prosopopesis
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A sudden and profound change of an individual's personality, whether spontaneous or induced e.g. in hypnosis.
Example Sentences
- "Mr. Soal declares that while the presence of certain persons is favorable to his duplication of personality and while some persons actually aid the prosopopesis, others have an inhibitive influence."
- "Later, French psychical researcher René Sudre (1880-1968) discussed what he referred to as prosopopesis or the nonconscious tendency to impersonate, as seen in mediumship, as well as in hypnosis, possession and cases of double and multiple personality."
- "Walter is good-naturedly willing to be called a "secondary personality," a "hypnotic impersonation", a "mindkin" (C.D.Broad), a "prosopopesis" (Sudre) or "entelechy" (Driesch). In fact, he says, "You may call me anything but 'It'!""
Etymology
From prosopo- (“person, mask”) + -poiesis; introduced by French psychical researcher René Sudre, whose book "Parapsychology" (1926) was published in English by Grove Press in 1962. Possibly influenced by προσωποποιία (prosōpopoiía, “dramatization, prosopopoeia”).