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ken of the Ardtium of the Greeks, which he fays the 
Latins fonietiines called perfonata; and afterwards adds 
this perfolata ; which, he fays, was a plant vulgarly known, 
and called by the Greeks aiflitun. He feenis to allow, 
that the Greeks called both thefe plants by the fame 
name; but he diftinguiffnes the perfolata from perfonata, 
by faying that the former has leaves like thofe of the 
great gourd, but larger and more hairy. It is probable, 
therefore, that he diltinguillies, under thefe two names, 
the two different fpecies of the great burdock common 
with us; the one with fimple, the other with woolly,heads. 
See Arctium. 
PER'SON,/. [perfonne, Fr. from perfona, Lat.] Indi¬ 
vidual or particular man or woman.—A perfpn is a think¬ 
ing intelligent being, that has reafon and refledlion, and 
can confider itfelf as itfelf, the lame thinking thing, in 
different times and places. Locke. —Man or woman con¬ 
sidered as oppofed to things, or diftinct from them.—A 
zeal for perfons is far more eafy to be perverted than a 
zeal for tilings. Sprat. —To that we owe the fafety of our 
perfons, and the propriety of our pofleifions. Atterkury .—• 
Individual ; man or woman.—This was then the church; 
which was daily increafed by the addition of oth er perfons 
received into it. Pcarfon. — Human being; conlidered 
with refpedt to mere corporal exigence.—The father and 
fon are reputed in law' as the fame perfon; an ambaffador 
reprefents th e perfon of his prince. Chambers. 
’Tis in her heart alone that you mull reign; 
You’ll find her perfon difficult to gain. Dryden. 
Man or woman cor.fidered as prefent, acting or fuffering. 
—The rebels maintained the fight for a fmall time, and 
for their perfons fliowed no want of courage. Bacon. 
If I’m traduc’d by tongues which neither know 
My faculties nor perfon ; 
’Tis but the fate of place, and the rough brake 
That virtue muff: go through. Shaliefpeare s lien. VIII. 
A general loofe term for a human being; one ; a man.— 
Be a perfou's attainments ever fo great, he fnould always 
remember that he is God’s creature. Ricliardfons Cla- 
viffa. —One’s felf; not a reprefenrative.—When I pur- 
pofed to make a war by my lieutenant, I made declara¬ 
tion thereof to you by my chancellor; but now' that I 
mean to make war upon France in perfon, I will declare it 
to you myfelf. Bacon s lien. VII.—Our Saviourin his own 
perfon, during the time of his humiliation, duly oblerved 
the fabbath of the fourth commandment, and all other 
legal rites and obfervations. White. 
The king in perfon vifits all around. 
Comforts the lick, congratulates the found, 
And holds for thrice three days a royal feaft. Dryden. 
Exterior appearance: 
For her ow n perfon, 
It beggar’d all defeription. Shaliefpeare. 
Man or w'oman reprefented in a fidlitious dialogue.—Ail 
things are lawful unto me, faith the apoflle, fpeaking as 
it feemeth, in the perfon of the Chrillian Gentile, for the 
maintenance of liberty in things indifferent. Hooker. — 
The name and part of an adtor; or of him prefented by 
the comedian.—The ancient tragedy was only a fimple 
chorus: Thefpis was the firft who introduced a perfon to 
relieve the chorus; and zEfchylus added a fecond. Boffu 
obferves, that, in the epic and dramatic poem, the fame 
perfon muff: reign throughout; i.e. mult fuftain the chief 
part throughout the whole piece; and the charadters of 
all the other perfons muff: be fubordinate to him. Cham¬ 
bers. —Character.—He hath put on the perfon, not of a 
robber and murtherer, but of a traitor to the (fate. Hay¬ 
ward. — Charadter of office.—How different is the fame 
man from himfelf, as he fuftains th eperfon of a magiftrate 
and that of a friend ! South. 
VoL. XIX. No. 1339. 
I then did ufe the perfon of your father; 
Tiie image of his power lay then in me : 
And in th’ adminiftration of his law, 
While I was bufy for the commonwealth, 
Your highnefs pleafed to forget my place. Shaliefpeare. 
[In grammar.] The quality of the noun that modifies the 
verb.—Dorus the more blulhed at herfmiling, and flie the 
more fmiled at his blufiling; becaufe he had, with the 
remembrance of that plight he u'as in, forgot, in fpeak¬ 
ing of himfelf, the third perfon. Sidney. — If fpeaking of 
himfelf in the firft perfon fingular has fo various mean¬ 
ings, his ufe of the firft perfon plural is with greater lati¬ 
tude. Locke. —Formerly, the redtor of a parifh. See Par¬ 
son. —For all curates, perfones, and vycares. Lib. Fejliv. 
—Jerom was vicar of Stepnie, find Garrard was perfon of 
H o n i e -1 a n e. Hidlirjh ed. 
PER'SON, a county of America, in Hilllborough dif- 
tridf, North Carolina; containing 6442 inhabitants, of 
whom 2573 are Haves. 
PER'SONABLE, adj. Handfome ; graceful ; of good 
appearance.—Were it true that her ion Ninias had fuch a 
llature, as that Semiramis, who was very perfonablc, could 
be taken for him; yet it is unlikely that 1 he could have 
held the empire forty-two years after by any fuch fub- 
tilty. Ralegh. 
Personable in law, implies the being able to hold or 
maintain a plea in court. Thus they fay, the defendant 
was judged perfonable to maintain this adtion. Old Nat. 
Brev. 142.—The tenant pleaded, that the demandant was 
an alien, born in Portugal, without the ligeance of the 
king: and judgment was alked, Whether he fiiould be 
anfwered ? The plaintiff faid, he was mad e perfonable by 
parliament. Kitcli. 124. 
PER'SON AGE, f [Fr. from perfona, Lat. which alfo 
fignifies a mafk.] A confiderable perfon ; tnan or woman 
of eminence.’—It is not eafy to refearch the actions of 
eminent perfonages, how much they have blemiftied by the 
envy of others, and what was corrupted by their own fe¬ 
licity. Wotton. —Exterior appearance ; airjftature.—The 
lord Sudley was fierce in courage, courtly in falhion, in 
perfonage ftately, in voice magnificent, but fomewhat 
empty of matter. Hayward. 
She hath made compare 
Between our ftatures, (he hath urg’d his height; 
And with her perfonage, her tall perfonage, 
She hath prevail’d with him. Shaliefpeare. 
Charadter affumed.—The great diverfion is maficing: the 
Venetians, naturally grave, love to give into the follies of 
fuch feafons, when difguifed in a falle perfonage. Addifon 
on Italy. —Charadter reprefented.—Some perfons nuilibe 
found out, already known by hiftory, whom we may make 
the adtors and perfonages of this fable. Broome on Epick 
Poems. 
Our friend and correfpondent the Etymological Glea¬ 
ner reminds us, that the Latin word perfona has its fecond 
fyllable long, ( Eripitur perfona, manet res, Perfius ;) al¬ 
though the word originally comes from perfundre, “to 
found through” the maik which the actors on the ftage 
placed before their faces in order to increafe the intenfity 
of their voices. We, as well as the French, have re¬ 
tained, in the derivatives of this word, the ancient quan¬ 
tity, and pronounce the fecond fyllable fhort, perfonage, 
petj'dnal, &c. The beautiful expreftion of the Roman la- 
tyrilt has been molt happily hit by J. B. Roufleau : 
Le mafque tombe ; I’homme refte, 
Et le heros s’evanouit. 
PER'SONAL, adj. [perforiel, Fr. from perfonalis, Lat.] 
Belonging to men or women, not to things; not real.— 
Every man fo termed by way of perfonal difference only, 
//w/eer.—Affedting individuals or particular people; pe¬ 
culiar; proper to him or her; relating to one’s private 
adtions or charadler.—It could not mean, that Cain asel- 
8 Z der 
