Meanings
plural personnels
- countableuncountableCollection of people in an organization, such as employees and office staff, members of the military, etc.
People like to see such friendly relationship existing between the respective personnels of their Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
1924, U.S. Army Recruiting News, page 102 more examples
Newspapers in "capitalist" ownership, universities presided over by "reactionary" governing bodies, broadcasting systems owned by conservative governments have all been known to influence public opinion in the direction of socialism, because this was the conviction of the personnel.
1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 421In 2009, the Obama Administration released guidelines on enhanced interrogation written in 2003 and 2004 by the CIA Office of Medical Services. ^((OMS).1-3(appendix F)) The OMS guidelines, even in redacted form, and opinions from the US Department of Justice's (DOJ’s) Office of Legal Counsel show that CIA physicians, psychologists, and other health care personnel had important roles in enhanced interrogation.
2010 August 4, Leonard S. Rubenstein, JD; Stephen N. Xenakis, MD, “The Ethics of Enhanced Interrogations and Torture: A Reappraisal of the Argument”, in JAMA, volume 304, number 5, American Medical Association, →DOI, pages 569–570 - countablenonstandardplural personnelA member of an organization such as an army.
An army personnel was seen to torture an injured protester.
2025 July 17, “Army, police shoot dead 4 protesters in Bangladesh”, in Daily Finland1 more example
An army personnel has been killed in action in a gunfight after security forces intercepted terrorists making an infiltration attempt near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, officials said today.
2025 April 12, “Soldier Killed In Action As Army Stops Infiltration Attempt Along Line Of Control”, in India News, NDTV
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe department responsible for hiring and training and placing employees and for setting policies for personnel management
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchpersonnel
- Englishpersonnel
Unadapted borrowing from French personnel. Doublet of personal.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian персона́л, ли́чен съста́в
- персона́л (personál)members of an organization
- ли́чен съста́в (líčen săstáv)members of an organization
Chinese Cantonese 人員 /人员, 員工 /员工
- 人員 /人员 (jan⁴ jyun⁴)members of an organization
- 員工 /员工 (jyun⁴ gung¹)members of an organization
Chinese Mandarin 人員 /人员, 員工 /员工
- 人員 /人员 (rényuán)members of an organization
- 員工 /员工 (yuángōng)members of an organization
Danish personale, personel
- personalemembers of an organization
- personelmembers of an organization
- mandskabmembers of an organization
Dutch personeel, medewerkers
- personeelmembers of an organization
- medewerkersmembers of an organization
Finnish henkilökunta, henkilöstö
- henkilökuntamembers of an organization
- henkilöstömembers of an organization
French personnel
- personnelmembers of an organization
German Personal
- Personalmembers of an organization
Hebrew סֶגֶל
- סֶגֶל (segel)members of an organization
Hungarian személyzet
- személyzetmembers of an organization
Indonesian personel, personil
- personelmembers of an organization
- personilmembers of an organization
Italian personale
- personalemembers of an organization
Japanese 人員, 職員
- 人員 (jin'in)members of an organization
- 職員 (shokuin)members of an organization
Korean 인원, 직원
- 인원 (inwon)members of an organization
- 직원 (jigwon)members of an organization
Malay kakitangan
- kakitanganmembers of an organization
Norwegian Bokmål personell
- personellmembers of an organization
Polish personel, kadra
- personelmembers of an organization
- kadramembers of an organization
Portuguese pessoal
- pessoalmembers of an organization
Romanian personal
- personalmembers of an organization
Russian ли́чный соста́в, персона́л
- ли́чный соста́в (líčnyj sostáv)members of an organization
- персона́л (personál)members of an organization
- штат (štat)members of an organization
Spanish personal, plantel
- personalmembers of an organization
- plantelmembers of an organization
Swedish personal
- personalmembers of an organization
Turkish personel, çalışanlar
- personelmembers of an organization
- çalışanlarmembers of an organization
- kadromembers of an organization
Ukrainian персона́л, особо́вий склад
- персона́л (personál)members of an organization
- особо́вий склад (osobóvyj sklad)members of an organization
Welsh personél
- personélmembers of an organization
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with personnel
Cite this entry
personnel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/personnel
“personnel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/personnel. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “personnel,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/personnel.
Source: personnel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.