Word.ws English Dictionary

personate

personate verb: to fraudulently portray another person; to impersonate.

Verb (1)

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.
    • But this latter has, at the suggestion of Tyndarus, exchanged clothes with him, and the slave[…] personates the master.1873, William Lucas Collins, chapter IV, in Plautus and Terence, page 67
    • Dr. Olivant had, in fact, been faced with the alternative of personating a specialist who could be referred to at any time or of inventing a fictitious one who might be less convincing but who would be more elusive.1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London
  2. (transitive) To portray a character (as in a play); to act.
    • 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.1749, Henry Fielding, chapter I, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book IV
  3. (transitive) To attribute personal characteristics to something; to personify.
    • One do I personate of Timon's frame , Whom Fortune with her iv'ry hand wafts to herc. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • Therfore though Leuy receiued tithes aftervvard, by a particular grant from GOD, for the time: yet novv he paide them generally vvith the congregation, in the loines of Abram vnto the Prieſthood of Chriſt, heere perſonated by Melchiſedeck: […]1616, Henry Spelman, De Non Temerandis Ecclesijs [Churches Not to Be Violated]. A Tract of the Rights and Respect Due unto Churches. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Iohn Beale, →OCLC, page 11
  4. (transitive) To set forth in an unreal character; to disguise; to mask.
    • a personated mate1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC

Adjective

personate (not comparable)

  1. (uncommon) Having the throat of a corolla nearly closed by a projection of the base of the lower lip (reminiscent of a mask), as in the flower of the snapdragon.
    • This arrangement is well typified in plants with a personate corolla, such as the toad-flax and snap-dragon, ...1881, Journal of the Northampton Natural History Society and Field Club, page 248
    • […] the commencement of the tube of a personate or labiate flower.1887, Jonathan Periam, The American Encyclopedia of Agriculture: A Treasury of Useful Information for the Farm and Household, page 946
    Synonyms:
    masked

Verb (2)

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.
    • I vvill drop in his vvay ſome obſcure Epiſtles of loue, vvherein by the colour of his beard, the ſhape of his legge, the manner of his gate, the expreſſure of his eye, forehead, and complection, he ſhall finde himſelfe moſt feelingly perſonated.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • In fable, hymn, or song so personating / Their gods ridiculous.1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 4

personate meaning in Tamil and Urdu

personate in Tamil

போல் நடி, பெர்ஸோனேட்

personate in Urdu

نقل کرنا

Synonyms of personate

Forms of personate

third-person singular presentpersonates
present participlepersonating
past participlepersonated
pastpersonated

Origin of personate

From Latin persōnātus.

From Latin personō (“cry out”).

Words formed from personate

Questions about personate

What does personate mean?
Personate means to fraudulently portray another person; to impersonate.
What is personate in Tamil?
Personate in Tamil is போல் நடி, பெர்ஸோனேட். See Personate meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is personate?
Personate can be a verb or an adjective.
What is the past tense of personate?
The past tense of personate is personated.

Words near personate in the dictionary

  1. personalty
  2. personalzine
  3. personalzines
  4. personas
  5. personas non grata
  6. personate
  7. personated
  8. personately
  9. personates
  10. personating
  11. personatings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: personate (page history and authors); personate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); personate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “personate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/personate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.