"person" in seven languages
Meaningperson
Spanish
persona
/peɾˈsona/
fem.inherited
French
personne
/pɛʁsɔn/
fem.inherited
With ne it means 'nobody': il n'y a personne.
Italian
persona
/perˈsona/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
pessoa
/peˈsoɐ/
fem.inherited
Portuguese loses intervocalic -n-: PERSŌNAM → pessoa, as LŪNAM → lua.
Romanian
persoană
/perˈso̯anə/
fem.learned
Catalan
persona
/pərˈsonə/
fem.inherited
English
person
/ˈpɝsən/
from Latin/French · Old French persone
English → ItalianpersonpersonaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
PERSŌNAM‘actor's mask; role, person’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
PERSŌNA was the actor's mask, then the role, then anyone at all. French personne picked up 'nobody' from constant use with ne: Il n'y a personne, 'there isn't a person'.
English relatives: person, personal, personality
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEs una persona muy amable.
- frC'est une personne très gentille.
- itÈ una persona molto gentile.
- ptEla é uma pessoa muito gentil.
- roE o persoană foarte drăguță.
- caÉs una persona molt amable.
- enShe is a very kind person.