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personal

Etymology and origin of the English word personal

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1387 (Trevisa)
Borrowed from
Old French personal via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin (persōna)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈpɜː.sən.əl/, US /ˈpɝː.sən.əl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English personal, borrowed from Old French personal (also personel, modern personnel),[2][3][4] from Late Latin persōnālis (“pertaining to a person”),[3][2][5] from Latin persōna, the source of person.[3][2][6] It is related to personnel, personality and personify.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or concerning the individual person or self; private: 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

“Done or made in person” is from about 1388.[7] “Relating to a person's body”, as in personal hygiene, is from 1591,[7] and “having an individual person as object” from 1614.[7] The sense “aimed at a particular person”, usually in a hostile way, as in personal remarks, came later.[3][8] In grammar, personal pronoun refers to the grammatical person.[8] An official attached to one's person, such as a personal assistant, is from 1928.[7] The noun, a personal notice in a newspaper, is from 1861.[9] Personality is from before 1425, in Wycliffe's writings, meaning the quality of being a person.[2]

Timeline

  • 1387 – private, of an individual (Trevisa).[2][7]
  • c. 1388 – done in person.[7]
  • before 1425 – personality.[2]
  • 1591 – of the body.[7]
  • 1614 – directed at an individual.[7]
  • 1861 – noun, a personal notice.[9]
  • 1928 – personal assistant sense.[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of or belonging to a particular person; private.
  2. Done or made in person: a personal appearance.
  3. Concerning a person's private affairs; intimate.
  4. Aimed at a person's character or affairs, usually offensively: personal remarks.
  5. Of the body: personal hygiene.
  6. (grammar) Indicating grammatical person: personal pronoun.

Noun

  1. A personal notice in a newspaper, or (personals) a column of such notices.

Word family

  • personalness
  • personalia
  • personality
  • personally
  • personnel
  • person
  • personify
  • personalty
  • impersonal
  • interpersonal

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Personal.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/personal. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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