PERSONAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does personal mean? 

• PERSONAL (noun)
  The noun PERSONAL has 1 sense:

1. a short newspaper article about a particular person or group

  Familiarity information: PERSONAL used as a noun is very rare.

• PERSONAL (adjective)
  The adjective PERSONAL has 5 senses:

1. concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality

2. particular to a given individual

3. of or arising from personality

4. intimately concerning a person's body or physical being

5. indicating grammatical person

  Familiarity information: PERSONAL used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERSONAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A short newspaper article about a particular person or group

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("personal" is a kind of...):

news article; news story; newspaper article (an article reporting news)

• PERSONAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality

Context example:

he has his personal bank account and she has hers

Similar:

ad hominem (appealing to personal considerations (rather than to fact or reason))

face-to-face (in each other's presence)

individual; private (concerning one person exclusively)

individualised; individualized; personalised; personalized (made for or directed or adjusted to a particular individual)

in-person; in the flesh (an appearance carried out personally in someone else's physical presence)

ain; own (belonging to or on behalf of a specified person (especially yourself); preceded by a possessive)

personalized (pointedly referring to or concerning a person's individual personality or intimate affairs especially offensively)

person-to-person (involving direct communication or contact between persons or parties)

intimate; private (concerning things deeply private and personal)

Also:

private (confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy)

Antonym:

impersonal (not relating to or responsive to individual persons)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Particular to a given individual

Similar:

subjective (taking place within the mind and modified by individual bias)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Of or arising from personality

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

personal magnetism

Pertainym:

personality (the complex of all the attributes--behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental--that characterize a unique individual)

Derivation:

personality (the complex of all the attributes--behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental--that characterize a unique individual)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Intimately concerning a person's body or physical being

Context example:

personal hygiene

Similar:

physical (involving the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Indicating grammatical person

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

personal verb endings

Pertainym:

person (a grammatical category used in the classification of pronouns, possessive determiners, and verb forms according to whether they indicate the speaker, the addressee, or a third party)

 Context examples 

He must make a personal reform in all things, even to tooth-washing and neck-gear, though a starched collar affected him as a renunciation of freedom.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

‘I fear there is not very much,’ I answered; ‘I might suggest that you have gone about in fear of some personal attack within the last twelve months.’

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It becomes a personal matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my hand upon this gang.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

After Neptune goes direct, you may be recognized for your taste, style, or personality or a project you created that you put your personal stamp upon.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

But before we go let me see you armed against personal attack.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

THE CHAIRMAN: 'I fear I cannot go into personal matters. Proceed.'

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Any friend of my friend Copperfield's,” said Mr. Micawber, “has a personal claim upon myself.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

What kind of information would you put in a personal health record?

(Personal Health Records, NIH)

Also called personal history and personal medical history.

(Personal health record, NCI Dictionary)

A class of professional or vocational positions of employment that involve personal care or service.

(Personal Care and Service Occupations, NCI Thesaurus)