English
personnel
Personnel comes from French personnel, from Late Latin persōnālis ‘personal’, from persōna ‘mask, person’, whose origin is unknown.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpersōna‘mask; character; person’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpersōnālis‘personal’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpersonnel‘personal; staff’
- Englishearliest quotation 1924same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpersōna‘mask; character; person’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpersōnālis‘personal’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpersonnel‘personal; staff’
- Englishearliest quotation 1924same form
Earliest quotation: 1924, U.S. Army Recruiting News: “People like to see such friendly relationship existing between…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ‘to sound’
sound, swan, unison, sonnet, sone, 11 more
through Latin sonō ‘make a noise, sound, resound’
re, resonance, resonate, resonant, resound, sonorous, consonance, 7 more
through Latin personō ‘person’
through Late Latin persōnālis ‘personal’
Today it means
noun Collection of people in an organization, such as employees and office staff, members of the military, etc.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin persōna / personnel