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personnel

Etymology and origin of the English word personnel

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1834
Borrowed from
French personnel
Ultimate origin
Latin (personalis)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˌpɜː.sənˈel/, US /ˌpɝː.sənˈel/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French personnel, originally a military term contrasted with matériel “equipment”,[2][3][4] a noun use of the adjective personnel “personal”,[2][3] from Old French personel, the source of personal.[2][3] Merriam-Webster takes the French noun as a modification, influenced by the adjective, of German Personal, from Late Latin persōnāle, neuter of persōnālis “personal”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The body of persons engaged in a service or employment: 1834 in the OED,[6] 1837 in Etymonline,[2] 1857 in Barnhart,[3] the early 19th century in NODE.[4]

Semantic evolution

Personal appearance is a rare sense from 1861.[6] The members of an orchestra or band are its personnel from 1956,[6] and the department of an organization that deals with employees, as Personnel, is from 1960.[6] Attributive uses such as personnel management and personnel carrier are later.[6]

Timeline

  • 1834 – the staff of a service.[6]
  • 1861 – personal appearance (rare).[6]
  • 1956 – the members of a band.[6]
  • 1960 – a personnel department.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The people employed in an organization, business or the armed forces.
  2. The department of an organization that deals with its employees; human resources.
  3. Persons: military personnel.

Word family

  • antipersonnel
  • armored personnel carrier

Usage notes

Personnel, with a stress on the last syllable, is distinct from personal, an adjective stressed on the first.[1][7]

References

  1. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Personnel.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/personnel. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·