Where does “personal” come from?

Personal derives from Middle English personal, from Old French personel, from Latin personalis, formed from persono and the suffix -alis, ultimately from Latin sonus meaning sound.

personal (English): Pertaining to human beings as distinct from...

Definitions

  1. Pertaining to human beings as distinct from...

Ancestry of “personal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishpersonal
2Old Frenchpersonelpersonal
3Latinpersōnālispersonal; of or belonging to a person
4Latinpersōnamask
5Etruscan𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖a mask; a masked individual, often performing in...
6Ancient Greekπρόσωπονface, visage, countenance; front; mask
7Ancient Greekὤψto the eye; in the face; eye
8Proto-Hellenicókʷseye
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ókʷseye
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ekʷ-to see; eye

Words derived from “personal

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ekʷ-Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ókʷsEvery word from Proto-Hellenic ókʷs