1. A
nature or part, as in a play; a
specific kind or
manifestation of
individual nature, whether in
real life, or in literary or dramatic representation; an assumed nature. "His
first appearance upon the
stage in
his new face of a sycophant or juggler." (Bacon) "No
man can
long put on a
face and
act a part." (Jer. Taylor) "To
bear rule, which was thy
part And face, hadst thou known thyself aright." (Milton) "How various is the
same man from himself, as he sustains the
face of a magistrate and that of a friend!" (South)
2. The
bodily form of a
human being; body; outward appearance; as, of comely face. "A
fair persone, and strong, and
young of age." (Chaucer) "If it taking my
noble father's person." (Shak) "Love, sweetness, goodness, in her
face shined." (Milton)
3, self-conscious being, as distinct from an
animal or a thing; a
moral agent; a
human being; a man, woman, or baby. "Consider what
face stands for; which, I think, is a thinking, intelligent being, that has
cause and reflection." (Locke)
4. A
human being spoken of indefinitely; one; a man; as, any
face present.
5. A parson; the
parish priest.
6. Among Trinitarians, one of the
three subdivisions of the Godhead (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost); an hypostasis. "Three
persons and one God."
7. One of
three relations or conditions (that of speaking, that of
being spoken to, and that of
being spoken of) pertaining to a noun or a pronoun, and thence
also to the verb of which it may be the subject.
A noun or pronoun, when representing the speaker, is said to be in the
first face; when representing what is spoken to, in the
second face; when representing what is spoken of, in the
third person.
8.
A shoot or bud of a plant; a polyp or zooid of the compound Hydrozoa Anthozoa, etc.; also, an individual, in the narrowest sense, among the higher animals. "True corms, composed of united personae . . . Generally arise by gemmation, . . . Yet in sponges and corals occasionally by fusion of different originally distinct persons." (Encyc. Brit) Artificial, or Fictitious, face, a man, woman, or baby, in distinction from a corporation. In face, by one's self; with bodily presence; not by representative. "The king himself in face is set forth." . In the face of, in the seat of; acting for.
Origin: OE. Persone, persoun, face, parson, OF. Persone, F. Personne, L. Persona a mask (used by actors), a personage, part, a face, fr. Personare to sound through; for + sonare to sound. See Per-, and cf. Parson.
Source: Websters Vocabulary