person

Definition of person

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman parsone, persoun et al. (Old French persone (“human being”), French personne), and its source Latin persōna (“mask used by actor; role, part, character”), perhaps a loanword; compare Etruscan φersu (“mask”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: pûrʹsən, IPA: /ˈpɜː(r)sən/, SAMPA: /"p3:(r)s@n/
• Audio (US) ^[?]
• Audio (UK) ^[?]
• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)sən
• Hyphenation: per‧son

Noun

person (plural persons or people) (by suppletion, see usage notes)

1. A single human being; an individual. [from 13th c.]
2. The physical human body seen as distinct from the mind, character etc. [from 14th c.]
3. (law) Any individual or formal organization with standing before the courts. [from 14th c.]
   
   By common law a corporation or a trust is legally a person.

Further reading

A person (plural: persons or people; from Latin: persona, meaning "mask")[1] is a human being, or an entity that has certain capacities or attributes strongly associated with being human (collectively constituting personhood), for example in a particular moral or legal context. Such capacities or attributes can include agency, self-awareness, a notion of the past and future, and the possession of rights and duties, among others. However, the concept of a person is difficult to define in a way that is universally accepted, due to its historical and cultural variability and the controversies surrounding its use in some contexts.

Person: In general usage, a human being (i.e. natural person), though by statute term may include a firm, labor organizations, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, or receivers.
- Black's Law Dictionary, 5th edition, citing the National Labor Relations Act, section 2(1).

A person is recognized by law as such, not because he is human, but because rights and duties are ascribed to him. The person is the legal subject or substance of which the rights and duties are attributes. An individual human being considered as having such attributes is what lawyers call a "natural person."

Historically, not even all humans have enjoyed full legal protection as persons (women, children, non-landowners, minorities, slaves, etc.), but from the late 18th through the late 20th century, being born as a member of the human species gradually became secular grounds for the basic rights of liberty, freedom from persecution, and humanitarian care. Today, in statutory and corporate law, certain social constructs are legally considered persons. In many jurisdictions, some corporations and other legal entities are considered legal persons with standing to sue or be sued in court. This is known as legal or corporate personhood.