character vs person

character

noun
  • A unique or extraordinary individual; a person characterized by peculiar or notable traits, especially charisma. 

  • Strength of mind; resolution; independence; individuality; moral strength. 

  • A complex number representing an element of a finite Abelian group. 

  • A being involved in the action of a story. 

  • A person or individual, especially one who is unknown. 

  • Quality, position, rank, or capacity; quality or conduct with respect to a certain office or duty. 

  • One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character. 

  • A distinguishing feature; characteristic; trait; phene. 

  • A complex of traits marking a person, group, breed, or type. 

  • A written or printed symbol, or letter. 

person

noun
  • Someone who likes or has an affinity for (a specified thing). 

  • The human genitalia; specifically, the penis. 

  • A character or part, as in a play; a specific kind or manifestation of individual character, whether in real life, or in literary or dramatic representation; an assumed character. 

  • An individual substance of a rational nature; usually a human being. 

  • A shoot or bud of a plant; a polyp or zooid of the compound Hydrozoa, Anthozoa, etc.; also, an individual, in the narrowest sense, among the higher animals. 

  • A linguistic category used to distinguish between the speaker of an utterance and those to whom or about whom they are speaking. See grammatical person. 

  • Any sentient or socially intelligent being. 

  • Any one of the three hypostases of the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. 

  • A human of unspecified gender (in terms usually constructed with man or woman). 

  • The physical body of a being seen as distinct from the mind, character, etc. 

  • Any individual or formal organization with standing before the courts. 

  • A worker in a specified function or specialty. 

verb
  • To man, to supply with staff or crew. 

How often have the words character and person occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )