Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The people employed by or active in an organization, business, or service.
  • noun The department of human resources in an organization.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The body of persons employed in any service, especially a public service, as the army, navy, etc., in contradistinction to the matériel, or material, which consists of guns, stores, tools, machines, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The body of persons employed in some public service, as the army, navy, etc.; -- distinguished from matériel.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun employees; office staff

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the department responsible for hiring and training and placing employees and for setting policies for personnel management
  • noun group of people willing to obey orders

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French, personal, from Latin persōnālis; see personality.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French personnel.

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Examples

  • In the world of business organizations, the term personnel administration is steadily giving way to a new term—human resources development.

    Stress and the Manager KARL ALBRECHT 1979

  • In the world of business organizations, the term personnel administration is steadily giving way to a new term—human resources development.

    Stress and the Manager KARL ALBRECHT 1979

  • In the world of business organizations, the term personnel administration is steadily giving way to a new term—human resources development.

    Stress and the Manager KARL ALBRECHT 1979

  • Missing the personnel is the big thing in this pa ...

    08/31/2005 2005

  • Missing the personnel is the big thing in this particular event.

    08/31/2005 2005

  • The restaurant association declined to comment on what it termed "personnel matters that allegedly took place nearly 15 years ago."

    NYT > Home Page By JIM RUTENBERG 2011

  • The restaurant association declined to comment on what it termed "personnel matters that allegedly took place nearly 15 years ago."

    NYT > Global Home By JIM RUTENBERG 2011

  • Citing privacy issues surrounding what she called a personnel decision, McGuire would not explain the reason for Favret's removal.

    The Shad Plank 2010

  • - The University of Kansas said Tuesday it is investigating what it calls a personnel matter concerning football coach Mark Mangino, whose team is mired in a five-game losing streak that threatens to ruin the season.

    Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7 2009

  • Kansas said Tuesday it is investigating what it calls a personnel matter concerning football coach Mark Mangino, whose team is mired in a five-game losing streak that threatens to ruin the season.

    ESPN.com 2009

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