personate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb pretend to be someone you are not; sometimes with fraudulent intentions
    pose; impersonate.
    • She posed as the Czar's daughter
  2. verb attribute human qualities to something
    personify.
    • The Greeks personated their gods ridiculous

WordNet

Per"son*ate transitive verb
Etymology
L. personare to cry out, LL., to extol. See Person.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Personated ; present participle & verbal noun Personating
Definitions
  1. To celebrate loudly; to extol; to praise. Obs.
    In fable, hymn, or song so personating Their gods ridiculous. Milton.
Per"son*ate transitive verb
Etymology
L. personatus masked, assumed, fictitious, fr. persona a mask. See Person.
Definitions
  1. To assume the character of; to represent by a fictitious appearance; to act the part of; hence, to counterfeit; to feign; as, he tried to personate his brother; a personated devotion. Hammond.
  2. To set forth in an unreal character; to disguise; to mask. R. "A personated mate." Milton.
  3. To personify; to typify; to describe. Shak.
Per"son*ate intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To play or assume a character.
Per"son*ate adjective
Etymology
L. personatus masked.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) Having the throat of a bilabiate corolla nearly closed by a projection of the base of the lower lip; masked, as in the flower of the snapdragon.

Webster 1913