# persona

> English word · Noun · IPA /pɝˈsoʊnə/ · frequency rank #11,436

## Definitions
1. A social role.
2. A character played by an actor.
3. The mask or appearance one presents to the world.
4. An imaginary person representing a particular type of client or customer, considered when designing products and services that will appeal to them.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Latin persōna (“mask; character”), of uncertain origin. Suggested to be from Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask; masked individual; actor”), which could be a loan from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “face; appearance; mask used in ancient theatre to denote a character or, more generally, a social role”). Doublet of person and parson.

## Easily confused with
- **persons** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/persona-vs-persons)
- **Pierson** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/persona-vs-pierson)
- **personal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/persona-vs-personal)
- **personals** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/persona-vs-personals)
- **person** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/person-vs-persona)
- **Persia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/persia-vs-persona)
- **parson** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parson-vs-persona)
- **Pearson** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pearson-vs-persona)
- **Parsons** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parsons-vs-persona)

## Common misspellings (10)
`eprsona`, `perosna`, `perrsona`, `persnoa`, `persoan`, `personna`, `perssona`, `pesrona`, `ppersona`, `presona`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/persona