# persona
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin persōna (“mask; character”), of uncertain origin. Suggested to be from Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask; masked individual; actor”), which could be a loan from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “face; appearance; mask used in ancient theatre to denote a character or, more generally, a social role”). Doublet of person and parson.

### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /pɝˈsoʊnə/
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /pɜːˈsəʊnə/, /pəˈsəʊnə/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Hyphenation: per‧so‧na
* Rhymes: -əʊnə

### Noun

persona (plural personas or personae or personæ)
* A social role.
* A character played by an actor.
* (psychology) The mask or appearance one presents to the world.
    He keeps his online persona completely separate from his real-world one.
* (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.
** 2014, Ira Kaufman, Chris Horton, Digital Marketing, page 128:To do so, your organization should create nuanced buyer personas for all relevant market segments or buyer groups that demonstrate affinity to your brand. These buyer personas should include standard demographic information […]

#### Related terms

* dramatis persona
* in propria persona
* persona grata
* persona muta
* persona non grata

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: ペルソナ (perusona)

#### Translations
### 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)
* person

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin persona.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [pərˈso.nə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [peɾˈso.na]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ona

### Noun

persona f (plural persones)
* 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, 2025
* “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”).

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

persona f (plural persona's)
* (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: [perˈsona]
* Rhymes: -ona
* Hyphenation: per‧so‧na

### Adjective

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

## Finnish
### Adjective

persona
* essive singular of perso

## Indonesian
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin persōna. Doublet of person.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [pərˈsona]
* Rhymes: -na, -a
* Hyphenation: pêr‧so‧na

### Noun

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

#### Derived terms

* pronomina persona

#### Related terms

* person
* personal
* personalia
* personalisasi
* personalitas
* personel

### Further reading

* “persona” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

## Interlingua
### Noun

persona (plural personas)
* person

#### See also

* gente
* populo

## Italian
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /perˈso.na/
* Audio:(file)
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ona
* Hyphenation: per‧só‧na

### Noun

persona f (plural persone)
* person, pl people, persons
* someone, somebody, anybody
    Synonyms: qualcuno, nessuno
* body, figure
* (law) person, body
    Synonyms: corpo, personale, aspetto
* (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)
* person

## Ladino
### Alternative forms

* presona

### Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish persona, from Latin persōna (“mask used by actor; role, part, character”), perhaps a loanword from Etruscan *𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (*φersu, “mask”), from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon).

### Noun

persona f (Hebrew spelling פירסונה)
* person (individual)
** 1979, Kamelia Shahar, “La verdadera felisidad”, in Aki Yerushalayim, number 1, page 6:Sus madre viendolos tristes i abatidos les disho: Mis ijos, basta de kreyer solo en la rikeza. La persona verderamente oroza es la ke se kontenta kon lo ke le dio el Dió.Their mother, seeing them sad and humbled, said to them: My children, stop believing only in wealth. The person who is truly happy is the one who is content with what God has given them.

#### Related terms

* personaje
* personal
* personalidad
* personalmente
* personel
* personifikar

### References

* ↑ “persona”, in Trezoro de la Lengua Djudeoespanyola.

## Latgalian
### Etymology

Ultimately from Latin persona. Cognates include Latvian persona.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈpʲɛ̀rsɔna]
* Hyphenation: per‧so‧na

### Noun

persona f
* person

#### Declension

$^{1)}$ dialectal

### References

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

## Latin
### Etymology 1

Unknown. Two 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 Latin) IPA: /perˈsoː.na/, [pɛrˈs̠oːnä]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /perˈso.na/, [perˈsɔːnä]

#### Noun

persōna f (genitive persōnae); first declension
* mask
* character, personage, role
* personality, character, individuality
* (grammar) person
* (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) person
** 6th c. CE, Boethius, Contra Eutychen et Nestorium 4:Sed esse Chrīstum manifestē ac vērāciter confitēmur; ūnum igitur esse dīcimus Chrīstum. Quod sī ita est, ūnam quoque Chrīstī sine dubitātiōne persōnam esse necesse est. Nam sī duae persōnae essent, ūnus esse nōn posset; duōs vērō esse dīcere Chrīstōs nihil est aliud nisi praecipitātae mentis īnsānia.But we clearly and truly confess profess that Christ exists, and so we say He is one. This being the case, it must follow without doubt that the person of Christ is also one. If there were two persons, then there could not be one, so to say that there are two Christs is nothing but the insanity of distraught mind.
* (Medieval Latin) a lord
* (Medieval Latin) dignity

##### Declension

First-declension noun.

##### Derived terms

* persolla
* persōnālis

##### Descendants

* Asturian: persona
* Catalan: persona
* Italian: persona
* Ladin: persona
* Ligurian: persónn-a
* Old French: persone, parsone, persoun, persoune, presonne
** Middle French: personne
*** French: personne
**** Louisiana Creole: personne
*** Norman: pèrsonne
** → Middle English: persoun, personne
*** English:
**** parson
**** person
***** Nigerian Pidgin: pesin
* Old Occitan: persona
** Occitan: persona
* Old Galician-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
** Yiddish: פּאַרשוין (parshoyn), פּערזאָן (perzon)
* → 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
* second-person singular active imperative of personō

## Latvian
### Etymology

From Latin persōna (“person”).

### Noun

persona f (4th declension)
* person
* individual
* character

#### Declension
## Lombard
### Alternative forms

* personna (Western orthographies)
* persuna (Eastern phonetic orthographies)

### Etymology

From Latin persōna.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /perˈsoːna/
** IPA: [pe̞rˈsuːnɑ]
** IPA: [pe̞rˈhuːnɑ] (Prealpine)
** IPA: [pärˈtsoːnä] (Ticinese)
** IPA: [pe̞rˈsu(ː)ŋä] (Western varieties)

### Noun

persona f (plural persone)
* person

## Occitan
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Occitan persona, from Latin persōna.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

persona f (plural personas)
* person

## Old Galician-Portuguese
### Noun

persona
* Alternative form of pessõa

### References

* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “persona”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

## Old Occitan
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin persōna (“mask used by actor; role, part, character”), perhaps a loanword from Etruscan *𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (*φersu, “mask”), from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon).

### Noun

persona
* person (individual)

#### Descendants

* Occitan: persona

### References

* “persona”, in Dictionnaire de l’occitan médiéval en ligne (in German and French), Munich: LMU, 2013–2025

## Old Spanish
### Alternative forms

* presona

### Etymology

Inherited from Latin persōna (“mask used by actor; role, part, character”), perhaps a loanword from Etruscan *𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (*φersu, “mask”), from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon).

### Noun

persona f (plural personas)
* person (individual)

#### Descendants

* Ladino: persona, פירסונה
* Spanish: persona

### References

* Ralph Steele Boggs et al. (1946) “persona”, in Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, volume II, Chapel Hill, page 392

## Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin persōna. Doublet of personat.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pɛrˈsɔ.na/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɔna
* Syllabification: per‧so‧na

### Noun

persona f
* (literary) person (individual substance of a rational nature; usually a human being)
    Synonym: osoba
* (ironic) personage (famous or important person)

#### Related terms

* personalny
* personalnie

### Further reading

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

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /peɾˈsona/ [peɾˈso.na]
* Audio (Colombia):(file)
* Rhymes: -ona
* Syllabification: per‧so‧na

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin persōna (“person”).

#### Noun

persona f (plural personas)
* person (an individual; usually a human being)
    Synonym: individuo
* a socially distinguished person, a personality
* a wise or otherwise excellent person
* a character (an individual with a specific role in a literary work)

##### Usage notes

* This noun does not change; even when addressing males.

##### Derived terms

* acepción de personas
* antipersona
* apersonarse
* buscapersonas
* de persona a persona
* en persona
* interpósita persona
* persona altamente sensible
* persona de muchos oficios
* persona física
* persona jurídica
* persona no grata
* persona non grata
* personarse
* personería
* por su persona
* primera persona
* segunda persona
* tercera persona
* trata de personas

##### Related terms

* personaje
* personal
* personificación

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

persona
* only used in se persona, third-person singular present indicative of personarse
* only used in te ... persona, syntactic variant of persónate, second-person singular imperative of personarse

### References

* ↑ Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1983–1991) “persona”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos

### Further reading

* “persona”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10