person
/ˈpɜːsən/PUR-suhn
/ˈpɝsən/PUR-suhn
Meaningto sound through
Common meaning: a human being
- perthroughSkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 436 · scan
- sonsound, noise; to ring outLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1730 · scan
‘through’ + ‘sound, noise’ → person
Journey through time
- per — Latin per- “through” (path traced)
- son — Latin sonus; sonō “sound, noise; to ring out” (path traced)
Parts join in Latin as personare.
- Aryan root · reconstructed√SWAN‘resound, sound’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 453, p. 746 · scan
- Latinper- + sonare‘through + sound, noise; to ring out’source
- Latinpersonare‘to sound through’source
- Middle Englishpersonsource
- Englishmeaning shiftsto sound through → a human beingperson‘a human being’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin personare, which Skeat analyses as per- ‘through’ + sonare ‘sound, noise; to ring out’.
Roots
- personare Latin “to sound through”
- sonus; sonō Latin “sound, noise; to ring out”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app