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Webster 1913 Edition

Personate

Per′son-ate

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Personated
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Personating
.]
[L.
personare
to cry out, LL., to extol. See
Person
.]
To celebrate loudly; to extol; to praise.
[Obs.]
In fable, hymn, or song so
personating

Their gods ridiculous.
Milton.

Per′son-ate

,
Verb.
T.
[L.
personatus
masked, assumed, fictitious, fr.
persona
a mask. See
Person
.]
1.
To assume the character of; to represent by a fictitious appearance; to act the part of; to impersonate{3}; hence, to counterfeit; to feign;
as, he tried to
personate
his brother; a
personated
devotion.
Hammond.
2.
To set forth in an unreal character; to disguise; to mask.
[R.]
“A personated mate.”
Milton.
3.
To personify; to typify; to describe.
Shak.

Per′son-ate

,
Verb.
I.
To play or assume a character.

Per′son-ate

,
Adj.
[L.
personatus
masked.]
(Bot.)
Having the throat of a bilabiate corolla nearly closed by a projection of the base of the lower lip; masked, as in the flower of the snapdragon.

Webster 1828 Edition

Personate

PER'SONATE

,
Verb.
T.
To represent by a fictitious or assumed character so as to pass for the person represented.
1.
To represent by action or appearance; to assume the character and act the part of another.
2.
To pretend hypocritically. [Little used.]
3.
To counterfeit; to feign; as a personated devotion.
4.
To resemble.
The lofty cedar personates thee.
5.
To make a representation of, as in picture.
6.
To describe.
7.
To celebrate loudly. [L. persono.] [Not used.]

PER'SONATE

,
Adj.
[L. persona, a mask.] Masked. A personate corol is irregular and closed by a kind of palate; or ringent, but closed between the lips by the palate.

Definition 2024

personate

personate

See also: persónate

English

Verb

personate ‎(third-person singular simple present personates, present participle personating, simple past and past participle personated)

  1. (transitive) To fraudulently portray another person; to impersonate.
    • 1873, William Lucas Collins, Plautus and Terence, chapter IV, page 67
      But this latter has, at the suggestion of Tyndarus, exchanged clothes with him, and the slave […] personates the master.
  2. (transitive) To portray a character (as in a play); to act.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Book IV, chapter i
      The antients would certainly have invoked the goddess Flora for this purpose, and it would have been no difficulty for their priests, or politicians to have persuaded the people of the real presence of the deity, though a plain mortal had personated her and performed her office.
  3. (transitive) To attribute personal characteristics to something; to personify.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  4. (transitive) To set forth in an unreal character; to disguise; to mask.
    • Milton
      a personated mate
Related terms

Adjective

personate ‎(comparative more personate, superlative most personate)

  1. (botany) Having the throat of a bilabiate corolla nearly closed by a projection of the base of the lower lip; masked, as in the flower of the snapdragon.

Etymology 2

From Latin personō ‎(“cry out”).

Verb

personate ‎(third-person singular simple present personates, present participle personating, simple past and past participle personated)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To celebrate loudly; to extol; to praise.
    • Milton
      In fable, hymn, or song so personating / Their gods ridiculous.

Anagrams

Latin

Verb

personāte

  1. first-person plural present active imperative of personō

Etymology

From Latin persōnātus

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