personaladj.n.adv.
/ˈpəːsn̩(ə)l/, /ˈpəːsən(ə)l/, U.S. /ˈpərs(ə)nəl/ A. adj.† III. Other uses.
I. General uses.
1.
a. Of, relating to, concerning, or affecting a person as a private individual (rather than as a member of a group or the public, or in a public or professional capacity); individual, private; one's own.Occasionally used in reference to an animal: see quot. 1796.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or restricted in application > [adjective] > relating to a person in his individual capacity > personal or private
singularc1340
personala1387
partial?a1439
familiar1569
domestical1586
home1650
domestic1707
vernacular1840
intime1857
intimate1884
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 115 (MED) Seruius Tullius..ordeyned first personal tribute [L. censum] to þe Romayns.
1425 Rolls of Parl. IV. 277/1 Ye personele querele and debate bitwix my Lord of Gloucester and ye Duc of Burgiogne.
a1513 J. Irland Meroure of Wyssdome f. 290, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Personal(l The personal gudnes..of the medycinare..nouthire causis na lattis the heill of the seik persoune.
1565 J. Calfhill Aunswere Treat. Crosse f. 135 Examples be daungerous to be followed..bycause they be sometime but personall.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) ii. i. 11 I know no personall cause, to spurne at him, But for the generall. View more context for this quotation
1683 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) I. 236 Know no reason why they might not give their personal bills to such as would take them as money to pass.
1735 Visct. Bolingbroke Diss. upon Parties (ed. 2) 192 The Saxons had a Nobility too, arising from personal Valour, or Wisdom.
1782 Ld. Auckland Let. 22 Aug. (1861) I. 29 Lord North, too, could on very easy terms answer for thirty or forty, quite as personal friends and followers.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) I. 79 Even the instincts of animals appear to be less adapted to their own personal utility, than to that of Man.
1818 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. (ed. 2) III. 182 Although dignities are now become little more than personal honours; yet they are still classed under the head of real property.
1853 C. Brontë Villette I. xvi. 304 Had that audience numbered as many personal friends and acquaintance for me, as for him, I know not how it might have been.
1944 ‘N. Shute’ Pastoral v. 107 After so many operations it was an acute personal grief to him that he had pranged his Wimpey.
1991 K. Jones Learning not to be First p. xiv He would not have considered it wrong to conceal material..that he found too personal.
b. Designating an official or employee attached to someone in a close or exclusive subordinate capacity, as personal assistant, personal maid, personal trainer, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > attendant or personal servant > [adjective]
privyc1300
personal1748
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > attendant or personal servant > [noun] > lady's maid
chamberlaina1400
waiting-maid1561
chambermaid1569
lady's maid1577
tire-woman1615
abigail1616
fille de chambre1673
suivante1674
comb-brush1702
tiring-woman1732
femme de chambre1741
lady's woman1748
personal maid1748
comb-brusher1751
ayah1782
wardrobe maid1797
soubrette1824
camerist1838
tire-maid1871
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > attendant or personal servant > [noun] > other specific personal attendants
henchmana1560
wallet-bearer1611
punkaha1613
bathing-woman1789
laquais de place1789
agterryer1824
punkah-wallah1826
famulus1837
personal assistant1910
society > leisure > sport > training > [noun] > coach
trainer1807
coach1885
player-coach1932
player-trainer1956
personal trainer1993
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VII. lxxx. 277 My cousin Arabella's personal servant.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxx. 158 The personal attendants of an amiable and pious lady of New Orleans.
1875 A. Trollope Prime Minister (1876) I. xix. 302 The Duke and Duchess with their children and personal servants.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 450/2 He became personal assistant to Runga Charlu.
1972 T. P. McMahon Issue of Bishop's Blood iv. 44 Frank Velandi... Said at one time to be Streppelli's personal bodyguard.
1993 N.Y. Times Mag. 27 June 16/2 I have lived what a friend called the California Cliché: I fell in love with my personal trainer.
2. † b. Present or engaged in person. Obsolete.
a. Done, made, held, performed, etc., in person, or by the person concerned; involving the actual presence or action of the individual (as opposed to an agent or representative). Of a reciprocal action or relationship: conducted between individuals directly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > presence > [adjective] > present in person > involving presence in person
personalc1400
personable1632
in-person1952
c1400 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 493 (MED) No persone, ne vicare ne prelate is excusud fro personele residense to be made in þer beneficys.
1445 in F. B. Bickley Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 191 (MED) At the speciall and personall preyer of the seyd maystres and maryners, the commune seall of the forseyde towne of Bristowe..is put to thys present wrytyng.
1552 R. Ascham Rep. Affaires Germany 42 Personal pledges..for his good haberance.
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 387 The one was their personall presence and travelling to the wars.
1651 N. Bacon Contin. Hist. Disc. Govt. 136 The power and place of the Wardenship of the Kingdome, doth utterly vanish by the personall accesse of the King.
1733 C. Coote Let. 13 Dec. in J. Swift Lett. (1768) IV. 59 Your allowing me to some degree of personal acquaintance with you.
1772 J. Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 319 He [sc. John the Baptist]..had no personal knowledge of Jesus, though they were related.
1845 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 I. vii. 400 It was impossible for him to exercise a vigilant personal supervision over the officers of the police.
1880 L. Stephen Alexander Pope iv. 85 Pope..did not enjoy the honour of any personal interview with royalty.
1937 Discovery Sept. 268/2 The director who establishes personal contact with his men..will reap his reward.
1993 Independent on Sunday 4 Apr. 26/4 All that personal chemistry came to nothing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > presence > [adjective] > present in person
personal1598
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iv. iii. 90 When he was personall in the Irish warre. View more context for this quotation
1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 152 Kings ought to be personall in their enterprises.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 211 None but we that are personall actors therein..can thorowly apprehend [etc.].
3.
a. Of, relating to, or belonging to one's person, body, or appearance; bodily; physical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > [adjective]
lichamlyc888
fleshlyc1175
outward?c1225
bodilyc1380
corporalc1400
personal?a1439
carnal1488
earthya1533
carrionc1540
corporatec1580
nervous1616
fleshy1630
somandric1716
physical1737
somatic1775
corporeal1795
psychosomatica1834
physico-mental1844
somal1900
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) v. 2359 (MED) Andriscus..Was bold to cleyme be title of rihtwisnesse, Shewyng no ground but personel liknesse.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Knychthede (1993) iv. 29 Ffor..jt war mare lyke yat the ordour of knychthede suld..accorde to the proprieteis corporales & personalis as spiritualis.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. iii. 8 Our nauie is addrest, our power collected... Only we want a little personal strength. View more context for this quotation
1692 tr. C. de Saint-Évremond Misc. Ess. Pref. sig. A5v As for Personal Courage, that of Augustus was not pushing.
1716 J. Addison Freeholder No. 21. ⁋3 A Princess whose personal Charms..were now become the least Part of her Character.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. II. 100 Semiramis, a woman of uncommon endowments, and great personal charms.
1816 J. Austen Emma II. i. 15 Mrs Dixon, I understand, has no remarkable degree of personal beauty. View more context for this quotation
1865 J. Lubbock Prehist. Times i. 21 The personal ornaments of the Bronze age consist principally of bracelets,..pins,..and rings.
1927 Amer. Mercury Feb. p. xxxviii (advt.) His failure to admire the personal charms of our girls.
1998 Independent (Nexis) 4 Nov. Mary is..disillusioned by her sight, which has revealed her personal ugliness to her.
b. Affecting one's body; relating to one's physical safety or well-being.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [adjective] > affecting
personala1626
corporal1651
person-centred1934
person-oriented1950
a1626 J. Horsey Relacion Trav. in E. A. Bond Russia at Close of 16th Cent. (1856) 165 The Russ Emperor flies with his..personall guard of 20 thowsand gonnors, towards a stronge monesterie.
1674 D. Brevint Saul & Samuel xi. 240 Finding out expedients..for shifting from one to another all personal Punishments.
1693 E. Bohun Char. Queen Elizabeth 49 She did not think it became her to be less concerned for the Majesty of God, than for her own Personal Safety.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. viii. v. 227 Turning their attention to her personal safety.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 228 Designed..for the purpose of personal defence.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet III. iii. 76 He shall have no personal ill-usage.
1877 J. A. Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. i. iv. 48 Becket never showed to more advantage than in moments of personal danger.
1915 ‘Bartimeus’ Tall Ship vii. 129 Pennies..to be extracted at great personal risk from an electric dip.
1996 R. Mistry Fine Balance (1997) i. 16 Then Mrs. Shroff resorted to other methods, using not money or his personal safety or his family to persuade him.
4.
a. Having an individual as object; relating to a person in his or her individual capacity; directed towards, aimed at, or referring to a particular person or to oneself, esp. in a disparaging or offensive sense or manner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or restricted in application > [adjective] > relating to a person in his individual capacity
personal1578
1578 H. Wotton tr. J. Yver Courtlie Controuersie v. 305 The good olde manne.., considaryng hee was nowe threatened wyth a Reume, whiche gaue hym personall summonance of shorte dayes.
1614 T. Lorkin Let. in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1848) (modernized text) I. 346 If they had..not proceeded to personal invectives, and mutinous and seditious speeches against his majesty,..his favourites, and..the Scots in general.
1723 J. Henley in J. Henley et al. tr. Pliny the Younger Epist. viii. 274 I should resent it as..a Personal Affront to me.
1769 Ld. Rochford in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. IV. 521 The Russian Ambassador appears personally satisfied with the excuses made for personal incivility, but considers his Court is highly insulted.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xi. 141 He asked him distinctly..as a personal favour too..not to play.
1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. i. iv. 19 Private Acts of Parliament are divided into those which are personal and those which are local.
1943 W. Stegner Big Rock Candy Mountain viii. 431 He had even come to the point now where an unpaved road was a personal insult.
1991 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 10 Nov. 24/2 Those suffering from personal abuse or mistreatment at the hands of the Government.
b. Of a person, publication, etc.: that remarks on a person's character, private concerns, etc., esp. in a disparaging or offensive way; characterized by or given to making such remarks.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > [adjective] > personally
personal1607
1607 B. Jonson Volpone Ep. Ded. sig. ¶2v Where haue I bin particular? Where personall, except to a Mimick, Cheater, [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1794 T. Holcroft Adventures Hugh Trevor II. v. 74 He made some corrections and additions, in places where I had not been so personal and acrimonious, against the minister, as his feelings required.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud x. ii, in Maud & Other Poems 37 Splenetic, personal, base, Sick, sick to the heart of life, am I.
1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xxiii. 187 Punch..is racy, frank, and personal to a degree that often perplexes foreigners.
1929 J. B. Priestley Good Compan. ii. v. 370 ‘Dewn't you be so personal’, said Mr. Jerningham... ‘You're always passing remawks.’
1994 Vibe Nov. 25/1 Without getting too personal, let me first say that Danyel Smith's article about Arrested Development..was seriously wack.
c. Having oneself as object; directed towards oneself.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > [adjective] > relating to self > directed to oneself
personal1719
1719 Six Questions 10 This will be making the Body of Peers considerable, not in a little addition to their personal Vanity, but in an important Point.
1778 F. Burney Evelina I. xiv. 139 They have, every one of them, so copious a share of their own personal esteem.
1830 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I III. iv. 60 The strong personal vanity of the man.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch II. iv. xxxvi. 228 That personal pride and unreflecting egoism which I have already called commonness.
1885 W. D. Howells Rise Silas Lapham viii. 130 He had never had any personal vanity, and there was no consciousness in his good looks now.
1952 P. Tillich Courage to Be vi. 153 Luther's courage of confidence is personal confidence, derived from a person-to-person encounter with God.
2003 People (Nexis) 28 Dec. (Features section) 53 Greater personal awareness may evoke a desire to meet your mate or creative counterpart.
d. Of an article, advertisement, notice, etc.: dealing with or relating to the private matters of an individual.Recorded earliest in personal column n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > advertising > advertising in the press > [adjective] > type of advertisement
personal1859
classified1867
1859 J. W. De Forest Seacliff x. 133 ‘An advertisement? Has the man really any business?’ ‘Yes; business in Cupid's court; he advertises in the personal column.’
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 173/2 ‘Personal journalism’, i.e., paragraphs about the private life or personal appearance of individuals..of note or notoriety in society or public affairs, has become far more marked.
1936 Discovery Dec. 386/1 The 18th century ‘personal’ advertisement, dealing with such wants as wives, lost umbrellas, or menservants ‘of black complexion and sound principles’.
1988 M. Dunford & J. Holland Real Guide Amsterdam (1989) i. 23 Notice boards with details of concerts, events, and the like, occasionally displaying personal notices, too.
e. Of a letter or other communication: directed to or intended for a particular individual.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > correspondence > letter > [adjective] > type of letter
personal1862
poison pen1911
1862 W. Collins No Name I. xiii. 190 My head-clerk sent him one of the circulars... It was the first substitute I thought of, for the personal letter which the pressure of innumerable occupations..did not allow me leisure to write.
1934 G. B. Shaw Too True to be Good ii. 50 Is this a personal letter to be sent on to him, or is it a dispatch?
1978 J. Symons Blackheath Poisonings v. 241 The rectangular package was addressed..to Mr George Collard, and marked Personal.
2003 Washington Post (Nexis) 23 Dec. a2 He suggests that her response to him be marked ‘very personal’ so it would come directly to his desk.
f. Of a radio, television, piece of stereo equipment, etc.: designed to be used by a single individual; small and (usually) portable.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > broadcasting > radio broadcasting > [adjective] > small (of transistor set)
personal1961
1961 Times 23 Aug. 6/2 The transistorized portable personal radio set.
1973 Philadelphia Inquirer 7 Oct. 16 (advt.) Personal size 16″ diagonal screen.
1985 Music 2 Feb. 31/3 Take for example the range of ‘personal hi-fis’ giving taped music on the move.
1992 Which? Dec. 12/2 If you want your children to keep their music to themselves during the holidays, a personal stereo is the ideal gift.
5. † a. Characteristic of a person or conscious being, as opposed to a thing or abstraction. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [adjective] > as rational or conscious being
personal1651
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxiii. 206 If the Church be not one person, then it hath no authority at all,..nor has any will, reason nor voice: for all these qualities are personal.
1659 J. Pearson Expos. Apostles Creed viii. 622 Grief is certainly a personall affection of which a quality is not capable.
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 5 At least double the amount of personal industry is engaged in the arts, manufactures, and trade, to what is engaged in agriculture.
1877 E. R. Conder Basis of Faith i. 26 This unity is not..possessed of what we call personality; incapable therefore of sustaining any personal relation to man.
b. Having the nature or attributes of a person; existing as an entity with self-awareness, not as an abstraction or an impersonal force.Recorded earliest in personal god n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [adjective]
personal1829
1829 S. T. Coleridge Aids Refl. (new ed.) 119 A good, wise, living and personal God.
a1860 J. A. Alexander Gospel Jesus Christ (1861) xxxvi. 533 It is not before a mere abstraction that man trembles, but before a personal avenger.
1880 S. Haughton Six Lect. Physical Geogr. i. 1 Imagining..a personal creator of themselves and of the universe.
1912 Catholic Encycl. XIV. 6/1 The Gnostics, although their doctrines varied in details, denied the existence of a personal creator.
1991 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 5 Dec. 54/2 He grew up with an..unshakeable belief in a personal God and a personal Devil.
6. personal to.
a. Directed towards or referring to (a particular individual or group of people). Now rare.Cf. relative to (relative adj. 4a).
ΚΠ
1658 W. Prynne Demophilos 16 The Earl of Arundell was restrained for a misdemeanour which was personal to your Majesty.
1689 Proc. & Tryal Archbishop of Canterbury & Right Rev. Fathers 132 Whoever he be that endeavours to bring a dislike of the King in the People, that is moving Sedition against the Prince, but that is personal to the Prince himself, and does not go to his Successors.
1794 T. Holcroft Adventures Hugh Trevor II. iii. 36 My vanity would willingly have given another interpretation to his lordship's civility, and have considered it as personal to myself.
1814 W. Scott Waverley II. xx. 306 He [sc. the Prince] had a different and good-natured motive, personal to our hero, for prolonging the conference. View more context for this quotation
1869 A. Trollope Phineas Finn I. xxxvi. 311 He made one remark personal to Mr Turnbull.
1940 C. Morgan Voyage II. iv. 194 She liked the foolish, friendly advertisements.., and read them again and again as though they were personal to her.
b. Belonging exclusively or specially to; having particular significance, importance, or meaning for.Cf. peculiar to at peculiar adj. 2c.
ΚΠ
1761 tr. C. Batteux Course Belles Lettres IV. iii. §1 ii. 198 What is very singular in this language is..that every individual has it as particular and personal to himself, as his existence.
a1768 J. Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. (1773) I. i. iv. §12. 58 The jurisdiction annexed to the principality is not heritable, but personal to the King's eldest son.
1845 J. Lingard Hist. & Antiq. Anglo-Saxon Church (ed. 3) I. ii. 67 The authority..was personal to Augustine, and not intended to descend from him to his successors.
a1873 S. Wilberforce Ess. (1874) I. 376 This is personal to himself.
1911 Catholic Encycl. XII. 261/1 The prerogatives here promised are manifestly personal to Peter.
1991 Greece & Rome 38 120 The last two papers..are..not as immediately personal to Dover as the concluding..list of the dedicatee's own publications.
II. Technical uses.† 9. Theology. Of or relating to bodily substance; = hypostatic adj. 1. Cf. person n. 6c. Obsolete.Used with reference to the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.
7. Law. Opposed to real (real adj.2 7).† c. Of a law, regulation, etc.: applying only to persons of a particular race, religion, etc., or to their transactions. Obsolete. rare.
a. Designating an action, plea, etc., in which the claim is not the recovery of a particular object, but the obtaining of compensation from the person responsible for its loss. Now historical.Distinct from a real action which claims the recovery of the object itself, or a mixed action, in which both recovery and damages are claimed. Subsequent legislation has provided means for the recovery of some kinds of personal property, so that real actions fell out of use early in the 17th cent., and were formally abolished in 1833.Personal and real action represent Latin actio in personam and actio in rem of Roman law, in which actions were distinguished by the nature of the right thereby asserted; the terms were taken by Bracton into English law, but employed in a different way, to distinguish actions according to the process of execution obtained, i.e. in reference not to the right asserted but to the relief afforded.personal statute: see statute n.1 3.
ΚΠ
1434 in A. T. Bannister Reg. Thome Spofford (1919) 184 (MED) The said Johanne shall make sufficient and a generall relesses and acquittanses of all maner acciones personeles.
c1475 ( in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1911) 26 518 (MED) Alle controversies and debates civile or criminalle, realle or personale, ben decided by the kynges lawes withoute mayntenance or wylfull interrupcion of the cours of justice.
1528–30 tr. T. Littleton Tenures (new ed.) f. xxvi Also as to accyons parsonels, tenauntes in comune ought to haue suche accyons parsonels ioyntly in all theyr names.
1641 Rastell's Termes de la Ley (new ed.) f. 107v He is called plaintife in an Assise, and in an action personal.
1656 in J. A. Clyde Hope's Major Practicks (1938) II. 73 Actions civill ar aither personall, real, or mixt. Personall actions follow the partie oblidged ad aliquid dandam vel faciendum.
1726 J. Ayliffe Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani 337 A Real or Hypothecarious Action does not lie against a Feudal Estate, yet a Personal Action lies.
1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. viii. 117 Personal actions are such whereby a man claims a debt, or personal duty, or damages in lieu thereof: and, likewise, whereby a man claims a satisfaction in damages for some injury done to his person or property.
1818 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. (ed. 2) V. 185 Persons outlawed, or waived in personal actions, may alien by fine.
1888 Law Q. Rev. 4 401 Before the year 1832, the plaintiff in a personal action could never obtain final judgment against the defendant in default of appearance.
1961 A. W. B. Simpson Introd. Hist. Land Law vi. 117 Differing from the fine, in that the collusive litigation was begun by real action and not by personal action, was the collusive or feigned recovery.
1994 Halsbury's Laws of Eng. xxxv. 723 No action lay to compel restitution of other forms of property, the appropriate remedy for such cases being a mere ‘personal’ action for damages.
b. Designating property and estate (i.e. chattels, leasehold interests in land, etc., corresponding in general to the movables of Civil Law) recoverable at common law by a personal action and vested on the owner's death in his or her personal representatives, as opposed to property or estate (i.e. land, and rights attached to the possession of land; cf. land n.1 4c) recoverable by a real action and vested on the owner's death in the heir by operation of law. Cf. movable n. 1a.The distinction between the rules of succession applying to real and personal property was effectively abolished by a series of statutes: the common law rule that only the personal estate of a deceased person devolves on his personal representatives was extended to real property by the Land Transfer Act of 1897 and the Administration of Estates Act of 1925; the formalities of wills in respect of real and personal property were dealt with by the Wills Act of 1837 and the Wills (Soldiers and Sailors) Act of 1918.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [adjective] > personal or movable
movablea1382
moblec1390
personal1528
corporal1767
mobiliary1855
1528–30 tr. T. Littleton Tenures (new ed.) f. xxvi There be possessyons and propertyes of chatell reall and chatell personell.
1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 123 Jewels, household-stuff, stocks upon his grounds, and other personal estate exceeding great.
1650 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 226 The rest and residue of all my goods and personall estate whatsoeuer..I doe will vnto my executours towards the payment of my debts..aforesaid.
1710 J. Addison Tatler No. 216. ⁋15 My eldest Son John..I do disinherit and wholly cut off from any Part of this my Personal Estate.
1766 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. xxiv. 385 But things personal, by our law, do not only include things moveable, but also something more: the whole of which is comprehended under the general name of chattels.
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 735 In the law of England, the distinction between real and personal property, is almost, but not entirely, the same as the distinction between heritable and movable property in the law of Scotland.
1913 Ld. Halsbury Laws Eng. XXVII. 865 The gist of an action of trespass is an unlawful taking or removing or damaging of a personal chattel.
1991 Past & Present Aug. 174 Charity..led John Clark..to give away 30 per cent of the value of his personal estate during his lifetime.
ΚΠ
1882 C. Sweet Dict. Eng. Law 602 A system of laws is said to be personal, when its operation is limited to one of several races inhabiting a state, as in the case of India.
8. Grammar. Of, relating to, or designating any grammatical person (see person n. 8); spec. designating a verb which distinguishes between persons (opposed to impersonal, now rare). See also personal noun n., personal pronoun n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > other grammatical categories or concepts > [adjective] > person
personal?1482
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [adjective] > other specific types of verb
commonc1450
personal?1482
perfect1530
valuative1566
suppletive1633
auxiliary1751
active-passive1859
mutative1866
preterito-presential1875
preterite-present1888
passival1892
preteritive present1894
applicative1903
injunctive1910
activo-passive1927
ornative1934
eventive1946
notional1957
non-factive1969
contrafactive1979
?1482 Long Parvula sig. bij They be verbys parsonallys and haue nominatiffe casys be fore them.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 4 Verbes..as well personall as il prent..as impersonall as il couient.
1590 J. Stockwood Eng. Accidence 6 A verbe personal agreeth with his nominatiue case in number and person.
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. iii. ii. 305 The Personal Pronouns, and any of the rest being us'd Substantively, are capable of Number and Case.
1871 H. J. Roby Gram. Lat. Lang. ii. xvii. §562 In the perfect indicative the personal suffix has dropped off altogether.
1889 W. R. Morfill Gram. Russ. Lang. iii. 53 Sometimes personal verbs are used impersonally by an idiom in which all the Slavonic languages share, as [mne khóchetsya], I wish, lit. it wishes itself to me.
1935 T. Hudson-Williams Short Introd. Study Compar. Gram. 6 The personal endings of a verb-tense or the case-endings of a noun serve all practical purposes.
1951 R. Hoggart Auden i. 18 Auden's ‘telegraphese’ style..is distinguished by its omission of articles, relatives, connectives, personal, demonstrative and other pronouns, [etc.].
1992 Internat. Encycl. Ling. I. 327/1 In Agaw..cliticized conjunctions and auxiliary elements have fused with the personal endings to form a system of fifty or more ‘tenses’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > the Trinity > [adjective] > of substance of
personal1548
hypostatical1561
subsistential1620
hypostatic1678
1548 E. Gest Treat. againste Masse sig. Ciiiv Soch..is the personal presence of christes godheade in hys manhode.
1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 168 When as by personal union with himselfe, he giveth to the same body a far higher and more inconceivable manner of being.
10. Attractive, handsome; presentable; = personable adj. 1a. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [adjective] > specifically of persons
faireOE
seemlya1225
featous1340
jolly?a1366
tretis?a1366
comelya1375
covenablea1375
well-beseenc1374
favourablea1398
farrandc1400
personable?1435
well-favoureda1438
covenantc1440
likelyc1450
trety?c1450
tret1488
decore?a1513
jimp?a1513
wally?a1513
smotter?1520
snout-fair1530
well-looking1613
comely-looking1648
personal1658
comely-looked1664
winsome1677
tidy1714
good-looking1715
well to be seen1809
1658 J. Rowland Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 40 A goodly well proportioned and personal [1601 personable] Prince.
c1760 Charlton House Papers in Sussex Archaeol. Coll. (1858) 10 47 I am told that the lad is very personal with his own hair.
1888 E. Lynn Linton Thro' Long Night i. viii She..made him out at last to be really quite personal and presentable.
B. n.† 2. Theology. Any of the names of the three persons of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Obsolete. rare.† 4. A person. Obsolete. rare.† 5. In plural. Remarks or observations relating to or aimed at a particular individual; = personality n. 6b. Obsolete. rare.
1. In plural. Things belonging to a particular person; personal items, property, or †documents (obsolete); personalty. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > personal or movable property
feec888
goodOE
chateus1297
moblea1325
farec1330
harness1340
gearc1380
plentiesc1384
goods and cattel1418
pelfa1425
testament1424
movables1428
personals1436
stuff1438
cattle1473
cabow1489
chattel1549
chattel personal1552
goods and chattels1576
luggage1624
corporeals1647
effects1657
chose1670
personalities1753
stock1776
plunder1780
personal effects1818
personalty1827
taonga1863
marbles1864
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or restricted in application > [noun] > quality of being particular or not general > quality of being personal > quality of being intimate or private > private or personal matters
privityc1300
private1549
privacya1625
personals1747
personalia1864
1436 in M. Sellers York Mercers & Merchant Adventurers (1918) 45 (MED) This personalles er resayved be Thomas Kyrke, maister, Thomas Crathorn and Robert Holtby, constables.
1724 Briton No. 24. 106 The Personals of the Nation belong not to this Enquiry.
1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. xxxi. 196 Shall my vanity extend only to personals?
1751 E. Haywood Hist. Betsy Thoughtless I. ii. 13 All his personals, which were very considerable in the bank,..should be equally divided.
1824 R. Southey Bk. of Church (1841) vi. 57 The personals he distributed among the poor.
1840 R. H. Barham Some Acct. New Play in Ingoldsby Legends 1st Ser. 315 N. takes the personals; A., in requital, Keeps the whole real property, Mansion, and Title.
1869 J. G. Austin Cipher iii. 10 His father..executed a bill bequeathing the estate of Cragness and the personals to his youngest son, and all the remainder of his property..to Egbert.
1990 G. Bear Queen of Angels (1991) ii. xxxviii. 187 She stood, gathered up her personals and followed three tired looking longsuited men.
2003 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 21 June (News review section) 46 Sidepockets for storing personals and a clip-out carpet add to the cockpit's amenity.
ΚΠ
1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) i. sig. Aiv The names shewynge, betokenynge, or specifyenge the godly or dyuyne persones, be namyd personalles or vocinalles.
3. Grammar. A personal verb, noun, or pronoun (see sense A. 8, personal noun n. at Compounds, and personal pronoun n. at Compounds). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > pronoun > [noun] > personal pronoun
personal pronoun1668
personal1795
c1525 T. Linacre Rudimenta Grammatices sig. D4v Personals somtyme impersonals... These .vi. verbes..whan they stande as personals,..they may haue an accusatiue after them.
1691 O. Walker Some Instr. in Art Gram. 45 Some of them [sc. Verbs] are Personals, and have oftentimes their Suppositum expressed.
1795 L. Murray Eng. Gram. 96 These personals are superfluous.
1845 J. Stoddart Gram. in Encycl. Metrop. (1847) I. 45/1 It might, perhaps, have been better..if the words which we are now considering had been arranged in a class between the personals and the article.
1888 Amer. Anthropologist 1 93 The correct form of the personals is: I, k-ena. We, k-entikon, [etc.]
1925 Amer. Jrnl. Philol. 46 87 Under pronouns the personals and demonstratives only are given, the rest omitted.
1987 Language 63 301 The dual and plural have a gender division between masculine personals (nouns referring to male humans) and the rest.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [noun]
hadc900
lifesmaneOE
maneOE
world-maneOE
ghostOE
wyeOE
lifeOE
son of manOE
wightc1175
soulc1180
earthmanc1225
foodc1225
person?c1225
creaturec1300
bodyc1325
beera1382
poppetc1390
flippera1400
wat1399
corsec1400
mortal?a1425
deadly?c1450
hec1450
personagec1485
wretcha1500
human1509
mundane1509
member1525
worma1556
homo1561
piece of flesh1567
sconce1567
squirrel?1567
fellow creature1572
Adamite1581
bloat herringa1586
earthling1593
mother's child1594
stuff1598
a piece of flesh1600
wagtail1607
bosom1608
fragment1609
boots1623
tick1631
worthy1649
earthlies1651
snap1653
pippin1665
being1666
personal1678
personality1678
sooterkin1680
party1686
worldling1687
human being1694
water-wagtail1694
noddle1705
human subject1712
piece of work1713
somebody1724
terrestrial1726
anybody1733
individual1742
character1773
cuss1775
jig1781
thingy1787
bod1788
curse1790
his nabs1790
article1796
Earthite1814
critter1815
potato1815
personeityc1816
nibs1821
somebody1826
tellurian1828
case1832
tangata1840
prawn1845
nigger1848
nut1856
Snooks1860
mug1865
outfit1867
to deliver the goods1870
hairpin1879
baby1880
possum1894
hot tamale1895
babe1900
jobbie1902
virile1903
cup of tea1908
skin1914
pisser1918
number1919
job1927
apple1928
mush1936
face1944
jong1956
naked ape1965
oke1970
punter1975
1678 C. Hatton Let. 18 June in E. M. Thompson Corr. Family of Hatton (1878) I. 163 Soe yt neither I nor any personells shall receive any prejudice by what I shall disclose to you.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > [noun] > personal
personals1741
personality1769
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxii. 227 We are going into Personals again, Gentlemen and Ladies, said the Earl.
1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons I. ii. iii. 198 Must I go bonnet in hand and simper forth, the sleek personals of the choice of her kith and house?
6. = personnel n. 1a; (occasionally) a member of personnel.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to conditions > [noun] > employee > collectively
personal1818
personnel1819
staff1837
stab1864
staff-room1925
staff1955
liveware1966
1818 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 4 159 The personal of the establishments to be under the joint direction of the founder [etc.].
1833 Westm. Rev. Apr. 308 The personal of the army or navy.
1920 Classical Philol. 15 174 The fighting personal..arrogated to himself an amount of independent thought and action which was quite on a par with that claimed by the Greek soldier.
1988 Financial Times (Nexis) 22 Aug. (Overseas news section) 3 The foreign delegations had held up better in the sweltering heat than some army personal who fainted and had to be carried off.
7. Originally U.S. A classified advertisement or message placed in a newspaper or posted on a website by a private individual; (now esp.) such an advertisement seeking a romantic partner. In early use also: a newspaper article about a particular person or group of persons.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > journalism > journal > matter of or for journals > [noun] > other matter in journals
open letter1798
yell1827
court circular1841
magazine story1841
personal1860
pictorial1906
full spread1913
sidebar1937
lede1951
news peg1960
society > communication > journalism > journal > parts and layout of journals > [noun] > other sections or columns
Poets' Corner1733
situations wanted1809
situations vacant1819
feuilleton1845
roman feuilleton1845
home page1860
personal1860
society page1883
City page1893
women's page1893
book page1898
ear1901
film guide1918
op-ed1931
masthead1934
magazine section1941
write-in1947
listings1971
1860 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) 25 Aug. 101/1 Our eyes would be gladdened by ‘Personals’ like the following. To Augustus [etc.].
1875 J. G. Holland Sevenoaks viii. 103 Returning..to look over the papers, his eye was attracted, among the ‘personals’, to an item [etc.].
1913 Collier's 1 Feb. 17/3 He inserts a ‘personal’ in a New York newspaper under her initials.
1968 L. Durrell Tunc iii. 166 He had invented what he called the mnemon which he insisted was a literary form... Times Personals of a slightly surrealist tinge.
2002 Diva Mar. 16/1 Just a couple of years ago, we may have mumbled untruths about meeting a new lover instead of owning up to posting an online personal.
8. U.S. Sport (esp. Basketball). = personal foul n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > basketball > [noun] > foul
technical foul1878
personal1914
technical1917
foul trouble1931
profit foul1952
1914 Decatur (Illinois) Rev. 7 Mar. 5/4 Floyd (Punk) Miller of the J. M. U. team was also put out for getting four personals.
1952 N.Y. Times 26 Feb. 31/1 Late in the third period, every Irish starter had four personals against him and had to move with caution.
1989 Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) (Nexis) 25 Jan. c5 One of the reasons they were able to get close to us was that Sullivan, Cue, and Devine were playing with four personals.
9. colloquial. A personal friend. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > friend > personal friend
intimate1828
personal1961
1961 Listener 21 Dec. 814/3 Reynard La Spoon, the choreographer—he's a close personal, ent he, Jule?
C. adv.
colloquial. to take (something) personal: = to take (a thing) personally at personally adv. 3c.
ΚΠ
1829 E. Fitzball Flying Dutchman ii. iii. 31 Oh! if you'd call anybody a contemptible fool—I don't take it personal—I think I had better adjourn.
1845 T. B. Thorpe Big Bear of Arkansas 27 If my gun did not snap, call me a coward, and I won't take it personal.
1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xvi. 186 Lem's different. He takes things personal.
1985 J. Kelman Chancer (1987) 31 Before she could answer Robert said: Look at her! An hour home from my work and that's her off to bed out the road—I'm beginning to take it personal!
1997 P. Carey Jack Maggs (1998) lxvi. 244 I'm sorry, Jack. Don't take it personal. I sell nothing here but what is up and up.
Compounds
personal ad n. an advertisement or notice of a personal nature placed in a newspaper, esp. one from a person seeking a sexual or romantic partner.
ΚΠ
1878 People's Vindicator (Natchitoches, Louisiana) 28 Sept. 1/6 (headline) Some Personal Ads.
1882 Richwood (Ohio) Reporter 28 Jan. We shall oppose wrong, immorality, vice, and wrong doings of any person or class of people, nor will our columns be open to personal ‘ads’ for the purpose of ridicule.
1949 Billboard 31 Dec. 29/3 The personal ad section of the local paper.
2001 B. Hatch Internat. Gooseberry 66 A sense of humour is the most valued characteristic in modern society—it's what people claim to look for in personal ads—GSOH.
personal alarm n. a small portable alarm, esp. one which, when activated, alerts others that the user requires assistance.
ΚΠ
1954 Times 15 Mar. 2/4 Fire patrols were below the recommended standard, and no personal alarms for each patrolman were supplied.
1973 N.Y. Times 26 Sept. 45/8 Public schools will use more security devices, including pen-size personal alarms for teachers.
1999 London (Ont.) Free Press (Electronic ed.) 20 Feb. f10 Usually I carry a personal alarm. I'd left it in the house. My dog went for help.
personal allowance n. (a) a sum of money given to cover personal expenses, or for personal use; (b) a person's tax allowance.
ΚΠ
1796 W. Moss Liverpool Guide 121 The Mayor..has a personal allowance of 800l. a year for private contingences.
1880 St. Joseph (Mich.) Herald 8 May 1/6 Her personal allowance was a hundred and twenty thousand dollars a year, but she was perpetually running in debt.
1920 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 83 88 Abatements and personal allowances reduce this large total to a ‘net income paying tax’ of only 14,750,000l.
1977 U.S. News & World Rep. (Nexis) 13 June 73 They estimate Zhitkov earns at least 1,000 rubles a month when all his personal allowances are included.
2002 Which? Tax Saving Guide 21/1 You can ask your tax office to ‘split’ your personal allowance between both jobs, so that you don't pay tax on either of them.
personal appearance n. (a) the attendance or presence of an (esp. important) individual in person; (b) the visual aspect of a person, considered in terms of dress, grooming, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > presence > [noun] > presence in person
personal appearance1585
personality1648
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > [noun]
onseneeOE
bleea1000
shapeOE
ylikeOE
laitc1175
semblanta1225
sightc1275
fare1297
showingc1300
specea1325
parelc1330
guise1340
countenance1362
semblance?a1366
apparel1377
regardc1380
apparencec1384
imagec1384
spicec1384
overseeminga1398
kenninga1400
seemingc1400
visage1422
rinda1450
semenauntc1450
'pearance1456
outwardc1475
representation1489
favour?a1500
figurea1522
assemblant1523
prospect?1533
respect1535
visure1545
perceiverance1546
outwardshine1549
view1556
species1559
utter-shape1566
look1567
physiognomy1567
face1572
paintry1573
visor1575
mienc1586
superficies?1589
behaviour1590
aspect1594
complexion1597
confrontment1604
show1604
aira1616
beseeminga1616
formality1615
resemblancea1616
blush1620
upcomea1630
presentment1637
scheme1655
sensation1662
visibility1669
plumage1707
facies1727
remark1748
extrinsica1797
exterior1801
showance1820
the cut of one's jib1823
personnel1839
personal appearance1842
what-like1853
look-see1898
outwall1933
visuality1938
prosopon1947
1585 Act 27 Eliz. c. 3 §6 A Priuy Seale, commanding the same heire to make personall appearance in the Court.
1610 S. Rid Martin Mark-all sig. A3 They presently send to the Beadle of the Hall to make his personal appearance at the Swan with five necks in Kings Streete.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. viii. 277 Comparing notes on..my personal appearance, with as much indifference as if I were a stuffed figure.
1914 G. B. Shaw Fanny's Last Play Pref., in Misalliance 152 Mr Trotter..assisted the make-up by which Mr Claude King so successfully simulated his personal appearance.
1990 Tennis July 25/2 Guarantees could easily be masked as payments for personal appearances.
personal banker n. an individual, or group of individuals, appointed to look after the financial affairs of, or act as a bank for, a particular person, spec. (in later use) an employee of a bank assigned to look after the account of a particular (esp. valued) customer.
ΚΠ
1884 Daily Gaz. (Colorado Springs) 11 Dec. Wilkinson Bros., personal bankers, closed this morning. Their affairs are in the hands of a receiver.
1915 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 6 Feb. 5/1 Since he retired from active business, he said, he has been acting as a personal banker for widows and his friends, investing their funds.
1962 William & Mary Q. 19 395 He was the planters' personal banker, their first and last source of credit.
2001 Independent 21 Mar. (Business Review section) 1/3 Each Coutts customer has a personal banker who advises on a full range of investment products.
personal best n. Sport the best score, time, etc., achieved by an individual (occasionally by a team) in a particular sporting event; also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1951 Times 4 June 7/4 D. G. Pirie..was runner-up in 4min. 15.8sec., also beating his personal best time.]
1952 Times 28 Jan. 7/5 D. A. Tunbridge accomplished a personal best when securing his fourth consecutive successive in the..seven miles championship.
1992 J. Torrington Swing Hammer Swing! xiii. 121 If I turned in a personal best in that memorable sackrace, Becky herself was no slouch.
2000 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 3 Oct. 50 We really surpassed ourselves and took 0.9 sec off our personal best.
personal bill n. (a) an invoice or bill to an individual, rather than a company, etc.; (b) a private bill, usually introduced in the House of Lords, concerned with the estate, status, etc., of a particular individual (see also quot. 1844).
ΘΚΠ
society > law > [noun] > bill > general types of
overture1561
bill of review1623
transmiss1764
personal bill1844
remanet1845
private member's bill1872
counter-bill1880
Bill of Rights1892
proposition1911
1683 [see sense A. 1a].
1844 T. E. May Law of Parl. xxviii. 457 In the lords the term ‘private’ is applied technically to estate bills only, all other bills being distinguished as ‘local’ or ‘personal’, although in the standing orders no such distinction is expressed.
1973 Jrnl. House of Lords (1974) 14 Nov. 206 29/2 Personal Bills: Select Comee appointed.
2001 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) June 228/2 He began to pay his personal bills with checks from the Rose Law Firm books.
personal call n. (a) a visit or call made in person; (b) a telephone call in which the caller is charged only for time spent speaking to the particular person he or she has specified to the operator, plus a fixed service charge (now historical); (also) a telephone call on a private matter.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [noun] > call or message > types of
personal call1843
local call1882
ringback1895
long distance1902
private call1907
trunk-call1910
toll call1912
callback1914
overflow1924
picture message1929
alarm call1966
text message1977
text1990
1843 N. P. Willis in New Mirror 18 Nov. 109/1 The fashionables have returned from travel and are open to pasteboard and personal call.
1930 Telegr. & Telephone Jrnl. 16 70/2 Another important event of the past year was the introduction of the ‘personal’ call system in the Inland and Anglo-Continental trunk services.
1997 Cosmopolitan (U.K. ed.) May 222/3 Every office has a resident skiver, who swans in late..makes three personal calls before lunch, [etc.].
personal caller n. a client or customer who visits a business in person; a visitor.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > buying > buyer > [noun] > customer or client > types of customer
free-luncher1870
cash customer1879
sitter1890
account1929
wrap-up1938
personal caller1966
pick-your-owner1969
1966 Listener 25 Aug. 291 (advt.) Send now for a free copy... For personal callers—235 Grand Buildings, Trafalgar Sq., W.C.2. Tel.: WHItehall 8377.
1990 A. Morton-Cooper Returning to Nursing (BNC) 86 Copies are obtainable by post or to personal callers, from UKCC offices.
personal column n. a section of a newspaper devoted to advertisements or notices placed by private individuals; cf. sense B. 6.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > journalism > journal > parts and layout of journals > [noun] > specific columns
theatricals1763
gossip column1859
personal column1859
money column1871
social column1871
1859 [see sense A. 4d].
1948 Chicago Daily News 30 Aug. 19/3 German newspapers have ‘personal’ columns filled with advertisements for mates.
1993 T. Watada Daruma in E. Philips & G. Ursell Grain 57 If I place an ad in the Personal Column of the Globe and Mail and tell the truth (as far as it goes) will you answer?
personal construct n. Psychology (according to some theories of personality) a personal mental model of how the world or some aspect of it works, which is tested against experience and revised accordingly, and is part of a system of constructs which shape a person's expectations, emotional reactions, thinking, and behaviour.
ΚΠ
1952 S. M. Poch (title of Ph.D. diss., Ohio State Univ.) A study of changes in personal constructs as related to interpersonal prediction & its outcome.
1968 J. F. Rychlak Philos. Sci. for Personality Theory xiii. 470 Depending upon the theory one wishes to invoke at this point, the meaningful conceptions may be such things as self-concepts, phenomenal fields, life lines, personal constructs, [etc.].
1992 Disability Now May 14/2 In personal construct theory..we become the person that we perceive ourselves to be.
personal contract n. Law (a) a contract depending on the existence or particular skills of one of the parties involved; (b) a contract of employment negotiated directly between an employer and employee, rather than through a collective bargaining process.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal obligation > contract > [noun] > other contracts
lease1483
mutuum1486
pre-contract1563
surcontract1584
nudum pactum1603
contract of location1604
subcontract1660
mandate1781
personal contract1831
protocol1842
severable contract1848
employment contract1891
standard form contract1908
recording contract1922
record contract1924
recording deal1943
record deal1945
EULA1992
1831 Law Jrnl. 9 214/1 The construction of personal contracts depends on the lex loci contractus.
1882 C. Sweet Dict. Eng. Law 200 A personal contract is one which depends upon the existence, or the personal qualities, skill, or services of one of the parties: such as a contract of marriage, or a contract to paint a picture.
1995 Industr. Cases Rep. 407 The employers, a port authority, offered their manual grade staff personal contracts of employment in lieu of collective bargaining with the employees' trade union.
personal data n. personal information about an individual; now esp. confidential information about someone's finances, medical history, etc., that is stored electronically.
ΚΠ
1855 N.-Y. Daily Times 7 Sept. 1/2 The Biography of Mademoiselle Rachel..[was] compiled from a variety of sources, with the personal data supplied by her brother.
1969 Washington Post 27 June a 24/3 The invasion of privacy I am concerned with takes place with the extraction of sensitive personal data from individuals, not in the handling of such confidential data in statistical form.
2018 New Scientist 14 July 23/1 The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force in May, places restrictions on how people's personal data can be used to make automated decisions.
personal day n. North American a paid or unpaid day of leave from work for reasons other than illness or holiday, taken at the employee's discretion; an entitlement to such leave.
ΚΠ
1970 Indiana (Pa.) Evening Gaz. 15 Dec. 9/5 The board granted pay for one inservice day and one personal day to..teachers in the district, for time away from their posts during the first three days of the school term.
1982 Frederick (Maryland) Post 16 Aug. d4/2 (advt.) Good fringe benefits, vacation, holidays, personal days for example.
2003 J. C. Rosenberg Last Days 75 They didn't take sick days. They didn't take personal days or mental health days or vacations. They were driven, like he was.
personal diligence n. Scots Law (now rare) a process for enforcing the payment of a debt, etc.: (a) by imprisonment of the debtor (as opposed to confiscation of property); (b) by confiscation of the debtor's movables (as opposed to confiscation of real or heritable estate).
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > legal seizure or recovery of property > [noun] > seizing lands or goods > attachment of person or property for debt
arresting1424
restc1500
diligence1568
personal diligence1700
personal executiona1768
1700 in J. Stuart Misc. Spalding Club (1846) III. 177 A reductione of a bond doth hinder personall diligence in a civile cace.
a1768 J. Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. (1773) II. iv. iii. §24 The power of staying the execution of personal diligence might, if abused, greatly impair the right competent to creditors for the recovery of their debts.
1886 H. Goudy Law of Bankruptcy 644 By the Debtors' Act, 1880, and the Civil Imprisonment Act, 1882, personal diligence has been, with a few unimportant exceptions, altogether abolished.
1996 Sc. Law Times (Lexis) 16 Mar. The court..would not be able to intervene ex proprio motu, and in advance, to prevent imprisonment proceeding upon a personal diligence initiated by the pursuer.
personal effects n. personal possessions or luggage as distinguished from merchandise, etc.
ΚΠ
1818 Gentleman's Mag. 88 201/2 Though the personal effects do not exceed 140,000l. there are real estates sufficient to complete the second plumb.
1921 C. Crow Travelers' Handbk. China (ed. 3) 8 Travelers should note that..if goods other than personal effects are taken out of the country it is necessary to pass them through the customs before they can be accepted by the shipping companies.
2002 Times 7 Mar. 8/7 A fake stamp bearing the name of a celebrated French flute-maker has been discovered among Watt's personal effects in the Science Museum.
personal equation n. [after German Personal-Gleichung (F. W. Bessel, 1822)] the correction required in scientific observations (originally in astronomy) to compensate for the habitual inaccuracy of an individual observer; (in extended use) the component of a situation which relates to or arises from an individual's personal qualities.
ΚΠ
1841 Monthly Notices Royal Astron. Soc. 14 May 113 Each observer is made to determine his own horizontal point, some slight disagreement between the results of different observers, similar to what in transit observing is called personal equation, having been recognised.
1881 N.Y. Nation 32 430 The scientific genealogists of the more advanced school, who settle the problem off-hand, often in accordance with their personal equation.
1960 F. G. Mann & B. C. Saunders Pract. Org. Chem. (ed. 4) iv. 436 The precise value of the constant depends largely on the ‘personal equation’ of the observer.
1993 R. Foley Working without Net i. 11 The aim is..for juries..to use the views of ordinary members of the community to generate a standard that ‘eliminates the personal equation’.
ΚΠ
a1768 J. Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. (1773) II. iv. iii. §24 Creditors sometimes grant voluntarily a surcease of personal execution in behalf of their debtor, which is commonly called a supersedere.
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 395 Personal diligence, or execution in civil causes, is warranted almost exclusively by letters of horning and caption.
personal explanation n. a statement made by a member of parliament in explanation or mitigation of recent conduct.
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society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > excuse > [noun] > made by member of parliament
personal explanation1844
1844 T. E. May Law of Parl. xi. 195 (heading) Personal explanation.
1857 Sat. Rev. 14 Feb. 152/2 That green oasis in the desert of legislation..a personal explanation, which, in Mr. Disraeli's hands, was pretty sure to include also a personal attack.
1974 House of Commons Man. Procedure Publ. Business (ed. 11) viii. 116 By the indulgence of the House, a Member may make a personal explanation, although there is no question before the House, but in this case no debatable matter may be brought forward, and no debate can arise.
2003 Gold Coast (Australia) Bull. (Nexis) 18 Oct. The first hour of every sitting day is devoted to such things as..personal explanations and private members statements.
personal finance n. (often in plural) an individual or family's income, expenditure, assets, and other financial affairs (as distinguished from those of a country, organization, business, etc.).Cf. public finance n. (a) at public adj. and n. Compounds 1b.
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1828 S. Beazley Roué (N.Y. ed.) II. xvii. 173 In the state of Trevor's personal finances Leslie knew that he would be unable to pay this sum.
1848 Times 8 Dec. 6/3 The poorer deputies were driven to great straits in the matter of personal finance.
1914 N. Amer. Rev. Oct. 485 One who..could not assume to possess exceptional knowledge of the many intricate problems pertaining to National, State, commercial, and personal finance.
2000 PS Nov. 193/1 Just keep an eye on your personal finances, which may be on a roller-coaster right now.
2019 Times (Nexis) 7 Sept. 56 Politicians tend to focus on personal finance—income tax, stamp duty and pensions—in the lead-up to a general election.
personal flotation device n. originally and chiefly North American personal flotation device, a buoyancy aid for individual use as a water safety measure or in emergencies, esp. a wearable one such as a life jacket; abbreviated PFD n. at P n. Initialisms.
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1972 News (Frederick, Maryland) 17 Mar. b2/1 Until now, only motor boats were required to carry personal flotation devices, the name the Coast Guard uses for life preservers.
2004 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 28 Feb. a1 He was not wearing a survival suit, only a personal flotation device around his neck that inflates using a cartridge of carbon dioxide.
personal foul n. U.S. Sport (esp. Basketball) a foul involving physical contact with an opponent; cf. sense B. 7.
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1910 Indianapolis Star 16 Jan. (Sporting section) 3/2 A man from each team was put off the floor because of the five personal foul rules.
1965 J. McPhee Sense of where you Are ii. 55 An aggressive defensive player has to take the risk of committing five personal fouls.
2002 Atlanta (Georgia) Jrnl.-Constit. 4 Jan. 1 c Miami beat Texas 46-3 but set a bowl record with 16 penalties for 202 yards, most of the personal-foul variety.
personal god n. a god possessing the nature or attributes of a person; spec. (with capital initial) the Christian God.
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the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > possessing personal attributes
personal god1829
1829 [see sense A. 5b].
1921 G. B. Shaw Back to Methuselah p. xlii Everything that happened in the world was the arbitrary personal act of an arbitrary personal god of dangerously jealous and cruel personal character.
1992 New Republic 11 May 36/3 The defense of a personal God against those theologians who were sliding toward a notion of depersonalized Spirit.
personal government n. a system of autocratic rule in which effective power is vested in the person of a monarch; spec. that associated with the reign of George III.
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society > authority > rule or government > a or the system of government > monarchical government > [noun] > types of
limited monarchy1643
personal government1849
1849 Examiner 1 Dec. 754/2 Stronger than his dynastic ambition is his love of direct personal government.
1874 A. Trollope Phineas Redux I. xxxiii. 276 One..advocates the personal government of an individual ruler, and the other that form of State which has come to be called a Red Republic.
1909 W. Toynbee Glimpses of Twenties i. 1 George the Third..ascended the throne with a fixed determination to re-establish ‘personal government’, which quickly aroused the misgivings of even his best-affected subjects.
1991 R. Grant Royal Forests of Eng. (BNC) 143 During the period of his personal government, however, Henry III was compelled by shortage of money to follow the practice of Richard I and John of selling charters of disafforestment.
personal high n. originally and chiefly U.S. = personal best n.
ΚΠ
1946 N.Y. Times 27 Jan. v. 1/8 The..junior, returning to competition after two years of service as a fighting private in the Marines, hit a new personal high with his winning effort.
2004 Daily Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 10 Mar. 11 Mr Latham yesterday hit a personal high of 39 per cent on who would make the best PM.
personal hygiene n. the action, habit, or practice of keeping oneself clean, esp. as a means of maintaining good health.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning or cleanliness of the person > [noun]
personal hygiene1859
1859 J. Bell Rep. Importance Sanitary Meas. to Cities 164 The consentaneous..action of the lungs and skin, is not so generally known or attended to as is demanded by the interests and both public and personal hygiene.
1922 H. Crane Let. 24 Dec. (1965) 110 I am growing bald trying to scratch up new ideas in housekeeping and personal hygiene.
1996 Independent 10 Feb. (Weekend section) 9/7 A lank-haired upstart with dubious personal hygiene.
personal identity n. (a) Philosophy the condition or fact of being one person, or remaining the same person throughout the various phases of existence; continuity of the personality; (b) gen. the essential or intrinsic character of an individual.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > [noun] > individuality or selfhood
personage1531
selfhood1568
identity1596
selfness1611
personship1645
egoity1651
I-hood1653
ipseity1659
inbeing1661
minehood1662
my-ness1662
selfship1664
personal identity1694
seity1709
personality1710
proprium1781
me1828
I-shipa1834
I-ety1835
selfdom1848
ownhood1856
I-ness1870
ego-hood1873
1694 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding (new ed.) ii. xxvii. 181 Consciousness always accompanies thinking,..in this alone consists personal Identity, i.e. the sameness of a rational Being.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. i. 11 Personal Identity, or the Sameness of living Agents.
1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic ix. 288 What we mean by Personal Identity is sameness of substance under great differences of phenomenal manifestation.
1979 M. Burnyeat in T. Honderich & M. Burnyeat Philos. as it Is 183 When philosophers talk of personal identity they have in mind the rather more precise notion involved in questions of the form ‘Is X the same person as Y?’
2003 Union Leader (Manchester, New Hampsh.) (Nexis) 12 Oct. a1 Schopik advises potential victims of violence to maintain a sense of personal identity. ‘It can make it harder for the perpetrator to harm a person..if he thinks of him as an individual’.
personal information manager n. Computing a piece of software for organizing information such as reminders, lists, and schedules; (also, occasionally) a hand-held device that makes use of such software.
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1985 Business Week 21 Jan. 110/2 DayFlo had fogged its pitch by describing the personal computer program as a ‘fluid format, personal information manager’.
1993 Wired Dec. 39/1 (advt.) It is a full-featured, hand-held personal information manager, with a new, easy-to-use graphical interface.
2001 Contact May 31/1 Palmtops..have been designed to synchronise with desktop PIMs (personal information managers), Microsoft Outlook being the most common.
personal injury n. injury inflicted on a person, esp. to the body; (Law) such injury as opposed to damage to a person's property or reputation.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > [noun]
clakec1000
wemming1100
hurt?c1225
un-i-soundc1275
breach1398
wrethec1400
discomfiture1599
tort1632
personal injury1653
punishment1811
insult1903
sports injury1932
1653 A. Warren 8 Reasons Categorical 3 Where one Action is brought upon a Disseisure,..an hundred are brought for Personall Injuries, Debts, not of Record, Trespasses, &c.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 156 I..was not very anxious about what might befall me, provided they did me no personal Injury.
1882 C. Sweet Dict. Eng. Law 602 A personal injury is an injury to the person of an individual, such as an assault, as opposed to an injury to his property, such as a trespass.
1996 Pulse 20 Apr. 56/2 Any action for personal injury must be brought by a patient within three years of an event.
personal ledger n. Accounting a ledger containing personal accounts, chiefly those of debtors and creditors, as opposed to nominal accounts (cf. nominal ledger n. at nominal adj. and n. Compounds).
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1864 R. Morris Banks of N.Y. x. 233 The balance must show what amount of deposits there is on the personal ledgers.
2003 Chicago Daily Law Bull. (Nexis) 16 Oct. 3 The appeals court also wasn't persuaded by Raspberry's contention that Egan erred in admitting a personal ledger found in the defendant's bedroom.
personal liberty n. the freedom of an individual to act as he or she wishes.
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society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [noun] > specifically of persons
voluntariness1643
personal liberty1655
freedom of association1833
1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 78 Personal liberty being thus setled, next they fall upon..the unbilleting of Souldiers and nulling of Martiall Law in times of peace.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. i. 141 Three great and primary rights, of personal security, personal liberty, and private property.
1861 J. S. Mill in Fraser's Mag. Dec. 660/1 It is..considered unjust to deprive any one of his personal liberty.
1995 Guardian 16 Mar. ii. 2/3 Coalitions of ranchers, industrialists and small farmers..argue that environmentalists interfere deeply with personal liberty.
personal loan n. Finance a loan made to an individual for his or her private requirements by a finance company or bank.
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society > trade and finance > financial dealings > moneylending > [noun] > loan > other loans
precarium1681
call loan1848
home loan1851
personal loan1853
short-loan1865
student loan1889
subprime1975
1853 J. C. Spencer Argument Def. Rev. Eliphalet Nott 9 These transactions..were thus promulgated as personal loans for speculative purposes.
1914 Laws State N.Y. II. 1435 When authorized by the superintendent of banks..three or more persons..may form a corporation to be known as a personal loan company.
1990 Do it Yourself Apr. 18/2 If your stake in your home is too small for a secured loan, you may be able to take out an unsecured or personal loan from a bank, building society or finance company.
personal name n. the name by which an individual or (occasionally) a thing is identified or known; a first name.
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the mind > language > naming > name or appellation > [noun] > personal name
personal namea1631
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) IV. 290 This personall name of the Father (It pleased the Father) is but added suppletorily by our Translators, and is not in the Originall.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iv. 477 The supreme God amongst the Pagans, was Polyonymous, and worshipped under several Personal Names.
1748 B. Martin Inst. Lang. 27 Proper or personal names are such as denote the individuals of each species; as Cæsar,..London, Paris, &c.
1871 E. B. Tylor Primitive Culture I. viii. 276 Up from this savage level the same childlike habit of giving personal names to lifeless objects may be traced, as we read of Thor's hammer, Miölnir.
1990 Orientations Apr. 38/1 Since they are referred to only in honorifics, not by personal names, a connection is impossible to prove.
personal noun n. Grammar a noun identifying a person.
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a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 10 Of personal nownes [L. Nominum personalium] somme beþ I-seid of o persone allone, as pater, filius, & spiritus sanctus..and somme of tweyne.
1712 W. Hamilton Mystagogus Lillianus 25 A Pronoun is a Part of Speech much like to a Noun... Some hold it to be a Personal Noun.
1860 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 4 249 Klaproth finds a great resemblance between the personal nouns among the Huns and the Avars of Hunzah.
1997 Hispanic Rev. 65 238 His analysis reveals that a(d) first appeared before personal nouns and pronouns as a substitute for the dative.
personal oath n. †(a) = corporal oath at corporal adj. 5a (obsolete); †(b) an oath of allegiance made to, or in the name of, a particular person, esp. a monarch (obsolete); (c) an oath made or signed by a particular person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > assertion or affirmation > [noun] > solemn > ratified by touching a sacred object
bodily oath1488
corporal oath1534
personal oath1587
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 1/1 He tooke his personall oth before the altar of S. Peter at Westmister, to defend the holie church, and rulers of the same.
1791 T. Paine Rights of Man iv The remainder of the oath [sc. ‘the nation, the law, and the king’] is improper, on the ground, that all personal oaths should be abolished.
1866 Times 16 Apr. 6/6 This important act of homage might be performed by merely taking a personal oath of allegiance.
1900 Amer. Hist. Rev. 5 451 The lords in parliament..were asked to take a personal oath to support the statute.
2002 Washington Post (Nexis) 10 July 33 A controversial rule requiring CEOs to sign a personal oath that their books aren't cooked and that they'll accept personal liability.
personal organizer n. a device for the systematic storage of personal information such as appointments and addresses, esp. one in the form of a pocket-sized folder or wallet containing loose-leaf sections; a pocket-sized computer or a piece of software fulfilling a similar function; cf. organizer n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > written record > arrangement and storage of written records > [noun] > filing > system
organizer1924
filing system1926
Filofax1931
personal organizer1954
agenda1977
Palm Pilot1996
1954 N.Y. Times Mag. 14 Nov. 66 (advt.) Memindex is..the greatest personal organizer ever developed... The ingenious, amazing easy-to-use system of classified transferable cards.
1985 Los Angeles Times 20 Aug. iv. 1/2 These busy people all rely on personal organizers—compact, three-ring binders designed to keep track of various aspects of one's life.
1988 Times 10 June 27/4 This shop..is the only one in the City to specialize in..the personal organizer, be it Filofax or one of the other makes.
2003 Managem. Today Jan. 29/3 It's a dual-band GSM mobile phone, 16Mb personal organiser and mobile internet browser, all in one..flip-front box.
personal pension plan n. a private pension scheme available to employed or self-employed individuals who are not members of an occupational scheme; (in later use) such a scheme created by government legislation.
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1936 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 7 Dec. 13/7 We had only one more step before being certain our personal pension plan was in good order.
2000 Observer 18 June (Cash section) 10/3 He could also compare the projected returns from the AVC scheme with what he would get by putting this contributions into a personal pension plan.
personal prelature n. a religious order designated a diocese with its own prelate.
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1981 Times 12 Jan. 9/1 The Pope referred the request for a personal prelature to Cardinal Baggio's department.
1989 Daily Tel. 24 Feb. 7/4 We have asked Rome for a personal prelature—a bishop or someone to be in charge of us.
2005 Kansas City (Missouri) Star (Nexis) 19 Oct. 1 Technically, it is a personal prelature, which means that all members of Opus Dei are responsible for their life and mission, not to the local bishop, but to the Prelate.
personal pronoun n. Grammar a pronoun which denotes a grammatical person, as (in English) I, you, and he, in its various genders, numbers, and cases.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > pronoun > [noun] > personal pronoun
personal pronoun1668
personal1795
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. 305 The Personal Pronouns, and any of the rest being us'd Substantively, are capable of Number and Case.
1765 W. Ward Ess. Gram. 128 The connexion of a personal pronoun with its antecedent is very different from that of a relative pronoun.
1856 D. M. Mulock John Halifax I. x. 229 We both intuitively supplied the noun to that indefinite personal pronoun.
1992 Eng. Today Jan. 39/2 Personal pronouns which..work quite differently from ellipses, are, of course, readily interpreted from context rather than from co-text.
personal protective equipment n. (also personal protection equipment) clothing and equipment designed to provide the wearer or user protection against hazardous substances or environments, or to prevent transmission of infectious diseases; abbreviated PPE (see PPE n.).
ΚΠ
1934 Monthly Labor Rev. May 1091 All workers exposed to possible external or internal contact with poisonous or other harmful material or substances shall be furnished suitable personal protective equipment, such as gloves, boots, aprons, special garments, tight-fitting goggles, respirators, or hoods.
1968 Financial Times 22 Mar. 12/4 Personal protection equipment provides the industrial worker with a barrier against misfortune.
2020 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 31 Mar. a 11 We need personal protective equipment to be able to continue to provide care for our patients.
personal recognizance n. (more fully personal recognizance bond) now U.S. = recognizance n. 1.
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society > law > legal obligation > bond or recognizance > [noun]
recognizancea1325
surety1417
band1521
estatute1584
bond1592
reconnoissance1666
muchalka1679
personal recognizance1818
1818 Times 2 Sept. 3/6 The interview proving unavailing, Mr. Hibbert entered into his personal recognizance to answer the offence at the ensuing sessions.
1908 Nebraska State Jrnl. 6 Nov. 10/1 The case of the state against the nine boys was continued yesterday.., the boys being released on a $100 personal recognizance bond each.
1972 L. Katz et al. Justice is Crime iv. 173 Release of the defendant on personal recognizance or to the custody of persons or organizations, with the further imposition of a periodic check-in requirement, may, in the long run, have lasting benefits.
2002 A. Behrman Electroboy (2003) vi. 181 Judge Nickerson releases me on a personal-recognizance bond and sets a sentencing date.
personal representative n. (a) Law an executor or administrator of the personal estate of a deceased person; (b) gen. a person responsible for representing another, or an establishment, esp. in a political or legal capacity.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > transfer of property > testamentary disposition > [noun] > management or disposal of estate > one who
executorc1280
secutora1300
minister1405
administrator1434
executor dative1526
ministrator1559
personal representative1796
1796 A. Anstruther Rep. Court of Exchequer 1 131 The personal representative is in general considered as trustee of the property devised from the testator, undisposed of, as belonging to him.
1832 J. Russell & J. W. Mylne Rep. Cases Chancery 1829–30 I. 589 The ordinary sense of the words ‘personal representatives’ is, executors and administrators.
1967 E. Rudinger Wills & Probate 40 The people who deal with what you own when you die are called your personal representatives.
1992 UNESCO Courier Mar. 46/3 He sent a personal representative to Dubrovnik to remind the authorities concerned of their obligations under the two Conventions.
personal service n. †(a) duty or service performed in person (obsolete); (b) Law the action or an act of serving process (process n. 5b) in person on a party or prospective party to legal proceedings; (c) a professional service involving direct communication or contact between the parties involved, frequently with connotations of particular attentiveness or responsiveness to individual needs.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > process, writ, warrant, or order > [noun] > writ > serving of writ
liverya1325
service1426
serving1465
personal service1582
1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie Peroration Partlie by graunting vs diuerse other exemptions from personall seruices & ordinarie paiments.
1662 J. Dauncey Eng. Lovers i. i. 5 Fortune would in time be so favourable to him as to put him into a capacity by some personal service to expresse the gratitude of his soul.
1670 T. Blount Νομο-λεξικον: Law-dict. at Ad quod damnum A Body Politick dies not, nor can perform personal service to the King..as single Persons may do.
1693 Rep. Court of Chancery Charles I to 20 Charles II 179 The course hath been upon Affidavit of personal Service of the Decree and an Attachment upon motion to grant an Injunction.
1739 R. Richardson Attorney's Pract. Court King's Bench 48 The Plaintiff upon making and filing an Affidavit of the personal Service of the Process, may file Common Bail for the Defendant.
1805 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. I. 106 The citizens [of Edinburgh] performed a species of personal service for defence of the town, called watching and warding.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxx. 317 ‘Beg your pardon, Mr. Pickwick,’ said Jackson... ‘But personal service, by clerk or agent, in these cases, you know, Mr. Pickwick—eh, Sir?’
1913 Chicago Tribune 16 Dec. 9/1 (advt.) We offer more than good merchandise; we offer personal service to you.
1993 Ski Surv. Feb. 6/1 This flexible alternative to regular skischool caters for all standards with attention to individual needs and personal service.
2009 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 6 Nov. 6 The Department of Work and Pensions served the initial summons by post. Magistrates adjourned the case..so the summons could be reissued by personal service.
personal shopper n. (a) a person who shops in person, rather than by mail order, etc.; (b) a person employed to make purchases on behalf of another.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > buying > buyer > [noun] > shopper > other shoppers
home buyer1774
comparison shopper1911
saler1928
personal shopper1941
home shopper1958
junker1968
teleshopper1976
shopaholic1977
power shopper1986
cybershopper1994
1941 William & Mary Q. 3 284 His importance as agent, banker, personal shopper, and friend deserves and receives emphasis.
1972 Harrods Christmas Catal. 58/1 Fresh pâté de foie gras... For personal shoppers only.
1991 Spy (N.Y.) Apr. 71/2 Her store..did have a personal shopper who would walk around..with customers and help them pick out things to buy.
personal tithe n. now historical a tithe paid on a person's earnings, or on the value of his or her labour, rather than on agricultural produce.
ΚΠ
1531 Dial. Lawes Eng. ii. l. f. cviv Thei say that there is no tythe but it is eyther a predial tythe, a personal tythe, or a myxte tythe.
1710 H. Prideaux Orig. & Right Tithes ii. 106 Although now it be the practice with us in setting out of Personal Tithes to separate the charges from the profits.., yet there was never any such thing in predial Tithes.
1824 D. Lysons View of Revenues Parochial Clergy 55 Personal tithes confessed to be due by law, should be urged upon oath as formerly.
2000 N. J. G. Pounds Hist. Eng. Parish vi. 214 It was relatively late..that personal tithes began to be demanded, reflecting perhaps the increasing proportion of the population that was now employed in commerce and the crafts.
personal totem n. (among certain peoples) a totem or spirit specific to an individual, as opposed to the clan or other group.
ΚΠ
1883 Trans. Anthropol. Soc. Washington 1882–3 2 136 The second figure, consisting of a circle, perhaps a shield, upon which is drawn a triradiate character, has reference to the personal totem of the individual.
1927 A. C. Parker Indian How Bk. (1931) v. li. 229 Among many of the tribes of the east and northeast every youth was required to secure a personal totem, or dream animal.
2014 S. Löchle in C. Rosenthal & S. Schäfer Fake Identity? 88 The precise circumstances under which the man acquires his personal totem are omitted.
personal touch n. a personal element introduced into something otherwise institutional or impersonal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or restricted in application > [noun] > quality of being particular or not general > quality of being personal > personal element
personal touch1876
1876 Atlantic Monthly Aug. 244/1 The style everywhere gives token of a sensitive personal touch from the author.
1887 S. A. Barnett Let. 12 Oct. in H. Barnett Canon Barnett (1918) II. xxxiii. 63 We talked of how workmen could be made at home in Toynbee. I am sure that attractions won't bring them, but only the personal touch.
1989 Which? Sept. 421/1 Despite the increase in electronic banking, you still think the personal touch is important.
personal watercraft n. originally and chiefly North American a single-person vehicle designed to travel on water, esp. a jet ski; such vehicles collectively.
ΚΠ
1987 Boating Industry Feb. 50/3 One possible contributing factor to the popularity of the personal watercraft—of whatever variety—is the decline of the motorcycle industry.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 5 Jan. iv. 2/6 Someone..will retrace the route of Shackleton's famous 800-mile winter open-boat journey..using a personal watercraft.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.adv.a1387