- the people employed in an organization or for a service or undertaking
Compare materiel - Also called: human resources the office or department that interviews, appoints, or keeps records of employees
- (as modifier): a personnel officer
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
per•son•nel /ˌpɜrsəˈnɛl/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Business all the persons working in an organization, in the army, etc.:[plural* used with a plural verb]Send a memo to all personnel.
- Business a department of an organization that is in charge of supervising matters having to do with the employees, as hiring, etc.:[uncountable* used with a singular verb]Bring this up with Personnel and see what they suggest.
per•son•nel
(pûr′sə nel′),USA pronunciation n.
- Businessa body of persons employed in an organization or place of work.
- (used with a pl. v.) persons:All personnel are being given the day off.
- BusinessSee personnel department.
- Late Latin persōnāle, neuter of persōnālis; replacing personal (noun, nominal), Anglicized form of French personnel; compare German Personal, variant of Personale, Italian personale. See matériel
- French, noun, nominal use of personnel (adjective, adjectival) personal
- 1825–35
- 2. 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.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
personnel /ˌpɜːsəˈnɛl/ n
'personnel' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
adjutant general
- antipersonnel
- assembly
- barracks
- blockhouse
- camp follower
- canteen
- canton
- chief petty officer
- company
- detail
- draft
- fatigue
- Fernando de Noronha
- field
- friendly fire
- ground control
- inspect
- iron rations
- last post
- line management
- loan
- loss
- man
- materiel
- mess
- mine
- muster
- NAAFI
- paramilitary
- PO
- quarter
- quartering
- quarters
- ranch
- rations
- rationalize
- regular
- resource
- restricted
- roadshow
- security
- shopwalker
- social services
- tin hat
- troopship
- unmanned
- act
- administrative assistant
- air arm