Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “antipersonnel” come from?

Antipersonnel comes from English anti- and personnel, where personnel derives from French personnel, ultimately from Latin personālis and the Latin root sonus meaning sound.

antipersonnel (English): Designed to kill soldiers

Definitions

  1. Designed to kill soldiers

Ancestry of “antipersonnel”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpersonnelEmployees; office staff
2Frenchpersonnelpersonal; staff, members of staff, personnel
3Old Frenchpersonelpersonal
4Latinpersōnālis—
5Latinpersōna—
6Etruscan𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖a mask; a masked individual, often performing in...
7Ancient Greekπρόσωπονface, visage, countenance; front; mask
8Ancient Greekὤψto the eye; in the face; eye
9Proto-Hellenicókʷs—
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ókʷseye
11Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ekʷ-to see; eye
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ekʷ- →