dramatis personae

[ dram-uh-tis per-soh-nee, drah-muh- ]

noun

1. (used with a plural verb) the characters in a play.
2. (used with a singular verb) a list of the characters preceding the text of a play.

dramatis personae

/ ˈdrɑːmətɪs pəˈsəʊnaɪ /

plural noun

1. the characters or a list of characters in a play or story
2. the main personalities in any situation or event

dramatis personae

1. A Latin expression for “cast of characters .” It means literally “the persons of the drama” and is occasionally used at the beginning of scripts for plays as the title of the list of characters.

Notes

In general, the “dramatis personae” are the participants in an event: “Winston Churchill , Roosevelt , and Joseph Stalin were the dramatis personae at the Yalta Conference.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of dramatis personae¹

1720–30; < Latin: characters of the play

Word History and Origins

Origin of dramatis personae¹

C18: from New Latin

Example Sentences

It’s raining menAnd now, one after another, new dramatis personae, mostly ghosts, keep entering stage left, complicating what once seemed our simple soliloquy.

From Nautilus

But a story this big, this consequential, needs a dramatis personae of dramatic people.

From The Daily Beast

The book is structured with short chapters, turning the eye of the narrator between these 20 dramatis personae.

From The Daily Beast

They also, not altogether abandoning classical allusions, changed the name of their dramatis personae.

From Project Gutenberg

Apart from the plot or story the interest of a drama depends to a large extent on the dramatis personae.

From Project Gutenberg

All the rest of the dramatis personae enter, and indulge in exclamations of joy.

From Project Gutenberg

In particular are his dramatis personae creatures by no means calculated to overawe by some extraordinary weirdness or power.

From Project Gutenberg

I was comforted, and began a new piece, in which a king and queen were among the dramatis personae.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• list
• troupe