Noun

(en-noun) (by suppletion)

An individual; usually a human being.

* 1784 , William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c. , PREFACE

THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Per?ons of the fir?t di?tinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ?everal new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and di?tingui?h it from others; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.

* , chapter=7

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“A very welcome, kind, useful present, that means to the parish. By the way, Hopkins, let this go no further. We don't want the tale running round that a rich person has arrived. Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. […]”}}

# A character or part, as in a play; a specific kind or manifestation of individual character, whether in real life, or in literary or dramatic representation; an assumed character.

#* Francis Bacon

his first appearance upon the stage in his new person of a sycophant or juggler

#* Jeremy Taylor

No man can long put on a person and act a part.

#* Milton

To bear rule, which was thy part / And person , hadst thou known thyself aright.

#* South

How different is the same man from himself, as he sustains the person of a magistrate and that of a friend!

# (Christianity) Any one of the three hypostases of the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit.

#* Book of Common Prayer

three persons and one God

# Any sentient or socially intelligent being.

# (in a compound noun or noun phrase) Someone who likes or has an affinity for (a specified thing).

Jack's always been a dog person , but I prefer cats.

The physical body of a being seen as distinct from the mind, character, etc.

*, III.1.2.iii:

when the young ladies laughed at her for it, she replied, that it was not his person that she did embrace and reverence, but, with a Platonic love, the divine beauty of his soul.

* 1897 , (Henry James), (What Maisie Knew) :

The Captain, inclining his military person , sat sideways to be closer and kinder […].

* 1978 , (Lawrence Durrell), Livia , Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 418:

At first blush it seemed that what was striking about him rested on the fact that his dress was exotic, his person foreign.

* 2004 , (The New York Times) :

Meanwhile, the dazed Sullivan, dressed like a bum with no identification on his person , is arrested and put to work on a brutal Southern chain gang.

(legal) Any individual or formal organization with standing before the courts.

At common law a corporation or a trust is legally a person .

(legal) The human genitalia; specifically , the penis.

* 1824 , ( 5 Geo. 4. c. 83, United Kingdom), section 4:

[E]very Person wilfully, openly, lewdly, and obscenely exposing his Person in any Street, Road, or public Highway, or in the View thereof, or in any Place of public Resort, with Intent to insult any Female ... and being subsequently convicted of the Offence for which he or she shall have been so apprehended, shall be deemed a Rogue and Vagabond, within the true Intent and Meaning of this Act ...

* 1972 , Evans v. Ewels'', ''Weekly Law Reports , vol. 1, p. 671 at pp. 674–675:

It seems to me that at any rate today, and indeed by 1824, the word "person " in connection with sexual matters had acquired a meaning of its own; a meaning which made it a synonym for "penis." It may be ... that it was the forerunner of Victorian gentility which prevented people calling a penis a penis. But however that may be I am satisfied in my own mind that it has now acquired an established meaning to the effect already stated. It is I venture to say, well known amongst those who practise in the courts that the word "person" is so used over and over again. It is the familiar synonym of that part of the body, and, as one of the reasons for my decision in this case, I would use that interpretation of what was prevailing in 1824 and what has become established in the 150 years since then.

(grammar) A linguistic category used to distinguish between the speaker of an utterance and those to whom or about whom he is speaking. See grammatical person.

(biology) A shoot or bud of a plant; a polyp or zooid of the compound Hydrozoa, Anthozoa, etc.; also, an individual, in the narrowest sense, among the higher animals.

* Encyc. Brit.

True corms, composed of united personae yet in sponges and corals occasionally by fusion of several originally distinct persons .

(Haeckel)

Noun

; a body of human beings considered generally or collectively; a group of two or more persons.

:

*ca. 1607: XXII people was in this parrish drownd. (Plaque recording the )

*

*, chapter=12

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people . From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs,

*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)

, chapter=1 citation , passage=“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people' do send to other ' people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
  Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=11, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Towards the end of poverty , passage=But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.}}

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= A punch in the gut , passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}

(plural peoples ) Persons forming or belonging to a particular group, such as a nation, class, ethnic group, country, family, etc; folk; community.

A group of persons regarded as being employees, followers, companions or subjects of a ruler.

*1611, (Old Testament), , 2 (w) 8:15:

*:And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people .[http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Kjv2Sam.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=8&division=div1]

*1952, (Old Testament), (Revised Standard Version) , Thomas Nelson & Sons, (w) 1:3:

*:The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people does not understand.

One's colleagues or employees.

*2001 , Vince Flynn, Transfer of Power , p.250:

*:Kennedy looked down at Flood's desk and thought about the possibilities. "Can you locate him?" "I already have my people checking on all [it]."

*2008 , Fern Michaels, Hokus Pokus? , p.184:

*:Can I have one of my people' get back to your ' people , Mr. President?" She tried to slam the phone back into the base and failed.

A person's ancestors, relatives or family.

:

The mass of a community as distinguished from a special class (elite); the commonalty; the populace; the vulgar; the common crowd; the citizens.

:

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)

, volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about