personnel
Pluralpersonnels
Often confused with personal
- 1The people who make up an organization, including employees, office staff, and members of the military.
The factory's personnel include engineers, technicians, and cleaning staff.
Military personnel were stationed along the border for several months.
UsageUsually takes a plural verb: personnel are. Spelled with double n, unlike personal, which means private or your own.
- 2The department of an organization responsible for hiring, staff records, and relations with employees.
Complaints about workplace safety should be reported to personnel.
Personnel scheduled interviews for the open positions next week.
UsageUsually no article: go to personnel, report to personnel; also the personnel department.
SimilarHR
Note
The office takes its name from the people it looks after, and it is treated almost like a proper name. Human resources names the same department, and the two are used in the same constructions.
- 3A single member of an organization such as a military force or a company's staff.
A police personnel posted at the bus station was praised for returning a lost wallet to its owner.
An army personnel was injured when the patrol came under fire near the border.
UsageIn careful writing, say a staff member, an officer or a soldier instead; the plural is unchanged: three personnel.
Similarmember
Note
Here the collective word is pressed into service for one person: an army personnel was killed. The plural stays unchanged (three personnel), so the form looks just like the collective sense, and often only the article gives it away.
Practice
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Origin
An unadapted borrowing from French personnel, taken over without change. It is a doublet of personal.
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Personnel is an unadapted borrowing from French personnel. en.wiktionary.org
- Personnel is a doublet of personal. en.wiktionary.org