Where does “personhood” come from?
Personhood derives from English person and the suffix -hood, from Middle English -hod, Old English -hād, and Latin persōna, ultimately from Latin sonus meaning sound.
personhood (English): The state or period of being a person; The status...
Definitions
- The state or period of being a person; The status...
Ancestry of “personhood”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Person | — |
| 2 | Middle English | persoun | person |
| 3 | Old French | persone | person; individual; rector of a parish; someone;... |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | persona | parson, person; mask; character |
| 5 | Latin | persōna | — |
| 6 | Etruscan | 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 | a mask; a masked individual, often performing in... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | πρόσωπον | face, visage, countenance; front; mask |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | ὤψ | to the eye; in the face; eye |
| 9 | Proto-Hellenic | ókʷs | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃ókʷs | eye |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃ekʷ- | to see; eye |