per ‧ son S1 W1 /ˈpɜːs ə n $ ˈpɜːr-/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ person , ↑ personality , ↑ persona , ↑ personage , the personals, ↑ personification , ↑ personnel ; adjective : ↑ personal ≠ ↑ impersonal , ↑ personalized , ↑ personable ; verb : ↑ personalize , ↑ personify ; adverb : ↑ personally ≠ ↑ impersonally ]
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: persone , from Latin persona 'actor's mask, character in a play, person' , probably from Etruscan phersu 'mask' ]
1 . ( plural people /ˈpiːp ə l/) 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 people
city/cat/night etc person (=someone who likes a particular kind of thing)
I’m not a morning person.
2 . in person if 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 etc someone who works in business, who sells things etc ⇨ ↑ chairperson , ↑ spokesperson
4 . ( plural persons ) formal 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 person formal 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 somebody formal 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.
⇨ ↑ first person , ↑ missing person , ↑ person-to-person , ↑ second person , ↑ third person
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GRAMMAR
The plural of person is usually people :
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Sixty-four people (NOT persons) died in the fire.
Persons is also used, but only in formal notices, documents, and situations:
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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':
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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:
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African peoples