personhood

[pur-suhn-hood]

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.

personhood

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of personhood¹

First recorded in 1955–60; person + -hood

Example Sentences

For Grizzly Bear, there’s never been a line between performance and personhood.

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But with Lawrence, someone so known for her authenticity, the connection is genuine, on full display as Grace spends the following months slipping between her personhood and her primal id.

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Artists, acutely focused on the way we live now, can’t help paying close attention to the ramifications of AI not just in our work but in our notions of personhood.

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This category of besieged and suspect personhood inevitably expands to include political “enemies.”

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Since the end of Reconstruction in Florida, the gifts and benefits of “personhood,” those who are deemed fit to receive first-class citizenship, have largely been limited to the Sunshine State’s hetero-white residents.

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