per·so·na

[per-soh-nuh]
noun, plural per·so·nae [-nee] , per·so·nas.
1.
a person.
2.
personae, the characters in a play, novel, etc.
3.
the narrator of or a character in a literary work, sometimes identified with the author.
4.
(in the psychology of C. G. Jung) the mask or façade presented to satisfy the demands of the situation or the environment and not representing the inner personality of the individual; the public personality ( contrasted with anima ).
5.
a person's perceived or evident personality, as that of a well-known official, actor, or celebrity; personal image; public role.
Origin:
1905–10; < Latin persōna mask, character. See person

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10
Persona is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
persona (pɜːˈsəʊnə) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n , pl -nae
1.  (often plural) a character in a play, novel, etc
2.  an assumed identity or character
3.  (in Jungian psychology) the mechanism that conceals a person's true thoughts and feelings, esp in his adaptation to the outside world
 
[Latin: mask]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

persona
1917, "outward or social personality," a Jungian psychology term, from L. persona "person" (see person). Used earlier (1909) by Ezra Pound in the sense "literary character representing voice of the author." Persona grata (1882) is from L.L., lit. "an acceptable person," originally
applied to diplomatic representatives acceptable to the governments to which they were sent; persona non grata is attested from 1904 (pl. is personæ non gratæ).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

persona per·so·na (pər-sō'nə)
n. pl. per·so·nas or per·so·nae (-nē)
The role that one assumes or displays in public or society; one's public image or personality, as distinguished from the inner self.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

persona

in literature, the person who is understood to be speaking (or thinking or writing) a particular work. The persona is almost invariably distinct from the author; it is the voice chosen by the author for a particular artistic purpose. The persona may be a character in the work or merely an unnamed narrator; but, insofar as the manner and style of expression in the work exhibit taste, prejudice, emotion, or other characteristics of a human personality, the work may be said to be in the voice of a persona

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
Yet, he also uses Twitter to remind everyone of the persona he has adopted.
She didn't have any movie-star persona at all, or pull any rank.
It's the complete opposite of the freedom-fighting persona that he's trying to
  put over onto a gullible public.
Yet he's not above milking the tough-guy persona.
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