I. “+ adjective
Etymology: Late Latin impersonalis, from Latin in- in- (I) + Late Latin personalis personal — more at personal
1.
a.
(1) of a verb : not predicated of a personal or determinate subject : denoting the action of an unspecified agent and hence used with no expressed subject (as methinks ) or with a merely formal subject (as is raining in it is raining )
(2) : consisting of either an indefinite pronoun and an impersonal verb (as it is raining or French on dit ) or the expletive there and such a verb (as there is in there is fog ahead )
b. of a pronoun : indefinite
c. of a proposition : having an indeterminate subject
2.
a.
(1) : having no personal reference or connection : not referring or belonging to any particular person
when I say that a belief is impersonal I mean that those desires which enter into its causation are universal human desires, and not such as are peculiar to the person in question — Bertrand Russell
the brightly impersonal sunshine — K.M.Dodson
an impersonal coat of arms
(2) : not engaging the human personality or person
the machine as compared with the hand tool is an impersonal agency — John Dewey
b. : not representing or existing as a person : not having personality
nature becomes an impersonal slave — W.H.Auden
c. : not primarily affecting or involving the emotions of the person who has it
an impersonal interest in law
the impersonal attitude of a doctor
• im·personally “+ adverb
II. noun
: something impersonal ; specifically : an impersonal verb