personal

/ˈpɜː.sə.nəl/

//ˈpɜː.sə.nəl// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"personal" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“personal” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #640 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.

#640
frequency rank, English
8
letters
12
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Pertaining to persons (human beings as opposed to things or animals).

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

personal vs persons
75% similar
personal vs personnel
78% similar
personal vs personals
89% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for personal
PropertyValue
Headwordpersonal
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈpɜː.sə.nəl/
Letters8
Frequency rank#640
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “personal” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). personal lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for personal is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɜː.sə.nəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #640 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for personal, with forms such as "eprsonal", "perosnal", and "perrsonal". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "persons", "personnel", "personals", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English personal, personele, from Anglo-Norman personel, personal, personell, Old French personal, personel, from Late Latin persōnālis (“of a person, personly”), equivalent to person + -al. Doublet of personnel. The correct English form is personal, spelled P-E-R-S-O-N-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pertaining to persons (human beings as opposed to things or animals).
  2. 2
    Of or pertaining to a particular person; relating to, or affecting, an individual, or each of many individuals
  3. 3
    Dealing with subjects about which one wishes (or people usually wish) to maintain privacy or discretion; not for public view; sensitive, intimate.
  4. 4
    Intended for sexual use.
  5. 5
    Pertaining to the external or bodily appearance; corporeal; bodily.
  6. 6
    Done in person; without an intermediary.
  7. 7
    Relating to an individual, their character, conduct, motives, or private affairs, in an invidious and offensive manner
  8. 8
    Of a noun or pronoun, having reference particular to humans and other entities having personality such as a named animal, a deity, a personification, etc.
  9. 9
    Related to grammatical first, second, etc. persons.
  10. 10
    Denoting ownership.

Etymology

From Middle English personal, personele, from Anglo-Norman personel, personal, personell, Old French personal, personel, from Late Latin persōnālis (“of a person, personly”), equivalent to person + -al. Doublet of personnel.

This word in other languages

personal(Español)personnel(Français)persönlich(Deutsch)pessoal(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: eprsonal,perosnal,perrsonal,persnoal,persoanl,personall,personla,personnal,perssonal,pesronal,ppersonal,presonal

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of personal - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

eprsonal2perosnal2perrsonal1persnoal2persoanl2personall1personla2personnal1
Edit distance from "personal"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "personal"?
"personal" is spelled P-E-R-S-O-N-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɜː.sə.nəl/.
What does "personal" mean?
As an adjective, "personal" means: Pertaining to persons (human beings as opposed to things or animals).
What words are commonly confused with "personal"?
"personal" is commonly confused with "persons", "personnel", "personals". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "personal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "personal" is /ˈpɜː.sə.nəl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "personal"?
From Middle English personal, personele, from Anglo-Norman personel, personal, personell, Old French personal, personel, from Late Latin persōnālis (“of a person, personly”), equivalent to person + -al. Doublet of personnel. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “personal”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-E-R-S-O-N-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈpɜː.sə.nəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “persons” - see the side-by-side comparison. personal vs persons
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list