Impersonate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɪmˈpɜːsəneɪt/

Definitions

1. To adopt the characteristics or personality of another individual, often for purposes of imitation or deception, while also performing actions that reflect their traits or behaviors
2. To take on the persona of someone else, frequently for fraudulent or humorous intent, by replicating their mannerisms and actions
3. To act as if one is someone else by copying their traits and behaviors

Etymology: "Impersonate" is built from three English parts: the prefix "im-" (a form of "in-", here meaning "into" or "in"), the noun "person," and the verb-forming suffix "-ate." The prefix comes from Latin "in-," which entered English through Middle English. The noun traces back to Latin "persona," a word that originally meant a theatrical mask, and passed into English through Anglo-Norman "persoune" and Middle English "person." The suffix "-ate" has its own Latin ancestry, descending from "-atus," a participle ending that Latin used to form verbs. English adopted it to make verbs from nouns and adjectives, so "impersonate" literally means to put a person into something, or to take on a person's role. The pieces are straightforward, and the word's sense of pretending to be someone else follows naturally from that original idea of putting on a role, the same notion that gave "person" its mask-related beginnings.

Synonyms: imitate, mimic, copy, pose as, act as

Antonyms: be oneself, reveal, expose