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.

The term derives from the Latin persona, meaning an actor's mask, and is thus etymologically related to the term dramatis personae, designating the characters in a drama.

in psychology, the personality that an individual projects to others, as differentiated from the authentic self. The term, coined by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (Jung, Carl), is derived from the Latin persona, referring to the masks worn by Etruscan mimes (mime and pantomime). One of the Jungian archetypes (archetype), the persona enables an individual to interrelate with the surrounding environment by reflecting the role in life that the individual is playing. In this way one can arrive at a compromise between one's innate psychological constitution and society. Thus the persona enables the individual to adapt to society's demands.