Etymologically
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persona

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [pɛrˈsoː.na][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [perˈsɔː.na][1]

Forms

persōna f (genitive persōnae); first declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[1] The OLD calls it perhaps Etruscan, and the TLL a foreign word, since it can hardly be explained in Latin, usually connected for its first sense “mask” with borrowed from Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask, masked figure”), twice written beside a masked figure.[2][3][1] Gabius Bassus, in Gellius, derived it from personō “to sound through”, with a lengthened vowel.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.[6] The OLD's earliest citation for a mask is from Lucretius.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant a mask, especially an actor's, which Cicero says the actor's eyes blazed through, in Pliny the Elder a mouth guard and a stone face, a gargoyle.[2][5] From Cicero it meant a character in a play, persōna mūta a mute part, a character in a speech or dialogue, and in Seneca a pretence.[2] In Cicero it meant the part one plays in life, a role, one's own personality, a party to a case, a person of rank, and an individual person.[2] In Varro it meant a grammatical person.[2] Döderlein contrasts the artful persōna with the frightful larva.[7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a person, character, mask, and a person of the Trinity.[8] Medieval Latin used it for an individual, a person of servile status, and a dignitary, a parson.[9][6] It survives in Italian persona and French personne, and Late Latin persōnālis gave English personal in the late 14th century.[1][10]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a grammatical person.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a mask.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a role and of a person.[2][6]
  • late 14th century – English personal is recorded.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A mask; a gargoyle.[2]
  2. A character in a play; a mute part; a pretence.[2]
  3. A role in life; personal qualities.[2]
  4. One's own self, personality, suā persōnā, in one's own name.[2]
  5. A party to a case; a personage.[2]
  6. An individual person.[2]
  7. (grammar) A person.[2]
  8. (Medieval Latin) A dignitary; a parson.[9][6]

Word family

  • English person
  • English personal
  • English parson

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from larva, a grotesque, frightful mask.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com