English
person
/ˈpɜː.sən/
An individual who has been granted personhood; usually a human being.
Etymology graph
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- borrowed
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- meaning component
- sound component
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Origin
From Middle English persoun, personne et al., from Anglo-Norman parsone, persoun et al. (Old French persone (“human being”), French personne), and its source Latin persōna (“mask used by actor; role, part, character”), perhaps a loanword from Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask”). In this sense, displaced native man, which came to mean primarily "adult male" in Middle English; see Old English mann. Displaced native Old English hād (“person, individual”). Doublet of parson and persona.
From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lineage
- inheritedMiddle Englishpersoun
- derivedAnglo-Normanpersone
- inheritedLatinpersōna “mask used by actor; role, part, character”
- derivedEtruscan𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 “mask”
- inheritedLatinpersōna “mask used by actor; role, part, character”
- derivedAnglo-Normanpersone
Related: English persona (doublet), English parson (doublet), Old French persone, French personne
Words built on it: per, -person, person-day
Sources
- Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wiktionary: person