personateadj.
/ˈpəːsn̩ət/, /ˈpəːsənət/, U.S. /ˈpərs(ə)nət/ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > [adjective] > feigned, fictitious
falsea1175
feignedc1386
pretenced1425
pretended1461
counterfeit1530
personate1565
sham1683
personated1711
fictitiousa1781
pretence1853
1565 A. Nowell Reproufe f. 94 Whereunto Christian princes..will bring these personate, & visered Romaine parishe priestes, from their vsurped worldly pompe and dominion.
1597 Bp. J. Hall Defiance to Enuy in Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. sig. A7 Or whether list me sing so personate, My striuing selfe to conquer with my verse.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 483 A stranger..seeing the counterfeit personate Asse-lyon..knew it for an Asse, in a lyons skinne.
1640 R. Baillie (title) The Canterbvrians self-conviction... With a postscript to the personat Jesuite Lysimachus Nicanor.
1822 C. Lamb Compl. Decay of Beggars in Elia 1st Ser. Under a personate father of a family, think..that thou hast relieved an indigent bachelor.
1873 C. F. Hoffman Love's Cal. 113 (note) After awhile..he discerns that this is not his genuine brother, as he imagined; he has no longer the power to hold fellowship with such a personate mate.
2. Of the nature of or resembling a person; embodied in a person; personified. rare after 17th cent.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > physical representation of abstraction > personification > [adjective] > personified
personateda1613
personatea1631
personified1753
personalized1873
a1631 J. Donne Βιαθανατος (1644) iii. ii. §5 162 Job whose sanctity I thinke it sacriledge to diminish, whether he were a person or personate.
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (i. 4) 77 But if there be not alwayes a personate devill, there is alwayes a personall devill.
1689 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) I. 314 A Pattern and instance of personate humble deference, Submission and Obedience.
1923 H. Belloc Sonnets & Verse in Verse (1954) 16 I will call you Beauty Personate.
3. Botany. Of a corolla or flower: having the appearance of a mask, mask-like; spec. designating a bilabiate corolla having the opening between the lips closed by an upward projection (the palate) of the lower lip, as in a snapdragon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [adjective] > having or relating to parts > of or having petals > of corolla
rotated1727
personated1731
multiplicate1760
personate1760
ringent1760
rotate1760
corollaceous1775
wheel-shaped1775
multiplied1777
masked1785
multiplex1813
corolline1830
caryophyllaceous1835
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. ii. xvii. 107 Such as have a simple Stigma, and personate Corollae.
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. iv. 47 The other branch or section, which is that of the personate flowers, is distinguished from the former, first in having the two lips not usually open or gaping, but closed and joined.
1839 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) i. ii. 167 In Antirrhinum, it [sc. the corolla] is personate or masked, resembling the face of some grinning animal.
1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 261 Linaria, Toadflax..Corolla personate.
1914 F. E. Fritsch & E. J. Salisbury Introd. Study Plants xviii. 237 As in the calyx, the corolla may be regular..or irregular; examples of the latter condition are furnished by the bilabiate corolla of the Dead-nettle..and by the personate corolla of the Snapdragon.
1990 Systematic Bot. 15 481/1 Small but showy, yellow, personate flowers characterize..Mimulus glabratus.
a. Zoology. Having a form different from that of the mature individual; spec. larval. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
ΚΠ
1890 Cent. Dict. Personate... (a) Larval; not imaginal.
b. Entomology. Having markings on the head that resemble a mask. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
ΚΠ
1890 Cent. Dict. Personate... (b) Having a coloration of the face or head suggestive of a mask; cucullate.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
personatev.
/ˈpəːsn̩eɪt/, /ˈpəːsəneɪt/, U.S. /ˈpərsnˌeɪt/ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > [verb (transitive)]
depaint?c1225
paintc1275
figurec1380
resemblea1393
portraya1398
represent?a1425
impicture1523
portrait1548
shadow1553
to paint forth1558
storize1590
personate1591
limn1593
propound1594
model1604
table1607
semble1610
rendera1616
to paint out1633
person1644
present1649
to figure out1657
historize1668
to fancy out1669
to take off1680
figurate1698
refer1700
display1726
depicture1739
depict1817
actualize1848
the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > describe [verb (transitive)] > describe the character of
represent1513
relate1582
personate1591
endorse1596
rendera1616
worda1616
character1618
person1644
exponec1650
characterize1653
1591 E. Spenser Prosopopoia in Complaints Ded. Simple is the deuice, and the composition meane, yet carrieth some delight, euen the rather because of the simplicitie & meannesse thus personated.
1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. E2v Plautus personated no Parasite, but he made him a slaue or a bondman.
1621 R. Brathwait Natures Embassie 57 If any man shall read, and making vse Of these my Satyres, grow distemperate..In that I seeme his life to personate.
1641 J. Milton Animadversions 58 That false Shepheard..under whom the Poet lively personates our Prelates, whose whole life is a recantation of their pastorall vow.
1693 J. Dryden tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires i. 2 Our Poet..brands ev'n the living, and personates them under dead mens Names.
1705 W. Wotton Defense 530 It is not saying that he [sc. Swift] personates none but Papists or Fanatics, that will excuse him.
2. transitive. To mention personally or by name; to name. U.S. regional in later use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > naming > give a name to [verb (transitive)] > mention by name
nemneOE
anemnOE
nameOE
nevena1400
nominate1570
bename1579
hight1579
namefy1589
personate1592
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > the quality of being specific > make specific [verb (transitive)] > specify or state precisely > by name
nameOE
personate1592
1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. D4 Yet will the insolent incke-horne worme write himselfe Right worshipfull of the Lawes, and personate this man and that man, calling him my good friend Maister Doctour at euery word.
1651 in T. Fuller Abel Redevivus 589 In reproving sin, he never personated any man to put him to shame.
1662 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 3rd Pt. 718 The Minister is to reprove the sins of all, but to personate none.
1927 Dial. Notes 5 476 Personate, to call by name. ‘He personated me right out before all them 'ar furriners!’
1953 V. Randolph & G. P. Wilson Down in Holler 271 Personate, to call by name, to designate specifically. ‘That fool preacher done personated me right in meetin'! Said he was sorry I didn't come oftener!’
3. † a. transitive. To put (a person) forward in an assumed character; spec. to cast (an actor) in a role. Obsolete.† c. transitive (reflexive). reflexive with complement. To pass oneself off as another person. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > pretend, simulate, feign [verb (transitive)] > lay claim to, personate > cause to
personate1594
simulate1652
to pass off1770
1594 2nd Rep. Dr. Faustus xxv. sig. I4 They thought al well sith they were personated and masked.
1608 in J. B. Craven Rec. Dioceses Argyll & Isles (1907) 58 Albeit the master of the play may give pairts at his pleasure..yet before ever the actors be personat rightly for this scene [etc.].
1624 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy (ed. 2) iii. ii. ii. iv. 386 I personated my owne seruant to bring in a present from a Spanish Count..as if he had beene the Counts seruant.
b. transitive. To assume the person or character of (another person), esp. for fraudulent purposes; to pretend to be; to act the part of. Also occasionally intransitive. Cf. impersonate v. 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > role-playing > play the part of [verb (transitive)]
to bear the person of?1533
act1599
personate1604
comediate1624
tip1712
impersonate1715
come1721
role-play1951
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > pretend, simulate, feign [verb (transitive)] > lay claim to, personate
counterfeitc1290
colour1419
personate1604
affecta1616
belie1616
sham1699
assume1714
personify1779
1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet. Personate, to counterfaite, anothers person.
1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 20 To counterfeite and personate the second sonne of Edward the Fourth, supposed to bee murdered.
1694 A. Wood Life & Times (1894) III. 460 A yong woman in man's apparel, or that personated a man.
1769 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. IV. x. 128 By statute 4 W. & M. c. 4. to personate any other person before any commissioner authorized to take bail in the country is also felony.
1788 E. Butler Jrnl. 10 Feb. in E. M. Bell Hamwood Papers (1930) iv. 78 Odd circumstances of two Ladies in Sussex personating us.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xix. 245 He wandered..about Ireland and England, begging, stealing, cheating, personating, forging.
1879 W. H. Dixon Royal Windsor II. xiii. 141 Having with him the deposed King's confessor..to personate the King.
1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. x. 205 Ah wuzn't personatin' yuh, but if de cap fit yuh, wear it.
1993 Archbold's Criminal Pleading 1994 II. 584 The Police Act 1964..creates a summary offence of personating a police officer.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > pretend, dissemble [verb (reflexive)]
feign1297
abuse?a1439
counterfeit1610
personate1710
to pass off1770
to hold out1829
to work off1894
1710 London Gaz. No. 4759/4 Convicted for..personating her self the Widow of Thomas Smith.
1711 J. Swift Argument abolishing Christianity in Misc. Prose & Verse 177 Instructions to personate themselves Members of the several prevailing Sects.
4. † c. transitive. With the before object: to act in a way characteristic of (a type of person); to play the part of. Cf. play v. 28. Obsolete. rare.
a. transitive. To act or play the part of (a character in a play, etc.). In early use also: †to act out (a scene) (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > act [verb (transitive)] > a drama
playOE
practisec1475
present1573
personate1598
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > act [verb (transitive)] > a part or character
playc1390
enact1430
representc1475
perform1598
personate1598
present1598
do1600
to bring (a person) on or to the stage1602
stage1602
support1693
impersonate1715
sustain1731
be1814
portray1875
fake1876
inact1900
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Personare, to personate, to acte, to imitate any person, to acte or play a part in a play.
1602 J. Marston Hist. Antonio & Mellida Induct. sig. A3 Alb: Whome doe you personate? Pie: Piero, Duke of Venice.
1629 W. Davenant Trag. Albovine in Wks. (1673) 416 Copper-lac'd Christians cannot personate Her Tragick Scenes.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. vi. 2) They [sc. stage players] can act to the life those whom they personate.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. x. ii. 17 There is not, perhaps, one in ten thousand [women] who is capable of making a good Actress; and even among these we rarely see two who are equally able to personate the same Character. View more context for this quotation
1778 T. Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry II. 203 Profane characters were personated in our pageants, before the close of the fourteenth century.
1801 Port Folio 5 Dec. 390/2 Mr. Cain personated the youthful hero of the drama, with very unequal merit.
1873 J. A. Symonds Stud. Greek Poets vii. 190 It was one of the chief actors of Marathon and Salamis who composed the Prometheus, and personated his own hero on the stage.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 873/2 Maid Marian latterly was personated by a clown, who was called Malkin or Marykin.
1986 T. Mo Insular Possession xvi. 170 You, as the actor, may point the entire absurdity of the statement without stepping outside the limits of the character you personate.
b. intransitive. To play or act a part; to masquerade; to pretend to be another person. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > act [verb (intransitive)]
playa1450
to play (also act) a (also one's) part1540
representa1547
act1598
interlude1608
personate1623
to tread the stage (the boards)1691
perform1724
to go on1769
theatricalize1794
histrionize1851
play-act1856
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > have an appearance of, dissemble [verb (intransitive)] > act a part
to make fashion1571
personize1593
personate1623
theatrize1839
pose1840
play-act1938
1623 S. Daniel Philotas i. ii. 203 Know we by th'euents, what plots haue beene, And how they all without do personate.
1679 J. Goodman Penitent Pardoned (1713) iii. i. 251 Even those..that had raised the tragedy personate so well as to take upon them to be his comforters.
1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks III. Misc. v. ii. 288 He falls again to personating, and takes up the Humour of the Poet and Enthusiast.
1895 Westm. Gaz. 21 Aug. 3/3 The actor's first duty..is to be the man of his part—to represent the personage, to personate.
1993 Orlando (Florida) Sentinel (Nexis) 26 May 5 I did not personate with the intent to defraud, I had all intentions of paying.
ΚΠ
1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub ix. 177 The Elder Brutus only personated the Fool and Madman, for the Good of the Publick.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > imitate [verb (transitive)] > follow a person as an example
followOE
suec1300
counterfeitc1374
to take witness by (also of)c1400
take1544
borrow1549
personate1612
1612 J. Webster White Divel sig. E4 My defence of force like Perseus Must personate masculine vertue to the point.
1640 R. Brathwait Two Lancs. Lovers iv. 18 I shall use his owne countrey tone, though I cannot so well personate his posture.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (Rom. iv. 12) [To] personate and expresse him to the life, as Constantines Children..did their father.
1710 J. Swift Tale of Tub (ed. 5) Apol. sig. a2 The dull, unwieldy, ill-shaped Ox..has neither the Shape, Mettle nor Speed of that nobler Animal he would affect to personate.
a1757 H. Fielding & W. Young tr. Aristophanes Plutus (1812) 166 (note) As the old fellows had said, that they would imitate Ulysses..in the punishment..inflicted on Polyphemus, Cario..says, that he will personate that of Circe, who changed Ulysses's companions into swine.
6. transitive. = personify v. In early use: to represent or imagine as a person; to give a human form or nature to. In later use: to be an embodiment of. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > physical representation of abstraction > personification > represent as a person [verb (transitive)]
personate1612
personize1726
personify1728
personalize1747
1612 J. Selden in M. Drayton Poly-olbion ii. Illustr. 35 The fruitfull bedde of this Poole, thus personated as a Sea Nymph.
1823 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. 2nd Ser. III. 89 Time seemed always personated in the imagination of our philosopher.
1997 Sunday Times (Nexis) 7 Sept. (Features section) In embodying the banality and philistinism of the poisonous 1950s.., Adele personated the very qualities it was his mission to smash to bits.
a. transitive. To stand for or in place of; to signify; to symbolize; to represent in a personal or bodily form. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > physical representation of abstraction > symbolizing > be symbol of [verb (transitive)]
token971
to stand for ——a1387
presentc1390
discern?a1439
liken?c1450
adumbrate1537
figurate?1548
character1555
shadow1574
shade1591
characterize1594
symbolize1603
hieroglyphic1615
personatea1616
modelizea1628
similize1646
symptom1648
express1649
signaturize1669
image1778
embryo1831
symbol1832
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 455 The lofty Cedar, Royall Cymbeline Personates thee. View more context for this quotation
1635 T. Heywood Hierarchie Blessed Angells 346 No Vulture doth on Titius intrals pray, 'Tis a meere Emblem,..inuented To personate such as are in Loue tormented.
1640 T. Fuller Joseph's Coat 65 These elements, which personate & represent Christs body.
1700 C. Ness Antidote against Arminianism 70 In the behalf of those whom he personated on the Cross.
1850 T. McCrie Mem. Sir A. Agnew (1852) xiii. 196 Those rude and vulgar men..for a time personated religion in power.
b. transitive. To represent (a person or group of people) in an official or legal capacity. Also occasionally: to act as the representative of (another person's will, etc.). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > delegated authority > action or function of a delegate or deputy > act as deputy for [verb (transitive)]
spelec960
representc1390
to bear the person of?1533
reprehend1598
act1651
personate1651
rep1951
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > [verb (transitive)] > represent
represent1550
forstand1642
personate1651
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. xvi. 82 Mad-men that have no use of Reason, may be Personated by Guardians, or Curators.
1656 J. Smith Myst. Rhetorique Unvail'd 20 The Advocate or Counsellor, who personates his Client, is put for him whom he personates and represents.
1725 R. Wolcott Poet. Meditations 20 Your Serving us in this Important Thing, And Personating Us before the King, Will sure Endear a Winthrop's Memory To Us.
1783 H. Blair Lect. Rhetoric II. xxviii. 85 An Advocate personates his client; he has taken upon him the whole charge of his interests; he stands in his place.
1856 G. H. Calvert Like unto Like ii. i, in Comedies 98 Pope Borgia..Has sent a legate To personate his will in this election.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > pretend, simulate, feign [verb (transitive)]
mitheeOE
bipechec1000
huec1000
feigna1300
unlikena1382
counterfeitc1400
pretend1402
dissimulec1430
dissimule1483
simule?a1500
semble1530
counterfeit1534
dissemblea1538
suppose1566
countenance1590
mock1595
assume1604
to put on1625
assimulate1630
personate1631
to take on1645
simulate1652
forge1752
sham1775
possum1850
to turn on1865
fake1889
1607 B. Jonson Volpone iii. ii. sig. F4 This cannot be a personated passion.]
1631 B. Jonson New Inne iii. ii. 259 Tut, she dissembles! All is personated, And counterfeit comes from her!
1681 R. McWard Poor Man's Cup Cold Water (new ed.) 37 They can personat a division among themselves.
1709 J. Swift Project Advancem. Relig. 24 The proudest Man will personate Humility.
1771 H. Mackenzie Man of Feeling xxxvi. 204 In this world of semblance, we are contented with personating happiness; to feel it is an art beyond us.
1805 W. Godwin Fleetwood I. vi. 133 She would personate a seriousness, responsive to my seriousness, promise to be very good, [etc.].
1869 A. Trollope Phineas Finn II. lxxii. 292 There are actors who can personate all the passions.
1884 W. Besant Dorothy Forster I. vii. 168 Mr. Hilyard could change his face at will when he wished to personate the sterner emotions in acting and make-believe.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1565
v.1591