personage

American  

[pur-suh-nij] / ˈpɜr sə nɪdʒ /

noun

1. a person of distinction or importance.

2. any person.

3. a character in a play, story, etc.

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personage British  

/ ˈpɜːsənɪdʒ /

noun

1. an important or distinguished person

2. another word for person

   a strange personage

3. rare a figure in literature, history, etc

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Related Words

See person.

Other Word Forms

• nonpersonage noun

Etymology

Origin of personage

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English: “body or image (statue, portrait) of a person” (from Old French ), from Medieval Latin persōnāgium. See person, -age

Example Sentences

This deeply researched study examines how AI systems create “abstract people”: statistical confections, subject profiles and anthropomorphic personages that increasingly substitute for humans in digital environments.

From Los Angeles Times

Musk is a unique personage in the CEO ranks, as the Yale researchers observe — “the world’s wealthiest person and CEO of the most valuable automaker by market capitalization.”

From Los Angeles Times

But it is Ms. Hawkins, fully committed to a character who should be committed, who shines, making Laura a singular personage—a monster, but not necessarily a villain.

From The Wall Street Journal

Musk’s unrestrained, all-access scourge through the government has led pundits like Nate Silver to compare him to a ‘great man’ of history — that mythic personage whose unhindered agency pushes history forward.

From Salon

We chronicle, explicate, elucidate and constantly “re-adjudicate” historical events and personages.

From Salon

Related Words

• celebrity
• dignitary