (psychology) persona

Synonyms

• (person (plural)): gente

Related terms

• di persona
• impersonare
• in persona
• in prima persona
• personaggio
• personale
• personalità
• personificare

 

Anagrams

• serpano, spanerò, sperano, sperona

---

Ladin

Alternative forms

• porsona (Badia)

Etymology

From Latin persōna (“person”).

Noun

persona f (plural persones)

1. person

---

Latgalian

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin persona. Cognates include Latvian persona.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʲærˈsɔna/

Noun

persona f

1. person

Declension

Declension of persona (class IV noun)

	singular	plural
nominative	persona	personys
genitive	personys	personu
dative	personai	personom
accusative	personu	personys
locative	personā	personuos

References

• Nicole Nau (2011) A short grammar of Latgalian, München: LINCOM GmbH, →ISBN, page 27

---

Latin

Etymology 1

Unknown. Links have been suggested

• to Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu) (human figure appearing with a mask), which some have referred to Perseus, some to Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “mask, character”);
• to personō (“to sound through”), often by Roman writers, but notice short and long o.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /perˈsoː.na/, [pɛrˈs̠oːnä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /perˈso.na/, [pɛrˈsɔːnä]

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Noun

persōna f (genitive persōnae); first declension

1. mask
2. character
3. (grammar) person
4. (Medieval Latin) a person, personality
5. (Medieval Latin) a lord
6. (Medieval Latin) dignity

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	persōna	persōnae
Genitive	persōnae	persōnārum
Dative	persōnae	persōnīs
Accusative	persōnam	persōnās
Ablative	persōnā	persōnīs
Vocative	persōna	persōnae

Derived terms

• persolla
• persōnālis

Descendants

• Asturian: persona
• Italian: persona
• Ladin: persona
• Ligurian: persónn-a
• Old French: persone, parsone, persoun, persoune
  • Middle French: personne
    • French: personne
      • Louisiana Creole French: personne
    • Norman: pèrsonne
  • → Middle English: persoun, personne
    • English: parson, person
• Old Occitan: persona
  • Catalan: persona
  • Occitan: persona
• Old Portuguese: pessõa, persõa
  • Galician: persoa
  • Portuguese: pessoa
• Piedmontese: përson-a
• Sicilian: pirsuna
• → English: persona
  • → Japanese: ペルソナ (perusona)
• → Esperanto: persono
• → Icelandic: persóna
• → Ido: persono
• → Indonesian: persona
• → Interlingua: persona
• → Latgalian: persona
• → Latvian: persona
• → Manx: persoon
• → Middle Dutch: persone
  • Dutch: persoon
    • Afrikaans: persoon
    • → Indonesian: person
• → Middle High German: persōn, persōne
  • German: Person
  • Hunsrik: Person
  • Luxembourgish: Persoun
• → Novial: persone
• → Old Irish: persan
  • Middle Irish: persa
    • Irish: pearsa
    • Scottish Gaelic: pearsa
• → Polish: persona
• → Romanian: persoană
• → Russian: персо́на (persóna)
• → Spanish: persona
• → Swedish: person
• → Welsh: person

References

• persona in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• persona in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• persona in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• persona in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• persona in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• persona in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Palmer, L.R. (1906) The Latin Language, London, Faber and Faber

Etymology 2

Inflection of the verb personō.

Verb

personā

1. second-person singular active imperative of personō

---

Latvian

Etymology

From Latin persōna (“person”).

Noun

persona f (4th declension)

1. person
2. individual
3. character

Declension

Declension of persona (4th declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	persona	personas
accusative (akuzatīvs)	personu	personas
genitive (ģenitīvs)	personas	personu
dative (datīvs)	personai	personām
instrumental (instrumentālis)	personu	personām
locative (lokatīvs)	personā	personās
vocative (vokatīvs)	persona	personas

---

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan persona, from Latin persona.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

persona f (plural personas)

1. person

---

Polish

Etymology

From Latin persōna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛrˈsɔ.na/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

persona f

1. (obsolete) person
2. (ironically) personage (famous or important person)

Declension

Declension of persona

	singular	plural
nominative	persona	persony
genitive	persony	person
dative	personie	personom
accusative	personę	persony
instrumental	personą	personami
locative	personie	personach
vocative	persono	persony

Related terms

• (adjective) personalny
• (adverb) personalnie

Further reading

• persona in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• persona in Polish dictionaries at PWN

---

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin persōna (“person”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /peɾˈsona/, [peɾˈso.na]

• Audio (Colombia)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ona
• Hyphenation: per‧so‧na

Noun

persona f (plural personas)

1. person (an individual; usually a human being)

   Synonym: individuo

Derived terms

• antipersona
• apersonarse
• buscapersonas
• en persona
• interpósita persona
• persona de muchos oficios
• personarse
• primera persona
• trata de personas

 

Related terms

• personal

Further reading

• “persona” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.