person
noun
Person — a single human life, recognized as worthy of the name
Definition
A human being; "there was too much for one person to do"
In depth
A person is, at its simplest, a single human being, but the word carries far more than biological designation: it implies recognition, dignity, and a claim to moral and legal standing that mere existence does not guarantee. To call someone a person, in many contexts, is already to make an argument about how they ought to be treated.
Origin
The word traces to Latin persona, originally meaning a theatrical mask or the character an actor played, before broadening to mean the role or character a human being occupies in life. That theatrical origin lends the word a faint, often unnoticed irony: to call someone a person is, etymologically, to invoke the mask they wear rather than the self beneath it.
Usage examples
"The court's decision turned on whether the corporation could be treated, for legal purposes, as a person."
"She had learned, slowly, to think of her father not as a parent but as a person, flawed and frightened like anyone else."
"There was too much grief for one person to carry, and yet she carried it."
How to use it
Person is the default, neutral term for a human being across nearly all registers, but writers often deploy it deliberately in moments where personhood itself is in question — describing someone reduced by circumstance to less than a person, or insisting on the personhood of someone others have denied it to.
Related concepts
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