personnel

noun

per·​son·​nel ˌpər-sə-ˈnel How to pronounce personnel (audio)
1
a
: a body of persons usually employed (as in a factory or organization)
b
personnel plural : persons
2
: a division of an organization concerned with personnel

Examples of personnel in a Sentence

Women are also underrepresented as police force members, composing less than 13 percent of sworn personnel, despite the proven benefits of having more women in blue, such as less use of excessive force and improved response to domestic violence. Cortney Rock, Ms., Winter 2007
When the staff returned to the Oval Office, Bush's mood was upbeat, according to a White House aide who was present (and who, like all White House personnel quoted in this story, follows a policy of not being quoted by name). Richard Wolffe et al., Newsweek, 19 June 2006
The doorway that sheltered them from the rain leads to government offices now, but in Franco's time the building was a political prison. Its personnel and their diligent labours earned the place a charming nom de guerre—the House of Screams. A. L. Kennedy, On Bullfighting, 1999
The only firm rule is: Armored personnel carriers have the right of way. P. J. O'Rourke, Holidays in Hell, 1988
Over 10,000 military personnel were stationed in the country. They've reduced the number of personnel working on the project. Talk to personnel if you have any questions about your health insurance. She's the director of personnel.
Recent Examples on the Web But many personnel struggled to identify meaningful examples of either type of observation — what went wrong and what could be done better in the future to prevent a similar tragedy from reoccurring. Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 17 Oct. 2024 The company quickly recognized the softness and took steps to fix it, Ford said, including personnel changes followed by inventory adjustments to distributors. Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2024 Buenos Aires police said that personnel from the 14B Police Station went to the hotel on Wednesday afternoon after receiving a 911 call about an aggressive man who was possibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Dan Heching, CNN, 16 Oct. 2024 In an effort to fix that, Trump had put in charge of the White House personnel office his former body man John McEntee. Brian Bennett, TIME, 15 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for personnel 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'personnel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French, from German Personale, Personal, from Medieval Latin personale, from Late Latin, neuter of personalis personal

First Known Use

1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of personnel was in 1837

Dictionary Entries Near personnel

Cite this Entry

“Personnel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/personnel. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

personnel

noun
per·​son·​nel ˌpərs-ᵊn-ˈel How to pronounce personnel (audio)
: a group of persons employed (as in a public service, a factory, or an office)

More from Merriam-Webster on personnel

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