Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

personnel

/pɝ.səˈnɛl/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.56 in modern English

Syllables: per-son-nel
IPA: /pɝ.səˈnɛl/

11

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Collection of people in an organization, such as employees and office staff, members of the military, etc.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A member of an organization such as an army.

Countable

noun

A human resources department.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"People like to see such friendly relationship existing between the respective personnels of their Army, Navy and Marine Corps."
"Newspapers in "capitalist" ownership, universities presided over by "reactionary" governing bodies, broadcasting systems owned by conservative governments have all been known to influence public opinion in the direction of socialism, because this was the conviction of the personnel."
"In 2009, the Obama Administration released guidelines on enhanced interrogation written in 2003 and 2004 by the CIA Office of Medical Services. ^((OMS).1-3(appendix F)) The OMS guidelines, even in redacted form, and opinions from the US Department of Justice's (DOJ’s) Office of Legal Counsel show that CIA physicians, psychologists, and other health care personnel had important roles in enhanced interrogation."
"An army personnel has been killed in action in a gunfight after security forces intercepted terrorists making an infiltration attempt near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, officials said today."
"An army personnel was seen to torture an injured protester."
"I've just had a letter from personnel."

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French personnel. Doublet of personal.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /pɝ.səˈnɛl/
British English: /pɜː.səˈnɛl/

Usage

Inflected Forms

personnels (plural)

Derived Forms

antipersonnel nonpersonnel

Phrases

anti-personnel armored personnel carrier armoured personnel carrier military personnel personnel basket personnel carrier personnel file personnel transfer basket

Synonyms

personnel department personnel office staff office force

Rhymes With

well tell hell sell hotel cell fell bell el nfl smell shell

Questions

How do you pronounce personnel?: The recorded pronunciation is /pɝ.səˈnɛl/.
What does personnel mean?: Collection of people in an organization, such as employees and office staff, members of the military, etc.
Where does personnel come from?: Unadapted borrowing from French personnel. Doublet of personal.

How to pronounce personnel

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “personnel”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/pɝ.səˈnɛl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “personnel”.
Repeat and practice — Say “personnel” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.