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persono

Etymology and origin of the Latin word persono

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (sonus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɛr.sɔ.noː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛr.so.no][1]

Forms

personō (present infinitive personāre, perfect active personuī, supine personātum); first conjugation[1] Apuleius has the perfect persōnāvit.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from per- “through” and sonō “to sound”.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero, whom he dates 81–43 BC, and Cicero has domus cantū persōnābat “the house rang with singing”.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to make a loud, continuous noise, to resound, as in Cicero and Livy; in Virgil it meant to make a place ring, and of musicians to play loudly.[2][5] In Cicero it also meant to shout out, proclaim.[2]

Greek–Latin glossaries render persōnat with diacharaktērizei “portrays a character”.[6] It was borrowed into English as personate and Spanish personarse.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[4][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of making places ring.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of loud noise.[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To resound, ring.[2]
  2. To make resound.[2]
  3. To play loudly.[2]
  4. To shout out, proclaim.[2]

Word family

  • personātiō
  • personātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Cite this entry

“Persono.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/persono. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·