What does "person" mean?
An individual who has been granted personhood; usually a human being.
Person
/pɜːrsn̩/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An individual who has been granted personhood; usually a human being.
- Grammar: person is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: individual, human being, someone, soul.
- Useful contrasts: collective household, dutch entities, aguilar.
- Usage evidence: The last person I told my idea to thought I was nuts.
How to use "person"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "person" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "person" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "person" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "person" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "person" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "individual" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "person", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An individual who has been granted personhood; usually a human being.
"1784, William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., PREFACE THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Perſons of the firſt diſtinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ſeveral new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and diſtinguiſh it from others; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public."
- 2 a human being; person, singular, assertive existential pronoun; pronoun, person, singular; quantifier: assertive existential wordnet
- 3 An individual who has been granted personhood; usually a human being.; 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.
"[…]his firſt appearance vpon the Stage, in his new perſon of a Sycophant or Iugler[…]"
- 4 a human body (usually including the clothing) wordnet
- 5 An individual who has been granted personhood; usually a human being.; Any one of the three hypostases of the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit.
"three persons and one God"
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 a grammatical category used in the classification of pronouns, possessive determiners, and verb forms according to whether they indicate the speaker, the addressee, or a third party wordnet
- 7 An individual who has been granted personhood; usually a human being.; Any sapient or socially intelligent being.
- 8 An individual who has been granted personhood; usually a human being.; Someone who likes or has an affinity for (a specified thing).
"Jack's always been a dog person, but I prefer cats."
- 9 An individual who has been granted personhood; usually a human being.; A human of unspecified gender (in terms usually constructed with man or woman).
- 10 An individual who has been granted personhood; usually a human being.; A worker in a specified function or specialty.
"I was able to speak to a technical support person and get the problem solved."
- 11 The physical body of a being seen as distinct from the mind, character, etc.
"[…]when the young Ladies laughed at her for it, ſhe replied that it was not his perſon that ſhe did embrace and reverence, but the divine beauty of his Soule."
- 12 Any individual or formal organization with standing before the courts.
"At common law a corporation or a trust is legally a person."
- 13 The human genitalia; specifically, the penis. euphemistic
"[E]very Person wilfully, openly, lewdly, and obscenely exposing his Person in any Street, Road, or public Highway, or in the View thereof, or in any Place of public Resort, with Intent to insult any Female ... and being subsequently convicted of the Offence for which he or she shall have been so apprehended, shall be deemed a Rogue and Vagabond, within the true Intent and Meaning of this Act ..."
- 14 A linguistic category used to distinguish between the speaker of an utterance and those to whom or about whom they are speaking. See grammatical person.
- 15 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.
"True corms, composed of united personae […] usually arise by gemmation, […] yet in sponges and corals occasionally by fusion of several originally distinct persons."
- 16 A soulmate; someone, especially a romantic partner, with whom one is exceptionally compatible and connected.
"'I still miss her. Every day,' she said. 'She was my person. […] [And when she died,] I'd lost my person. I was eight years old and I'd lost my person. Willow and I even had our own language, as lots of twins do, but I stopped talking after she died.'"
Verb
- 1 To represent as a person; to personify; to impersonate. obsolete, transitive
"Or let us perſon him like ſome wretched itinerary Judge, […]"
- 2 To man, to supply with staff or crew. gender-neutral, transitive
"“Okay. Soon as Natalie heard, and while she was flailing around trying to turn up a Valium, she decided she had better call Scott Harrison and ask his opinion on what sort of advice, re legal moves, she ought to call back to Iréné, or Rama, or Wilkerson, or whoever’s personning the fort back there.” / “Whoever’s whatening the fort?” / “Please.[…]”"
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The last person I told my idea to thought I was nuts."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "person"?
Common synonyms include: individual, human being, someone, soul, actor, actually.
How do you use "person" in a sentence?
The last person I told my idea to thought I was nuts.
How do you pronounce "person"?
Pronounced /pɜːrsn̩/.
Etymology
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. Doublet of parson and persona.