personal

See also: Personal and personál

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Alternative forms

• personall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English personal, personele, from Anglo-Norman personel, personal, personell, Old French personal, personel, from Late Latin persōnālis (“of a person, personly”), equivalent to person +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɜː.sən.əl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɜ˞.sən.əl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

personal (comparative more personal, superlative most personal)

1. Pertaining to human beings as distinct from things.
2. Of or pertaining to a particular person; relating to, or affecting, an individual, or each of many individuals; peculiar or proper to private concerns; not public or general

   personal question;   personal desire

   Her song was her personal look at the values of friendship.

   You can't read my diary - it is personal.

3. Pertaining to the external or bodily appearance; corporeal.

   personal charms

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:

     The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. […] Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?

4. Done in person; without the intervention of another.

   a personal interview;   personal settings

   • White

     This immediate and personal speaking of God Almighty to Abraham, Job and Moses, […]

5. Relating to an individual, their character, conduct, motives, or private affairs, in an invidious and offensive manner

   personal reflections or remarks

6. (grammar) Denoting a person.

   a personal pronoun

Usage notes

Not to be confused with personnel (“employees, staff”).

Synonyms

• personly

Derived terms

Terms derived from personal

• personal capital
• personal fiduciary

• personal lubricant

• personal trainer

Related terms

Terms etymologically related to personal

• personnel

• personality

• personally

Translations

pertaining to human beings

• Finnish: inhimillinen (fi)
• Ido: homala (io)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: personrelatert, menneskelig (no)

of or pertaining to a particular person

• Arabic: شَخْصِيّ‎ (šaḵṣiyy)
• Bashkir: шәхси (šäxsi)
• Catalan: personal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 私人的 (zh) (sīrén de)

• Czech: osobní (cs)
• Danish: personlig (da)
• Dutch: persoonlijk (nl)
• Finnish: henkilökohtainen (fi)
• French: personnel (fr) m, personnelle (fr) f
• Galician: persoal m, f
• German: persönlich (de)
• Hungarian: személyi (hu)
• Ido: personala (io)
• Irish: pearsanta
• Italian: personale (it)

• Japanese: 個人の (こじんの, kojin no)
• Korean: 개인의 (gaein-ui)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: تایبه‌تی‎ (tAybati)

• Macedonian: личен (ličen)
• Maori: whaiaro
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: personlig (no)

  Nynorsk: personleg

• Polish: osobisty (pl) m, personalny m
• Portuguese: pessoal (pt)
• Russian: ли́чный (ru) (líčnyj), персона́льный (ru) (personálʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: pearsanta
• Spanish: personal (es)
• Swedish: personlig (sv)
• Turkish: kişisel (tr), özel (tr), zatî (tr), şahsi (tr)

pertaining to the external or bodily appearance

• Catalan: corporal
• Czech: osobní (cs)
• Finnish: fyysinen (fi), ruumiillinen (fi)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: personlig (no)

• Scottish Gaelic: pearsanta

done in person

• Bashkir: шәхси (šäxsi)
• Catalan: personal (ca)
• Finnish: henkilökohtainen (fi), omakohtainen

• Maori: ā-tinana
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: personlig (no)

relating to an individual in an invidious and offensive manner

• Finnish: henkilökohtainen (fi); see also: henkilökohtaisuus (fi)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: personlig (no)

grammar: denoting person

• Catalan: personal (ca)
• Finnish: persoona- (fi)
• Hungarian: személyes (hu)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: personlig (no)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} persona

• Telugu: వ్యక్తిగతమైన (vyaktigatamaina) (2, 5)

Further reading

• personal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Noun

personal (plural personals)

1. An advertisement by which individuals attempt to meet others with similar interests.
2. A movable; a chattel.

Translations

advertisement

• Finnish: henkilökohtaista -ilmoitus (fi)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: personligannonse m

movable

• Finnish: irtain (fi); irtaimisto (fi) (one's movables as a whole)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: løsøre n

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923 in Project Gutenberg: laughed · opportunity · lines · #793: personal · due · Henry · society

Anagrams

• psoralen

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Catalan

Adjective

personal (masculine and feminine plural personals)

1. personal

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Ladin

Adjective

personal m (feminine singular personala, masculine plural personai, feminine plural personales)

1. personal

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin personalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /peɾsoˈnal/

• Audio (Mexico)

  (file)

Adjective

personal (plural personales)

1. personal

Noun

personal m (plural personales)

1. personnel

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pɛʂʊnˈɑːl]

Noun

personal c

1. staff (employees of a business)