person
• noun (pl. people or persons) 1 a human being regarded as an individual. 2 an individual’s body: concealed on his person. 3 Grammar a category used in the classification of pronouns, verb forms, etc. according to whether they indicate the speaker (first person), the person spoken to (second person), or a third party (third person). 4 Christian Theology each of the three modes of being of God, namely the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. — PHRASES in person physically present. — USAGE The words people and persons can both be used as the plural of person but they are not used in exactly the same way. People is by far the commoner of the two words and is used in most ordinary contexts. Persons, on the other hand, tends to be restricted to official or formal contexts, as in this vehicle is authorized to carry twenty persons. — ORIGIN Latin persona ‘actor’s mask, character in a play’, later ‘human being’.
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