personnel
Americannoun
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a body of persons employed in an organization or place of work.
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(used with a plural verb) persons.
All personnel are being given the day off.
noun
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the people employed in an organization or for a service or undertaking Compare materiel
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Also called: human resources. the office or department that interviews, appoints, or keeps records of employees
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( as modifier )
a personnel officer
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Usage
Some usage guides object to the use of personnel as a plural. However, this use is well established and standard in all varieties of speech and writing. The use of personnel with a preceding number is largely restricted to business and government communications: Six personnel were transferred.
Etymology
Origin of personnel
1825–35; < French, noun use of personnel (adj.) personal < Late Latin persōnāle, neuter of persōnālis; replacing personal (noun), Anglicized form of French personnel; compare German Personal, variant of Personale, Italian personale. See matériel
Explanation
Personnel is a noun describing a group of people who follow orders, usually at a company. If you have a job, you’re probably considered personnel to be managed. The word personnel is also sometimes short for the "personnel department," another name for the human resources or employment office. One of the things they might have in the personnel department is your personnel, which contains your employment records.
Vocabulary lists containing personnel
Nothing But the Truth
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Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Fallen Angels
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
More than two dozen personnel with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a report of a hiker in grave medical condition off Nichols Canyon Road near Hollywood Boulevard shortly before 7 p.m.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
New York's official emergency notification system did not describe the incident but said people should avoid the area and "expect traffic delays, road closures, mass transit disruptions & emergency personnel near Penn Station."
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
Because California postmarks mail-in ballots up to Election Day and allows them a full week to arrive to ensure every single vote — including overseas military personnel — is counted, the process takes time.
From Salon • Jun. 6, 2026
Serving military personnel, the grandson of British Commander Field Marshal Montgomery and pipers from the Jedburgh Pipe Band marched with the schoolchildren.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
Overloaded trucks and buses stall in a traffic jam as thousands of civilians and military personnel flee from Hue to Da Nang as North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces advance, 1975.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
