Personated

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To engage in the act of imitating someone signifies taking on their identity and characteristics while acting like them
2. The action of assuming another's persona entails replicating their behaviors and traits as if they were that individual
3. To adopt the identity of another individual involves mimicking their characteristics and behaviors as if one were that person

Etymology: "Personated" is the past participle of "personate," which comes from Latin "persōnātus," meaning "masked" or "wearing a mask." The Latin adjective grew from "persōna," the mask worn by actors on the Roman stage, which also gave English "person" and "persona." The mask was the key to the word's meaning: an actor wearing one took on a character and became, to the audience, that figure. The Latin root "personō" meant "to sound through" or "cry out," which some sources link to the way masks amplified an actor's voice. This connection is uncertain, so the mask itself is the safer foundation for the word's sense of playing another person.

Synonyms: impersonated, represented

Antonyms: revealed, exposed