n. [ OE. persone, persoun, person, parson, OF. persone, F. personne, L. persona a mask (used by actors), a personage, part, a person, fr. personare to sound through; per + sonare to sound. See Per-, and cf. Parson. ] 1. 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. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

His first appearance upon the stage in his new person of a sycophant or juggler. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

No man can long put on a person and act a part. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

To bear rule, which was thy part
And person, hadst thou known thyself aright. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

How different is the same man from himself, as he sustains the person of a magistrate and that of a friend! South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The bodily form of a human being; body; outward appearance; as, of comely person. [ 1913 Webster ]

A fair persone, and strong, and young of age. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

If it assume my noble father's person. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A living, self-conscious being, as distinct from an animal or a thing; a moral agent; a human being; a man, woman, or child. [ 1913 Webster ]

Consider what person stands for; which, I think, is a thinking, intelligent being, that has reason and reflection. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A human being spoken of indefinitely; one; a man; as, any person present. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A parson; the parish priest. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Theol.) Among Trinitarians, one of the three subdivisions of the Godhead (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost); an hypostasis. “Three persons and one God.” Bk. of Com. Prayer. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Gram.) One of three relations or conditions (that of speaking, that of being spoken to, and that of being spoken of) pertaining to a noun or a pronoun, and thence also to the verb of which it may be the subject. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ A noun or pronoun, when representing the speaker, is said to be in the first person; when representing what is spoken to, in the second person; when representing what is spoken of, in the third person. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Biol.) 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. Haeckel. [ 1913 Webster ]

True corms, composed of united personæ . . . usually arise by gemmation, . . . yet in sponges and corals occasionally by fusion of several originally distinct persons. Encyc. Brit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Artificial person, or
Fictitious person (Law), a corporation or body politic; -- this term is used in contrast with natural person, a real human being. See also legal person. Blackstone. --
Legal person (Law), an individual or group that is allowed by law to take legal action, as plaintiff or defendent. It may include natural persons as well as fictitious persons (such as corporations). --
Natural person (Law), a man, woman, or child, in distinction from a corporation. --
In person, by one's self; with bodily presence, rather than by remote communication; not by representative. “The king himself in person is set forth.” Shak. --
In the person of, in the place of; acting for. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To represent as a person; to personify; to impersonate. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Personæ [ L. ] (Biol.) Same as Person, n., 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having a well-formed body, or person; graceful; comely; of good appearance; presentable; as, a personable man or woman. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wise, warlike, personable, courteous, and kind. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

The king, . . . so visited with sickness, was not personable. E. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) (a) Enabled to maintain pleas in court. Cowell. (b) Having capacity to take anything granted. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The complex of attributes that make a person socially attractive. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. personnage. ] 1. Form, appearance, or belongings of a person; the external appearance, stature, figure, air, and the like, of a person. “In personage stately.” Hayward. [ 1913 Webster ]

The damsel well did view his personage. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Character assumed or represented. “The actors and personages of this fable.” Broome. “Disguised in a false personage.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A notable or distinguished person; a conspicuous or peculiar character; as, an illustrious personage; a comely personage of stature tall. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Law) A movable; a chattel. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. personalis: cf. F. personnel. ] 1. Pertaining to human beings as distinct from things. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every man so termed by way of personal difference. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to a particular person; relating to, or affecting, an individual, or each of many individuals; peculiar or proper to private concerns; not public or general; as, personal comfort; personal desire. [ 1913 Webster ]

The words are conditional, -- If thou doest well, -- and so personal to Cain. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Pertaining to the external or bodily appearance; corporeal; as, personal charms. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Done in person; without the intervention of another. “Personal communication.” Fabyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

The immediate and personal speaking of God. White. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Relating to an individual, his character, conduct, motives, or private affairs, in an invidious and offensive manner; as, personal reflections or remarks. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Gram.) Denoting person; as, a personal pronoun. [ 1913 Webster ]

Personal action (Law), a suit or action by which a man claims a debt or personal duty, or damages in lieu of it; or wherein he claims satisfaction in damages for an injury to his person or property, or the specific recovery of goods or chattels; -- opposed to real action. --
Personal equation. (Astron.) See under Equation. --
Personal estate or
Personal property (Law), movables; chattels; -- opposed to real estate or real property. It usually consists of things temporary and movable, including all subjects of property not of a freehold nature. --
Personal identity (Metaph.), the persistent and continuous unity of the individual person, which is attested by consciousness. --
Personal pronoun (Gram.), one of the pronouns I, thou, he, she, it, and their plurals. --
Personal representatives (Law), the executors or administrators of a person deceased. --
Personal rights, rights appertaining to the person; as, the rights of a personal security, personal liberty, and private property. --
Personal tithes. See under Tithe. --
Personal verb (Gram.), a verb which is modified or inflected to correspond with the three persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Computers) A computer{ 2 } designed for use by one person at a time; -- contrasted with shared-time computers such as a mainframe, server or minicomputer, which may be accessed by multiple users each operating from a different input device (in the 1990's, usually a terminal or personal computer). A personal computer typically uses a microprocessor for its CPU.
Syn. -- PC, microcomputer. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. The quality or state of being personal; personality. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]