persona Italian · revision 37563

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1219, Breve di Montieri|origins=ett 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /perˈso.na/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''persona''' ''f'' (plural persone)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms are ''persone'', ''personna'' and ''persuna'', and an old plural ''-i''.^(GDLI|13, 103) Southern Italian dialects remade it as a masculine.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ DELI treats it as a learned word, [[bor|la|persōna|t=mask; character; person]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) The Latin word first meant the mask of an actor, then the role, the character and the individual.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GDLI) It is generally traced to [[ett|𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖|tr=φersu|t=mask, masked figure]], found in tomb inscriptions beside masked figures,^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) perhaps through a derivative [[m|ett|*𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖𐌍𐌀|tr=*φersuna]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The Etruscan word in turn is thought to adapt [[grc|πρόσωπον|tr=prósōpon|t=face; mask]], which would make the word a piece of Greek theatre brought to Rome by the Etruscans.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto 1968|327) The Roman explanation from [[m|la|persono|t=to sound through]] is unlikely, since the vowel lengths differ.^(Wiktionary)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The Romance forms are [[fr|personne]], [[oc|persona]], [[ca|persona]], [[es|persona]] and [[pt|pessoa]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the ''Breve di Montieri'' of 1219, in the sense “human body”; the sense “human being” is in Guido Faba in the first half of the 13th century.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Faba writes of a good friend “de persona k'èe da amare” (a person to be loved).^(GDLI|13, 103)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Brunetto Latini used the word as a grammatical term before 1294, and the theological sense, the three persons of the Trinity, goes back to Tertullian's Latin.^(DELI 1999) Old Italian also used it as an indefinite pronoun, “anyone”, and in negative sentences “no one”, as in Boccaccio's ''se persona ci è'' (if anyone is there); [[fr|personne]] kept the second use.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DEI|2866)

+

+ Several derivatives came through French: ''personaggio'' (16th century, from ''personnage'') and later senses of ''personale'' and ''personalità''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) In psychology ''persona'' is Jung's term for the face a person shows to others.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The phrase ''in prima persona'' “directly, personally” is recent.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1219 – The ''Breve di Montieri'' uses it for the human body.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * First half of the 13th century – Guido Faba uses it for a human being.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it as a grammatical term.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1344 – ''Personale'' in Giovanni Villani.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 16th century – ''Personaggio'' is borrowed from French.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|person]], a human being: ''alla festa c'erano trenta persone''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural)'' People: ''troppe persone in fila''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A person as a self-aware individual with dignity and rights: ''il rispetto della persona''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # A person in a public role: ''la persona del sindaco''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The [[m|en|body]], one's figure: ''quella giacca dona alla tua persona''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law)'' A subject of rights and duties: ''persona fisica'', an individual, ''persona giuridica'', a legal entity.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(grammar)'' Grammatical ''person'': ''la terza persona plurale''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(psychology)'' The [[m|en|persona]], in Jung's sense.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[personaggio]]

+ * [[personale]]

+ * [[personalità]]

+ * [[personalizzare]]

+ * [[personificare]]

+ * [[personificazione]]

+ * [[impersonale]]

+ * [[impersonare]]

+ * [[spersonalizzare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gente]]

+ * [[individuo]]

+ * [[la|persōna]]

+ * [[fr|personne]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''di persona'' (in person), ''in persona'' (in the flesh; personified, as in ''è la gentilezza in persona''), ''a persona'' (per head) and ''per interposta persona'' (through an intermediary).^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ A separate Old Italian ''persona'' “parish priest” is recorded once, in a Sienese account book kept in London in 1305–1308; it comes from Middle English ''persone'' or Old French ''persone'' (compare English ''parson'').^(TLIO)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}