personage

English

Etymology

From Middle French personnage, from Old French personage; by surface analysis, person +‎ -age (compare French suffix -age).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɝsənɪd͡ʒ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɜːsənɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: per‧son‧age

Noun

personage (plural personages)

1. A person, especially one who is famous or important.

   Coordinate term: very important person

   • 1872, Oliver Wendell Holmes [Sr.], The Poet at the Breakfast-Table, page 230:

     I can only say they have been in pretty close conversation several times of late, and, if I dared to think it of so very calm and dignified a personage, I should say that her color was a little heightened after one or more of these interviews.

2. character (in a film, book, play, etc.)
3. The creation of corporate persons named after living people. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
4. Character represented; external appearance; persona.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act (please specify |act=I or II), scene i:

     But tell me, that haſt ſeene him, Menaphon,
     What ſtature wields he, and what perſonage?

Translations

Anagrams

• one-pagers

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French personnage.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpɛrsɔˈnaːʒə/

• Audio

  (file)

Hyphenation: per‧so‧na‧ge

Noun

personage n (plural personages)

1. Character in a work of fiction.

   Iago is een personage in Shakespeares Othello.

   Iago is a character in Shakespeare's Othello.