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.
Pertaining to persons (human beings as opposed to things or animals).
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Of or pertaining to a particular person; relating to, or affecting, an individual, or each of many individuals
personal values; personal desire
Her song was her personal look at the values of friendship.
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Despite personal schisms and differences in spiritual experience, there is a very coherent theology of Snape shared between the wives. To examine this manifestation of religious fandom, I will first discuss the canon scepticism and anti-Rowling sentiment that helps to contextualise the wider belief in Snape as a character who extends beyond book and film.2014 March 3, Zoe Alderton, “‘Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion within the Harry Potter Fandom”, in Religions, volume 5, number 1, MDPI, →DOI, pages 219–257:
You could just use ordinary shop-bought kecap manis to marinade the meat, but making your own is easy, has a far more elegant fragrance and is, above all, such a great brag! Flavouring kecap manis is an intensely personal thing, so try this version now and next time cook the sauce down with crushed, split lemongrass and a shredded lime leaf.2015 October 27, Matt Preston, The Simple Secrets to Cooking Everything Better, Plum, →ISBN, page 192:
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Dealing with subjects about which one wishes (or people usually wish) to maintain privacy or discretion; not for public view; sensitive, intimate.
personal reasons
You can't read my diary—it is personal.
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That's a very personal question.
I can't believe you went through my drawers and looked at all my personal things!
Pertaining to the external or bodily appearance; corporeal; bodily.
personal charms
The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.[…]Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
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Done in person; without an intermediary.
a personal interview
a personal meeting
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personal settings
Although you miss the nonverbal cues that you pick up in a personal meeting, you can call far more clients in a day than you can meet with in person.2011, Bob Nelson, Peter Economy, Consulting For Dummies:
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Relating to an individual, their character, conduct, motives, or private affairs, in an invidious and offensive manner
personal reflections or remarks
Only factual argumentation, no need to get personal.
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Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences Of a noun or pronoun, having reference particular to humans and other entities having personality such as a named animal, a deity, a personification, etc.
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Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences Related to grammatical first, second, etc. persons.
a personal pronoun
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Denoting ownership.
one's personal vehicle, as opposed to a company vehicle
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.
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In plural An advertisement by which an individual attempts to meet others with similar interests.
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One's own property or asset
1748, Tobias Smollett (translator), Alain-René Lesage (original), The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane In addition to this, a coarse shirt quite new, a pair of my father's shoes quite old, and, what rejoiced me more than all the rest, a rouleau of twenty rials in a linen rag. Behold the sum total of my personals.
I've had my cell ransacked, savagely searched, and as a result, had my legal papers stolen and destroyed, allong with what little personal clothing and other personals I had.1982 April 10, Roosevelt Williamson, “Prison Racism and Legal Slavery in America”, in Gay Community News, page 15: