Advertisement

Origin and history of personnel

personnel(n.)

1837, "body of persons engaged in any service," from French personnel (originally military, a contrastive term to matériel), noun use of personnel (adj.) "personal," from Old French personel (see personal).

also from 1837

Entries linking to personnel

personal(adj.)

late 14c., "private, pertaining to the self or to a self-conscious individual; performed by the individual himself," from Old French personal (12c., Modern French personnel), from Late Latin personalis "pertaining to a person," from Latin persona (see person).

The meaning "applicable to, directed at, or aimed at some particular person" (usually in a hostile manner) is attested from 1610s. Designating an official or employee attached to one's person (as in personal secretary) by 1928.

The noun sense of "newspaper item about private matters" is attested from 1888. As "a classified ad addressed to an individual," it is recorded from 1861. Personal computer is from 1976.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    force
    c. 1300, "physical strength," from Old French force "force, strength; courage, fortitude; violence, power, compulsion" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *fortia (source also of Old Spanish forzo, Spanish fuerza, Italian forza), noun use of neuter plural of Latin fortis "strong, mighty; f
    claymore
    Modern military application to a type of pellet-scattering anti-personnel mine is first attested 1962....
    saturation
    A single raid of this type uses more than 100,000 air and ground personnel....
    mess
    Mess-hall "area where military personnel eat and socialize" is by 1832....
    department
    c. 1500, "a ceasing, an ending; a going away, act of leaving" (obsolete in this sense), from Old French departement "division, sharing out; divorce, parting" (12c.), from Late Latin departire "to divide" (transitive), from de- "from" (see de-) + partire "to part, divide," from pa
    police
    1530s, "the regulation and control of a community" (similar in sense to policy (n.1)); from Middle French police "organized government, civil administration" (late 15c.), from Latin politia "civil administration," from Greek polis "city" (see polis). Until mid-19c. used in Englan
    section
    late 14c., seccioun, in astronomy, "the intersection of two straight lines; a division of a scale;" from Old French section and directly from Latin sectionem (nominative sectio) "a cutting, cutting off, division," noun of action from past-participle stem of secare "to cut" (from
    staff
    Middle English staf, "stick or pole," especially one about 5 or 6 feet long and carried in the hand, from Old English stæf (plural stafas), "walking stick, strong pole used for carrying, rod used as a weapon, pastoral staff," probably originally *stæb, from Proto-Germanic *stab-
    patrol
    1660s, "action of going the rounds" (of a military camp, etc.), from French patrouille "a night watch" (1530s), from patrouiller "go the rounds to watch or guard," originally "tramp through the mud," probably soldiers' slang, from Old French patouiller "paddle in water," which is
    portal
    late 14c., "gate, gateway," especially "the entire architectural treatment of the entrance and its surroundings of a cathedral or other grand building," from Old French portal "gate" (Modern French portail) and directly from Medieval Latin portale "city gate, porch," from neuter

    Share personnel

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near personnel
    Advertisement