personal

Etymology

From Middle English personal, personele, from Anglo-Norman personel, personal, personell, Old French personal, personel, from Late Latin persōnālis (“of a person, personly”), equivalent to person + -al.

adj

1. Pertaining to persons (human beings as opposed to things or animals).
2. Of or pertaining to a particular person; relating to, or affecting, an individual, or each of many individuals
   personal values personal desire
   Her song was her personal look at the values of friendship.
   Despite personal schisms and differences in spiritual experience, there is a very coherent theology of Snape shared between the wives. To examine this manifestation of religious fandom, I will first discuss the canon scepticism and anti-Rowling sentiment that helps to contextualise the wider belief in Snape as a character who extends beyond book and film. 3 March 2014, Zoe Alderton, “‘Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion within the Harry Potter Fandom”, in Religions, volume 5, number 1, MDPI, →DOI, pages 219–257
   You could just use ordinary shop-bought kecap manis to marinade the meat, but making your own is easy, has a far more elegant fragrance and is, above all, such a great brag! Flavouring kecap manis is an intensely personal thing, so try this version now and next time cook the sauce down with crushed, split lemongrass and a shredded lime leaf. 27 October 2015, Matt Preston, The Simple Secrets to Cooking Everything Better, Plum, page 192
3. Dealing with subjects about which one wishes (or people usually wish) to maintain privacy or discretion; not for public view; sensitive, intimate.
   personal reasons
   You can't read my diary—it is personal.
   That's a very personal question.
   I can't believe you went through my drawers and looked at all my personal things!
4. (euphemistic) Intended for sexual use.
   personal lubricant; personal massager
5. Pertaining to the external or bodily appearance; corporeal; bodily.
   personal charms
   The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.[…]Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival? 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
6. Done in person; without an intermediary.
   a personal interview
   a personal meeting
   personal settings
   Although you miss the nonverbal cues that you pick up in a personal meeting, you can call far more clients in a day than you can meet with in person. 2011, Bob Nelson, Peter Economy, Consulting For Dummies
7. Relating to an individual, their character, conduct, motives, or private affairs, in an invidious and offensive manner
   personal reflections or remarks
8. (grammar) Denoting a person or people.
   a personal pronoun
9. Denoting ownership.
   one's personal vehicle, as opposed to a company vehicle

noun

1. (chiefly in the plural) An advertisement by which an individual attempts to meet others with similar interests.
2. One's own property or asset
   1748, Tobias Smollett (translator), Alain-René Lesage (original), The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane In addition to this, a coarse shirt quite new, a pair of my father's shoes quite old, and, what rejoiced me more than all the rest, a rouleau of twenty rials in a linen rag. Behold the sum total of my personals.