personhood

American  

[pur-suhn-hood] / ˈpɜr sənˌhʊd /

noun

1. the state or fact of being a person.

2. the state or fact of being an individual or having human characteristics and feelings.

   a harsh prison system that deprives prisoners of their personhood.

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personhood British  

/ ˈp£ːsənˌhʊd /

noun

1. the condition of being a person who is an individual with inalienable rights, esp under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States

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Etymology

Origin of personhood

First recorded in 1955–60; person + -hood

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

personhood

Anthropic did so chiefly by training Claude to assume that it had personhood and trying to instruct it to use its capabilities ethically.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

Modern-day discussion of U.S. campaign finance revolves around issues such as dark money, outside-group spending and corporate personhood.

From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026

"Then we decided to propose our parliament with 600,000 signatures that the Mar Menor needs to have rights and legal personhood."

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

It is also a reminder of how the Overton window on personhood is shifting.

From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026

It felt oddly dispossessing, being handed this first legal proof of my personhood: until that moment, it had never occurred to me that proof was required.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

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Related Words

• humanity
• humanness
• selfhood

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