unpersonaln.adj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈpəːsn̩(ə)l/, /(ˌ)ʌnˈpəːsən(ə)l/, U.S. /ˌənˈpərs(ə)nəl/ Grammar. In the terminology of J. Palsgrave: = impersonal n. 1. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [noun] > impersonal verb
impersonalc1525
unpersonal1530
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 83 Of verbes..some be parsonal, and some be unparsonals.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 614 This verbe..is ever used as an unparsonal.
B. adj.
1. Not personal, generalized; not related to a particular individual. Also: impersonal, detached.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [adjective] > general or in common to various things > not peculiar to an individual
unpropera1616
improper1629
unpersonal1657
super-individuala1834
suprapersonal1873
transindividual1881
super-individualistic1893
super-individualist1934
1657 J. Stalham Reviler Rebuked i. 51 Let him well consider, that the holy Ghost dwelleth in the souls of Saints as well as in their bodies, let him beware of conceiving him..onely to be that un-personal energy, or operation which is in believers.
a1750 A. Hill Cleon to Lycidas in Wks. (1753) IV. 287 Unpersonal, the cheeks indignant glow, That blushes but for others.
1848 Dublin Rev. Sept. 165 His poetry is..ideal, or rather, so to speak, unpersonal. Very little of it deals with the realities of life.
1891 Cent. Dict. Unpersonal, not personal; not intended to apply to the person addressed, as a remark.
1963 F. T. Visser Hist. Syntax Eng. Lang. IV. 563 The first sentence is a neutral, un-emotional, un-personal statement.
1989 S. S. Tepper Grass viii. 146 Janetta.., dancing by herself, humming, lovely as a porcelain figure and as unpersonal.
2006 Numen 53 518 Widespread, inclusive, standardized, centralized, and unpersonal forms of religious practice.
2. Grammar. That does not relate to or designate any of the three grammatical persons. Cf. non-personal adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [adjective] > impersonal
impersonalc1414
unipersonal1824
unpersonal1874
1874 T. A. Goodwin Mode of Man's Immortality 152 The idiom of the Greek language indeed requires the use of this unpersonal pronoun [sc. it].
1906 E. Jacottet Pract. Method to learn Sesuto xii. 48 We can place the noun subject after the verb, which is then always preceded by the indefinite connective pronoun.., whatever may be the class and number of the subject. It is a kind of unpersonal construction.
1993 J. Kerstens Syntax of Number, Person & Gender vii. 224 Only an element denoting a place..can license an unpersonal passive.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.adj.1530