Persicot, per′si-kot, n. a cordial flavoured with kernels of peaches and apricots. [Fr.,—L. persicum, a peach.]
Persienne, per-si-en′, n. an Eastern cambric or muslin with coloured printed pattern: (pl.) Persian blinds, outside shutters of thin movable slats in a frame.
Persiflage, pėr′si-fläzh, n. a frivolous way of talking or treating any subject: banter.—adj. Per′siflant, bantering.—v.i. Per′siflāte (Thackeray).—n. Per′siflour (Carlyle). [Fr.,—persifler, to banter—L. per, through, Fr. siffler—L. sibilāre, to whistle, to hiss.]
Persimmon, Persimon, per-sim′on, n. the American date-plum. [Amer. Ind.]
Persist, per-sist′, v.i. to stand throughout to something begun: to continue in any course, esp. against opposition: to persevere.—ns. Persis′tence, Persis′tency, quality of being persistent: perseverance: obstinacy: duration, esp. of an effect after the exciting cause has been removed.—adj. Persis′tent, persisting: pushing on, esp. against opposition: tenacious: fixed: (bot.) remaining till or after the fruit is ripe, as a calyx.—advs. Persis′tently; Persis′tingly.—adj. Persis′tive (Shak.), persistent. [Fr.,—L. persistĕre—per, through, sistĕre, to cause to stand—stāre, to stand.]
Person, pėr′sun, n. character represented, as on the stage: character: an individual, sometimes used slightingly: a living soul: a human being: the outward appearance, &c.: bodily form: one of the three hypostases or individualities in the triune God: (gram.) a distinction in form, according as the subject of the verb is the person speaking, spoken to, or spoken of.—adj. Per′sonable, having a well-formed body or person: of good appearance.—n. Per′sonāge, a person: character represented: an individual of eminence: external appearance.—adj. Per′sonal, belonging to a person: having the nature or quality of a person: peculiar to a person or to his private concerns: pertaining to the external appearance: done in person: relating to one's own self: applied offensively to one's character: (gram.) denoting the person.—n. Personalisā′tion, personification.—v.t. Per′sonalise, to make personal.—ns. Per′sonalism, the character of being personal; Per′sonalist, one who writes personal notes; Personal′ity, that which distinguishes a person from a thing, or one person from another: individuality: a derogatory remark or reflection directly applied to a person—esp. in pl. Personal′ities.—adv. Per′sonally, in a personal or direct manner: in person: individually.—n. Per′sonalty (law), all the property which, when a man dies, goes to his executor or administrator, as distinguished from the realty, which goes to his heir-at-law.—v.t. Per′sonāte, to assume the likeness or character of: to represent: to counterfeit: to feign.—adj. (bot.) mask-like, as in the corollary of the snapdragon: larval, cucullate.—adj. Per′sonāted, impersonated, feigned, assumed.—ns. Personā′tion; Per′sonātor.—n. Personisā′tion.—v.t. Per′sonise, to personify.—n. Personnel′, the persons employed in any service, as distinguished from the materiel.—Personal estate, property, movable goods or property, as distinguished from freehold or real property, esp. in land; Personal exception (Scots law), a ground of objection which applies to an individual and prevents him from doing something which, but for his conduct or situation, he might do; Personal identity, the continued sameness of the individual person, through all changes both without and within, as testified by consciousness; Personal rights, rights which belong to the person as a living, reasonable being; Personal security, security or pledge given by a person, as distinguished from the delivery of some object of value as security; Personal service, delivery of a message or an order into a person's hands, as distinguished from delivery in any other indirect way; Personal transaction, something done by a person's own effort, not through the agency of another.—In person, by one's self, not by a representative. [Fr.,—L. persōna, a player's mask, perh. from persŏnāre, -ātum—per, through, sonāre, to sound.]
Persona, pėr-sō′na, n. a person.—Persona grata, a person who is acceptable to those to whom he is sent.—Dramatis personæ, the characters in a play or story. [L.]
Personify, per-son′i-fī, v.t. (rhet.) to treat, look on, or describe as a person: to ascribe to any inanimate object the qualities of a person: to be the embodiment of:—pa.t. and pa.p. person′ifīed.—n. Personificā′tion. [L. persona, a person, facĕre, to make.]
Perspective, per-spek′tiv, n. a view or a vista: the art of drawing objects on a plane surface, so as to give the picture the same appearance to the eye as the objects themselves: just proportion in all the parts: a telescope or field-glass: a picture in perspective.—adj. pertaining or according to perspective.—adv. Perspec′tively.—ns. Perspec′tograph, an instrument for indicating correctly the points and outlines of objects; Perspectog′raphy, the science of perspective, or of delineating it.—Perspective plane, the surface on which the picture of the objects to be represented in perspective is drawn.—In perspective, according to the laws of perspective. [Fr.,—L. perspicĕre, perspectum—per, through, specĕre, to look.]
Perspicacious, pėr-spi-kā′shus, adj. of clear or acute understanding: quick-sighted.—adv. Perspicā′ciously.—ns. Perspicā′ciousness; Perspicac′ity, state of being acute in discerning: keenness of sight or of understanding; Perspicū′ity, state of being perspicacious: clearness in expressing ideas so as to make them easily understood by others: freedom from obscurity.—adj. Perspic′ūous, that can be seen through: clear to the mind: easily understood: not obscure in any way: evident.—adv. Perspic′ūously.—n. Perspic′ūousness. [L. perspicax, perspicacis—perspicĕre, to see through.]