personal

A1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈpɜɹ.sə.nəl/ UK /ˈpɜː.sə.nəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #900

Meanings

1

adj
Belonging to or concerning one particular person.

She keeps her personal belongings in a locked drawer.
2

adj
Private and not meant to be shared with others.

He didn't want to discuss such personal matters at work.
3

adj
Relating to someone's body or physical care.

Personal hygiene is important when you work with food.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · private and not meant to be... private intimate

Word family

Forms personals

Derived forms antipersonalbipersonaldepersonalization depersonalizeextrapersonalfirst-personalfursonalhyperpersonalimpersonal interpersonalintrapersonalmonopersonal

Related forms personaliapersonality personally personnel

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. Doublet of personnel.

personal Middle English personel xno persōnālis la-lat

View etymology graph ->

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# personal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɜɹ.sə.nəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpɜː.sə.nəl/
**Frequency rank:** 900

## Meanings
1. Belonging to or concerning one particular person.
2. Private and not meant to be shared with others.
3. Relating to someone's body or physical care.

## Examples
- She keeps her personal belongings in a locked drawer.
- He didn't want to discuss such personal matters at work.
- Personal hygiene is important when you work with food.

## Derived Forms
- antipersonal
- bipersonal
- depersonalization
- depersonalize
- extrapersonal
- first-personal
- fursonal
- hyperpersonal
- impersonal
- interpersonal
- intrapersonal
- monopersonal

## Related Forms
- personalia
- personality
- personally
- personnel

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: personal
- Root: personel
- Root: persōnālis
- Affix: -al - relating to

## 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. Doublet of personnel.

## AI Etymology
Personal comes 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. Doublet of personnel. In present-day English it covers belonging to or concerning one particular person, private and not meant to be shared with others, and relating to someone's body or physical care. The wider family includes derived forms such as antipersonal, bipersonal, depersonalization, depersonalize, extrapersonal and related forms such as personalia, personality, personally, personnel.

## Topics
- People & Society

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personal

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