What does personation mean?
Personation denotes the representation of a person through acting, portrayal, or impersonation. In dramatic and cultural criticism, it may describe the quality or degree of an actor's performance, especially when a performer embodies a recognizable type or character. The word can also have a more specific legal meaning: assuming another person's identity in order to deceive them, often for financial gain or to evade responsibility. This second sense is consequently associated with fraud and identity-related offences. Personation is less common than the everyday terms impersonation and portrayal, but it is useful when discussing the deliberate presentation of someone else through voice, movement, mannerisms, or assumed identity. In contexts where deception is central, the expression carries a strongly negative connotation, whereas in artistic criticism it remains neutral and can even suggest skill, wit, or insight. The term should not be confused with personification, which attributes human characteristics to something that is not human.
The act of portraying, acting, or impersonating a person or character.
"The production depends on the actor's understated personation of a grieving father."
This sense is formal and is especially used in discussion of theatre, comedy, literature, and performance.
The act of representing oneself as another person, especially in order to deceive them.
"The charge concerned personation after the suspect used another customer's identity."
This sense is chiefly legal and normally implies deliberate deception.
The plural is used when referring to separate instances of portrayal or impersonation.
"The production's personations of historical figures were inventive and varied."
Personation can mean an actor's convincing portrayal or, in legal language, an attempt to pass oneself off as someone else.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does personation come from?
Personation was formed within English from person and the suffix -ation. The component person ultimately comes through Old French from Latin persona, originally meaning a mask or theatrical character and later extending to the actor or role represented. The suffix -ation is also Latin in origin and combines with a stem to form a noun denoting an action or resulting condition. Related English words such as personify and personality share the same Latin foundation.
Related word forms
How personation is actually used
Personation is formal and relatively uncommon in general English. The deceptive sense is especially associated with legal and official contexts.
Easily confused with personation
Personation means portraying or impersonating an actual or specified person, whereas personification means giving human qualities or behavior to something nonhuman.