Adjacent Words

Personal definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PER'SONAL, a. [L. personalis.] Belonging to men or women, not to things; not real.
Every man so termed by way of personal difference only.
1. Relating to an individual; affecting individuals; peculiar or proper to him or her, or to private actions or character.
The words are conditional; if thou doest well; and so personal to Cain.
Character and success depend more on personal effort than on any external advantages.
So we speak of personal pride, personal reflections.
2. Pertaining to the corporal nature; exterior; corporal; as personal charms or accomplishments.
3. Present in person; not acting by representative; as a personal interview.
The immediate and personal speaking of God almighty to Abraham, Job and Moses.
Personal estate, in law, movables; chattels; things belonging to the person; as money, jewels, furniture, etc. as distinguished from real estate in land and houses.
Personal action, in law, a suit or action by which a man claims a debt or personal duty, or damages in lieu of it; or wherein he claims satisfaction in damages for an injury to his person or property; an action founded on contract or on tort or wrong; as an action on a debt or promise, or an action for a trespass, assault or defamatory words; opposed to real actions, or such as concern real property.
Personal identity, in metaphysics, sameness of being, of which consciousness is the evidence.
Personal verb, in grammar, a verb conjugated in the three persons; thus called in distinction from an impersonal verb, which has the third person only.
PER'SONAL, n. A movable. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality; "a personal favor"; "for your personal use"; "personal papers"; "I have something personal to tell you"; "a personal God"; "he has his personal bank account and she has hers" [ant: impersonal]
2: particular to a given individual
3: of or arising from personality; "personal magnetism"
4: intimately concerning a person's body or physical being; "personal hygiene"
5: indicating grammatical person; "personal verb endings" n
1: a short newspaper article about a particular person or group

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French personel, from Late Latin personalis, from Latin persona Date: 14th century 1. of, relating to, or affecting a particular person ; private, individual <personal ambition> <personal financial gain> 2. a. done in person without the intervention of another; also proceeding from a single person b. carried on between individuals directly <a personal interview> 3. relating to the person or body 4. relating to an individual or an individual's character, conduct, motives, or private affairs often in an offensive manner <a personal insult> 5. a. being rational and self-conscious <personal, responsive government is still possible — John Fischer> b. having the qualities of a person rather than a thing or abstraction <a personal devil> 6. of, relating to, or constituting personal property <a personal estate> 7. denoting grammatical person 8. intended for private use or use by one person <a personal stereo> II. noun Date: 1861 1. a short newspaper paragraph relating to the activities of a person or a group or to personal matters 2. a short personal communication in a special column of the classified ads section of a newspaper or periodical 3. personal foul

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 one's own; individual; private. 2 done or made in person (made a personal appearance; my personal attention). 3 directed to or concerning an individual (a personal letter). 4 referring (esp. in a hostile way) to an individual's private life or concerns (making personal remarks; no need to be personal). 5 of the body and clothing (personal hygiene; personal appearance). 6 existing as a person, not as an abstraction or thing (a personal God). 7 Gram. of or denoting one of the three persons (personal pronoun). Phrases and idioms: personal column the part of a newspaper devoted to private advertisements or messages. personal computer a computer designed for use by a single individual, esp. in an office or business environment . personal equation 1 the allowance for an individual person's time of reaction in making observations, esp. in astronomy. 2 a bias or prejudice. personal equity plan a scheme for limited personal investment in shares, unit trusts, etc. personal identification number a number allocated to an individual, serving as a password esp. for a cash dispenser, computer, etc. personal pronoun a pronoun replacing the subject, object, etc., of a clause etc., e.g. I, we, you, them, us. personal property (or estate) Law all one's property except land and those interests in land that pass to one's heirs (cf. REAL(1) adj. 3). personal service individual service given to a customer. personal stereo a small portable audio cassette player, often with radio, or compact disc player, used with lightweight headphones. personal touch a way of treating a matter characteristic of or designed for an individual. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L personalis (as PERSON)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Personal Per"son*al, n. (Law) A movable; a chattel.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Personal Per"son*al, a. [L. personalis: cf. F. personnel.] 1. Pertaining to human beings as distinct from things. Every man so termed by way of personal difference. --Hooker. 2. Of or pertaining to a particular person; relating to, or affecting, an individual, or each of many individuals; peculiar or proper to private concerns; not public or general; as, personal comfort; personal desire. The words are conditional, -- If thou doest well, -- and so personal to Cain. --Locke. 3. Pertaining to the external or bodily appearance; corporeal; as, personal charms. --Addison. 4. Done in person; without the intervention of another. ``Personal communication.'' --Fabyan. The immediate and personal speaking of God. --White. 5. Relating to an individual, his character, conduct, motives, or private affairs, in an invidious and offensive manner; as, personal reflections or remarks. 6. (Gram.) Denoting person; as, a personal pronoun. Personal action (Law), a suit or action by which a man claims a debt or personal duty, or damages in lieu of it; or wherein he claims satisfaction in damages for an injury to his person or property, or the specific recovery of goods or chattels; -- opposed to real action. Personal equation. (Astron.) See under Equation. Personal estate or property (Law), movables; chattels; -- opposed to real estate or property. It usually consists of things temporary and movable, including all subjects of property not of a freehold nature. Personal identity (Metaph.), the persistent and continuous unity of the individual person, which is attested by consciousness. Personal pronoun (Gram.), one of the pronouns I, thou, he, she, it, and their plurals. Personal representatives (Law), the executors or administrators of a person deceased. Personal rights, rights appertaining to the person; as, the rights of a personal security, personal liberty, and private property. Personal tithes. See under Tithe. Personal verb (Gram.), a verb which is modified or inflected to correspond with the three persons.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A personal opinion, quality, or thing belongs or relates to one particular person rather than to other people. He learned this lesson the hard way–from his own personal experience... That's my personal opinion. ...books, furniture, and other personal belongings... ...an estimated personal fortune of almost seventy million dollars. ADJ: ADJ n 2. If you give something your personal care or attention, you deal with it yourself rather than letting someone else deal with it. ...a business that requires a great deal of personal contact. ...a personal letter from the President's secretary... ADJ: usu ADJ n 3. Personal matters relate to your feelings, relationships, and health. ...teaching young people about marriage and personal relationships... You never allow personal problems to affect your performance... ADJ 4. Personal comments refer to someone's appearance or character in an offensive way. Newspapers resorted to personal abuse... ADJ 5. Personal care involves looking after your body and appearance. ...men who take as much trouble over personal hygiene as women. ADJ: ADJ n 6. A personal relationship is one that is not connected with your job or public life. He was a personal friend whom I've known for many many years... ADJ 7. see also personals

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Individual, private, special. 2. Corporal, exterior, physical, material.

Moby Thesaurus

absolute, actual, adverse, anonymous, belittling, bodily, bosom, certain, close, closet, concrete, critical, dear, defined, definite, deprecating, derogatory, detailed, determinate, different, disparaging, distinct, distinguished, esoteric, especial, exceptional, exclusive, express, extraordinary, familiar, fixed, idiosyncratic, in person, in the flesh, incognito, individual, inmost, inner, innermost, insulting, interior, intimate, inward, isolated, live, minute, noteworthy, offensive, particular, peculiar, physical, precise, private, privy, respective, retired, secluded, sequestered, several, singular, slighting, solipsistic, special, specific, unfriendly, withdrawn