personage

/ˈpɝsənɪd͡ʒ/

//ˈpɝsənɪd͡ʒ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"personage" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“personage” is uncommon English (frequency #61,023 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,023
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person, especially one who is famous or important.

Corpus desk

Index EN-personage · personage · English

personage · rank #61,023 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #61,023
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Peron

Nearest frequency peer: Peron (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “personage”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “personage” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for personage
PropertyValue
Headwordpersonage
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɝsənɪd͡ʒ/
Letters9
Frequency rank#61,023
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “personage” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).personagefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Peron” (#61,022), “Petter” (#61,024), “Pergamon” (#61,021). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “personage” is #61,023. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

personage is uncommon English at frequency #61,023 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɝsənɪd͡ʒ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for personage in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French personnage, from Old French personage; by surface analysis, person + -age (compare French suffix -age). The correct English form is personage, spelled P-E-R-S-O-N-A-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person, especially one who is famous or important.
  2. 2
    A character (in a film, book, play, etc).
  3. 3
    The creation of corporate persons named after living people.
  4. 4
    Character represented; external appearance; persona.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how personage appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 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. The Matchmaking Festival provided social events for these lonely-hearted pilgrims, and allowed local personages to keep undesirables away from their daughters.

Etymology

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

This word in other languages

personaje(Español)personnage(Français)Persönlichkeit(Deutsch)personalidade(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "personage"?
"personage" is spelled P-E-R-S-O-N-A-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɝsənɪd͡ʒ/.
What does "personage" mean?
As a noun, "personage" means: A person, especially one who is famous or important.
How do you pronounce "personage"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "personage" is /ˈpɝsənɪd͡ʒ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "personage"?
From Middle French personnage, from Old French personage; by surface analysis, person + -age (compare French suffix -age). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "personage", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

preserver#61,041publicise#61,047Nishimura#60,993refracted#61,061

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list