personation vs role

personation and role both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
personation	Yes	No	No	No
role	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, role is a hyponym of personation; that is, role is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than personation:

personation: acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesture
role: an actor's portrayal of someone in a play

Other hyponyms of personation include impression, character, part, persona, theatrical role.

personation (noun)	role (noun)
imitating the mannerisms of another person	the actions and activities assigned to or required or expected of a person or group
acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesture	normal or customary activity of a person in a particular social setting
	what something is used for
	an actor's portrayal of someone in a play