Etymologically
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personale

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Pronunciation

  • /per.soˈna.le/[1]

Forms

personale m or f by sense (plural personali, superlative personalissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin persōnālis (“personal”), a learned word.[2][3][4][5][1] In Latin it was a term of the jurists Paulus and Ulpian and, for the grammatical person, of the grammarian Diomedes; it is formed from Latin persōna (“mask; character; person”) with the suffix -ālis.[5][6] The noun is the adjective used as a noun;[3][7][4][8][9] GRADIT compares French personnel, and Sabatini–Coletti and the Italian Wiktionary take the sense “staff” from French.[3][7][4][8][9]

The origin of the Latin noun is unknown: one proposal derives it from Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask, masked actor”); another, already made by Roman writers, from Latin personāre (“to sound through”), which the different vowel length makes unlikely.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Giovanni Villani (before 1344), with the sense “of the person, of the individual”.[2][4] Tommaseo quotes his chronicle on the duties owed by a town: “Promisono le fazioni reali, e personali, siccome propria terra del contado di Firenze” (They promised the duties on property and on persons, as a land belonging to the territory of Florence).[10]

Semantic evolution

The adjective long belonged to the language of law and taxation, as in Matteo Villani's “servigio personale” (personal service), and to grammar from the 19th century.[10][5] As a masculine noun it meant a person's figure or build from Scipione Maffei (before 1755), and Goldoni wrote “Amo il suo personale” (I love her figure).[2][11]

The sense “all the people employed in an office or service” is first recorded in 1790, in a newspaper;[2][10] Tommaseo still rejected il personale insegnante as neither elegant nor necessary.[2][10] The feminine noun la personale, short for mostra personale, a solo exhibition of a living artist, dates from 1950.[2][12] In basketball fallo personale is a personal foul.[13][14]

Timeline

  • Before 1344 – Giovanni Villani uses personale.[2][4]
  • Before 1755 – Scipione Maffei uses the noun for a person's figure.[2]
  • 1790 – The noun “staff” is recorded in a newspaper.[2][4]
  • 1950 – La personale “solo exhibition” is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. personal, belonging to or concerning a single person: Ognuno ha i suoi gusti personali.[4][7][8][1]
  2. private, confidential: È una lettera personale, non aprirla.[4][7][12]
  3. Individual, subjective; original: Il suo modo di cantare è molto personale.[4][7][12]
  4. Of the body: igiene personale, personal hygiene.[4][12]
  5. (grammar) Personal: pronome personale.[8][13][14]

Noun

  1. staff, personnel: the employees of a firm, office or service: Il personale del museo sciopera domani.[4][7][8][1]
  2. A person's figure or build: avere un bel personale.[7][8][14]
  3. The personal sphere, private matters.[4][7][8]
  4. (basketball) A personal foul.[8]
  5. (feminine) A solo exhibition of one artist's work: Il pittore inaugura una personale a Torino.[2][1][12]

Word family

  • personalità
  • personalmente
  • personalismo
  • personalizzare
  • impersonale
  • interpersonale
  • spersonalizzare

Usage notes

A titolo personale means “in a private capacity, without involving others”.[13][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  10. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 112
  12. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli