Latin persōna is probably related to or borrowed from Etruscan phersu.
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP RECORD
COVERAGE LEDGER ↗EDGE / 0836competing borrowingproposed
A CLAIM
YOU CAN AUDIT.
A relationship—not a generated explanation. Both endpoints, every editorial field, every citation, and every dossier reuse are preserved below.
persōna
actor’s mask; role; character; person
OPEN NODE 834 ↗DESCENDS FROM→
PARENT / EARLIER FORM / attestedEtruscan · Etruscan, 6th century BCE · masked figurephersu
masked figure or ritual character
OPEN NODE 835 ↗01
THE COMPLETE RELATIONSHIP
EVERY FIELD, NOT A FAIRY TALE
An Etruscan masked figure is proposed behind the Latin mask, role, and person word.
Etruscan phersu is represented in sixth-century BCE material; Latin evidence follows in antiquity.
Oxford Classical Dictionary Editors · Marta Di Napoli · Merriam-Webster Editors
proposed — The route is widely reported but not a securely demonstrated ordinary borrowing with an uncontested sound history.
reviewed
02
CITATION REGISTER
SOURCES ON THIS EDGE
MasksMasks: Latin persona probably Etruscan phersu
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Connects the Latin word with the Etruscan masked figure while retaining probability.
Persona: storia e significatiArchaeological and literary review of phersu and persona
contextAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Treats the relationship as a historical problem requiring material and textual evidence.
03
EDITORIAL REUSE