Definition of "personal" in English

adjective

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.

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

6. Done in person; without an intermediary.

   • a personal interview
   • a personal meeting
   • personal settings

7. Relating to an individual, their character, conduct, motives, or private affairs, in an invidious and offensive manner

   • personal reflections or remarks
   • Only factual argumentation, no need to get personal.

8. (grammar) Of a noun or pronoun, having reference particular to humans and other entities having personality such as a named animal, a deity, a personification, etc.

9. (grammar) Related to grammatical first, second, etc. persons.

   • a personal pronoun

10. 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.