personnel French · revision 15884

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1174, Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence|origins=la persona}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pɛʁ.sɔ.nɛl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''personnel''' (feminine personnelle, masculine plural personnels, feminine plural personnelles)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|persōnālis|t=relating to a person]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|8, 273a) a term of Latin grammar and law, from [[m|la|persōna|t=mask; person]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) By surface analysis it is [[personne]] + [[-el]].^(Wiktionary) The old spelling was “personel”, with ''personnel'' from the 15th century.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ The noun sense “staff” (1831) may have been modelled on [[de|Personal]] (1811).^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first recorded in 1174, in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence's ''Life of Saint Thomas'', as a grammatical term for a verb conjugated in all persons.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 13th-century law (Beaumanoir, 1283) it described what attaches to the person as opposed to property (''réel''), as in ''action personele''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) The everyday sense “belonging to a particular person” dates from about 1460,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) and ''pronom personnel'' from 1690.^(TLFi) In the 18th century it meant “aimed at the author” in criticism (1727) and ''attaque personnelle'' is found in 1753;^(TLFi) Saint-Simon used it for “selfish”, a sense that survives of a player who lacks team spirit.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The approving sense “original, individual” is recorded in Gide in 1914.^(TLFi)

+

+ As a noun, ''le personnel'' came to mean all the people in one profession (1831) and the staff of a house, firm or service (1834), opposed to ''matériel'' in military language.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) English took ''personnel'' “body of persons in a service” from French in 1837.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1174 – A grammatical term in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.^(TLFi)

+ * 1283 – A legal term in Beaumanoir.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1460 – “Belonging to a person”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Pronom personnel'' in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1753 – ''Attaque personnelle'' in the ''Encyclopédie''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1831 – The noun “staff, personnel”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1837 – English borrows ''personnel''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1977 – The clipping ''perso''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|personal|alt=Personal]]: belonging to or concerning a particular person: ''intérêt personnel'', ''fortune personnelle''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # Addressed to one person: ''lettre personnelle''; aimed at someone: ''attaque personnelle''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # [[m|en|original|alt=Original]], showing a person's own character: ''un style très personnel''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(sports)'' Of a player, too [[m|en|selfish]], lacking team spirit.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(grammar)'' Marking person: ''pronom personnel''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|staff]] of a firm, house or service.^(Larousse)^(Le Robert)

+ # All the people who practise a profession: ''le personnel politique''.^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[personnaliste]]

+ * [[personnellement]]

+ * [[personnaliser]]

+ * [[perso]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[personne]]

+ * [[la|persona]]

+ * [[en|personnel]]

+ * [[en|personal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}