- person
- per|sonW1S2 [ˈpə:sən US ˈpə:r-] n[Date: 1100-1200; : Old French; Origin: persone, from Latin persona 'actor's mask, character in a play, person', probably from Etruscan phersu 'mask']1.) plural people [ˈpi:pəl]a human being, especially considered as someone with their own particular character▪ He was a very nice person, always pleasant and friendly.▪ The only person who really said anything helpful was Jack.kind/type/sort of person▪ David was not the sort of person who found it easy to talk about his feelings.▪ I like her as a person , but not as a boss.▪ I still know quite a lot of people in the village.▪ a group of young peoplecity/cat/night etc person(=someone who likes a particular kind of thing)▪ I'm not a morning person.2.) in personif you do something in person, you go somewhere and do it yourself, instead of doing something by letter, asking someone else to do it etc▪ You have to sign for it in person.3.) businessperson/salesperson etcsomeone who works in business, who sells things etc4.) plural personsformal or law someone who is not known or not named▪ The police are appealing for any person who was in the area at this time to contact them.▪ murder by person or persons unknown▪ All 115 persons on board were killed.5.) on/about your personformal if you have something on or about your person, you have it in your pockets or attached to you▪ Customs officers found a gun concealed about his person.6.) in the person of sbformal used before the name of someone who you have just mentioned in a more general way▪ I was met by the police in the person of Sergeant Black.▬▬▬▬▬▬▬GRAMMARThe plural of person is usually people : Sixty four people (NOT persons) died in the fire.Persons is also used, but only in public notices and other formal contexts : All persons born in the United States are citizens of the United States.People meaning 'more than one person' is already plural and cannot form a plural with 's' : A lot of British people (NOT peoples) are employed by foreign firms.People meaning 'race' or 'nation' is countable and you can add 's' to form a plural in the normal way : African peoples▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Dictionary of contemporary English. 2013.