Meaning of person in English

person

noun [ C ]

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/ˈpɜː.sən/ us

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/ˈpɝː.sən/

plural people uk/ˈpiː.pəl/ us/ˈpiː.pəl/formal persons

person noun [C] (HUMAN)

a man, woman, or child:

Who was the first person to swim the English Channel?

A meal at the restaurant costs about $70 for two people.

formal Four persons have been charged with the murder.

used when describing someone's character:

She's an extremely kind person.

He's nice enough as a person, but he's not the right man for this job.

informal I don't think of him as a book person (= a person who likes books).

in person

If you do something or go somewhere in person, you do it or go there yourself:

If you can't be there in person, the next best thing is watching it on TV.

More examples

She's sure to get the job she wants - she's a very determined person.
I don't know how it's possible for a person to disappear without trace.
The jury has to decide whether a person is guilty or innocent of a crime.
I think we've chosen the right person to lead the expedition.
Who's the most famous person you've ever interviewed on TV?

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

People in general

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Mind and personality

Present

person noun [C] (GRAMMAR)

language specialized

used in grammar to describe the verbs and pronouns that refer to the different people in a conversation. The first person ("I" or "we") refers to the person speaking, the second person ("you") refers to the person being spoken to and the third person ("he", "she", "it", or "they") refers to another person or thing being spoken about or described:

The novel is written in the first person, so that the author and narrator seem to be the same.

"Am" is the first person singular of the verb "to be".

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Linguistics: grammatical terms

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Grammar

Person, persons or people?

We use person in the singular to refer to any human being: …

Idioms

in the person of sb

on/about your person

-person

suffix

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/ -pɜː.sən/ us

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/ -pɝː.sən/

used to combine with nouns to form new nouns referring to the particular job or duty that someone has. It is often used instead of -man or -woman to avoid making an unnecessary statement about the sex of the particular person:

spokesperson

chairperson

business people

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Men & women

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(Definition of person from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

person | American Dictionary

person

noun [ C ]

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/ˈpɜr·sən/

plural people us/ˈpi·pəl/ persons

a man, woman, or child:

Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon.

The auditorium can seat about 500 people.

The plane crashed just after takeoff, killing all 29 persons aboard.

Person is also used when describing someone’s character or personality:

I don’t think of him as a book person (= someone who likes books).

She’s nice enough as a person, but she’s not right for the job.

Note:

In formal writing, the plural "persons" is sometimes preferred over "people," but "persons" is also used in news reports – At least 30 persons are dead or missing – and in the phrase "person or persons" when the number of people is not known – We expect to catch the person or persons responsible.

Idiom

in person

(Definition of person from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

person | Business English

person

noun [ C ]

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/ˈpɜːsən/ us

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persons

LAW

→ legal person

Examples of person

person

However, the speaker's voice and the other person's voice do not merge.

From Cambridge English Corpus

In the choice of language, persons do not simply select an instrument for mutual understanding and communication.

From Cambridge English Corpus

These examples are from the Cambridge English Corpus and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

More examples Fewer examples

Whole households adjust their speech to protect certain persons.

From Cambridge English Corpus

The communal variables indicate that those persons who are the litmus test for the community have indeed been male.

From Cambridge English Corpus

In this particular case, the three persons involved each represent one of the majority clans in the area.

From Cambridge English Corpus

Since it does not, this assumption strengthens the analysis that it is not present in these persons and numbers.

From Cambridge English Corpus

Table 5 shows the results of a multivariate analysis for regular verbs, considering grammatical persons separately.

From Cambridge English Corpus

Each person's individual payoffs and accumulated payoffs were private information.

From Cambridge English Corpus

Thirty or forty families would be the most that could live together, that is, about 140 or 150 persons.

From Cambridge English Corpus

Second, as has been suggested, our two skeletons may have been persons of some social importance.

From Cambridge English Corpus

Reliability of experimenters' judgment was assessed by the agreement of the other experimenters of the group present during the session (one or two additional persons).

From Cambridge English Corpus

How can one measure the extent of a person's bilingual proficiency?

From Cambridge English Corpus

The anjali, usually in a far less obsequious form, is also central to the everyday social recognition of other persons.

From Cambridge English Corpus

Selective recall from the set of available autobiographical memories may also be seen as a type of reconstruction of a person's history.

From Cambridge English Corpus

Living in such a neighbourhood may contribute to problematic relationships, and receiving scant support from children reduces an older person's opportunities to live elsewhere.

From Cambridge English Corpus

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Collocations with person

person

These are words often used in combination with person.

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average person

The results show that the average person considers ten years with some problems walking about as equal to 8.5 years in full health.

From Cambridge English Corpus

caring person

Yet it is entirely conceivable that a caring person might choose to become a physician in part because of the financial rewards involved in the profession.

From Cambridge English Corpus

contact person

This contact person assists and supervises its implementation within the program.

From Cambridge English Corpus

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