Etimology
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.
adjective
personal (comparative more personal, superlative most personal)
Pertaining to persons (human beings as opposed to things or animals).
Of or pertaining to a particular person; relating to, or affecting, an individual, or each of many individuals
Dealing with subjects about which one wishes (or people usually wish) to maintain privacy or discretion; not for public view; sensitive, intimate.
(euphemistic) Intended for sexual use.
Pertaining to the external or bodily appearance; corporeal; bodily.
Done in person; without an intermediary.
Relating to an individual, their character, conduct, motives, or private affairs, in an invidious and offensive manner
(grammar) Denoting a person or people.
Denoting ownership.
Examples
personal values personal desire
Her song was her personal look at the values of friendship.
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.
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.
personal reasons
You can't read my diary—it is personal.
That's a very personal question.
I can't believe you went through my drawers and looked at all my personal things!
personal lubricant; personal massager
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?
a personal interview
a personal meeting
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.
personal reflections or remarks
a personal pronoun
one's personal vehicle, as opposed to a company vehicle
Related words
related terms
personalia
personality
personally
personnel
noun
personal (plural personals)
(chiefly in the plural) An advertisement by which an individual attempts to meet others with similar interests.
One's own property or asset
Examples
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.