personallyadv.
/ˈpəːsn̩əli/, /ˈpəːsn̩l̩i/, /ˈpəːsənl̩i/, /ˈpəːs(ə)nəli/, U.S. /ˈpərs(ə)nəli/ 1.
a. In objective sense, expressing the direct relation of an action, feeling, etc., to the person specified: himself, themselves, etc. (as the object of some action, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > [adverb] > for or as oneself
personallya1325
properly1340
a1325 Statutes of Realm (2011) vii. 46 Þe lord king..hath istablist, þat ȝif ani deseisur personalliche inempde puth forth suuch excepcion..he sal ben iholde for deseisur biþoute reconisaunce of assise.
1425 Rolls of Parl. IV. 267/2 And so [certain lords] were personely set in possession.
1457–8 Plea & Mem. Rolls London Guildhall No. A81.5 (MED) We, the saide Mair and Aldermen..personelly did calle before vs þe said John Bracy.
a1525 Coventry Leet Bk. 289 We shall preserue you personally & neuer fro you disseuer.
?a1562 G. Cavendish Life Wolsey (1959) 182 To se hyme personally deade.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) v. iii. 159 To iustifie this worthy Noble man So vulgarly and personally accus'd. View more context for this quotation
1684 T. Hockin Disc. God's Decrees 342 This great truth is confirm'd and more personally applied in answer to S. Peters question.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 83 They had given me a great deal of ill Language too, I mean Personally.
1846 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 59 406 To one-half of the great proprietaries of the kingdom, a diminution of rent, even by a third, would make their possessors personally bankrupt.
1891 Law Times 90 409/1 The amended writ ought to have been served on them personally.
1988 M. Brodsky X in Paris 120 At each wave, Flatulong..turned grinningly to the waver as if it was he who had just been personally complimented.
2000 Times 8 June ii. 5/5 Rhoda was personally handed the divorce papers one day when Ben was out, and Rhoda's name was cited as correspondent.
b. In person; through one's personal presence or action; by oneself.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > presence > [adverb] > in person
personallya1398
personably1483
faciallya1633
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 168 Þe hebrewes..were worthi to see god in fyre and in cloude and to here him speke personaliche [a1450 Bodl. personallich; L. personaliter].
1450 Rolls of Parl. V. 181/2 William Tailbois..taken in baille..to appere bifore you personelly in your said Court at a certeyn day..appered not.
a1475 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1905) i. 35 Henry of seynt walerye yaf..xij shilling..to be yelded at Bertancourte whan the abbesse of Godestowe were ther personally.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour xxvi They them selfes wyll personally resorte & peruse all partes of the countrayes vnder their gouernaunce.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 933 He personally toke his ship at Douer..& sailed to Calice.
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. 71 b Called the Kings Bench..because Kings in former times haue often personally set there.
1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 576 Being very moderate, both in Sleep and Recreations, he did more Personally, than by his Servants and Ministers.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. (1793) I. xiv. 431 If the servant, going along the street with a torch, by negligence sets fire to a house..he..must himself answer the damage personally.
1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility III. xiii. 281 It was resolved that, instead of writing to Fanny, he should go to London, and personally intreat her good offices in his favour. View more context for this quotation
1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. iii. vii. 682 The Treasurer acted personally at the Exchequer.
1910 A. E. Bostwick Amer. Public Libr. 38 The user is allowed to go personally to the shelves and select his book.
1994 Hispanic Oct. 70 They made their tales even more intriguing by claiming to have witnessed them personally.
2. As a person; in the form or character of an individual person. Chiefly with reference to the Persons of the Trinity (see person n. 6a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [adverb]
personally1447
ad personama1628
1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 7809 (MED) The sone..To whom wyth þe fadyr consubstancyal The holy gost ys & coeternal; And þow þei personelly dystynct be, Yet in substaunce but oon þei arn al thre.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lii. 109 Christ is..a person diuine, because he is personallie the Sonne of God, humane, because he hath reallie the nature of the children of men.
1697 C. Leslie Snake in Grass (ed. 2) 154 After a Soul is Hypostatically, that is, Personally united to a Body, their separation is call'd Death.
a1729 J. Rogers 19 Serm. (1735) xiv. 293 The converted man is personally the same he was before.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 128 As God the Word, when He took human nature, came into it personally, so that the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in it.
c1900 N. Buchanan tr. A. Harnack Hist. Dogma (1961) II. 356 The Logos thus produced is really a personally existing being; he is not an impersonal force of the Father.
1985 J. Meyendorff in B. McGinn et al. Christian Spirituality (2000) ii. x. 233 The salvation of the world would not have occurred unless it was personally the Son of God who was born of the Virgin, and also personally suffered on the cross ‘according to the flesh’.
3.
a. In one's personal capacity or according to one's particular nature; as an individual person (as distinct from others); in a subjective rather than an objective way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > [adverb] > in an individual capacity
peculiarly1537
individually1614
personally1628
1628 G. Wither Britain's Remembrancer ii. 55 And None doth chuse, or personally reject (Whatever some conceive) but with respect Vnto his Covenant.
1644 C. Jessop Angel Church of Ephesus 11 The denomination is not to be taken..Singularly or Personally, but..collectively.
1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 72 Take them nationally or personally..they will behave well.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. ii. 31 As if the Readers were personally concerned, whether we fare well or ill.
1813 R. Wilson Private Diary II. 275 The approbation pre-anticipated by Lord Aberdeen on this subject, which concerns him so personally.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 226 Howe had, like Baxter, been personally a gainer by the recent change of policy.
1903 R. Ellis Lect. Commonit. Orientius 17 To myself personally the work has a peculiar interest.
1940 F. D. Dixon Woman at Mill III. 245 She was now going to..treat me as if I were personally responsible for the short-comings of the land of my birth.
1976 Physics Bull. May 194/3 Very often the individual engineer is held personally responsible.
b. As a sentence adverb: for my own part; as far as I am concerned.
ΚΠ
1854 E. C. Gaskell North & South xi. 84 in Househ. Words 7 Oct. 185/1 ‘Papa, I do think Mr Thornton a very remarkable man; but personally I don't like him at all.’ ‘And I do!’ said her father laughing. ‘Personally, as you call it, and all.’
1873 J. G. Holland Arthur Bonnicastle x. 169 Personally, I feel that I am suffering a great wrong.
1892 Illustr. Sporting & Dramatic News 28 May 382/2 Personally I would not take 100 to 1, to stand it out.
1933 N. Coward Design for Living i. i. 7 Personally, I never cared for her very much.
1976 Sounds 11 Dec. 40/2 Personally, I was in the throes of extreme post-teenage depression at the total unadventurousness of yer average British audience.
1995 Scotsman 18 Oct. 15/3 Personally, I think we have got enough problems in this life without trawling up earlier ones.
c. to take (a thing) personally: to interpret (a remark, action, etc.) as directed against oneself, and be upset or offended by it.
ΚΠ
1874 R. Broughton Nancy xv. 122 You need not take it personally. I assure you that it is no slur upon him.
1925 Social Forces 4 428/2 Many of his criticisms are very telling and his sarcasm is amusing, if you are sufficiently detached not to take it personally.
a1940 F. S. Fitzgerald Last Tycoon (1941) i. 17 You seem to take things so personally... You just ask to be kicked around.
1994 Amer. Spectator Nov. 44/2 You can't take it personally, you'd go crazy.
Compounds
personally conducted adj. guided by someone in person; performed in person.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > guidance in travel > [adjective] > accompanied by a guide
personally conducted1871
guided1909
1871 Times 27 Feb. 13/4 (advt.) Cook's Personally Conducted Tour to Italy for Easter will leave London on or about March 21.
1892 A. Dobson 18th Cent. Vignettes 223 A flying visit of..an hour, with a miscellaneous and ‘personally-conducted’ party.
1930 Nature Mag. Mar. 135/1 A personally-conducted, naturalist-led trip.
1998 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 92 943 A variety of results from personally conducted interviews and interpretations of media reports of North's appearance before Congress.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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