ˌpərs ə nˈaləd.ē, ˌpə̄s-, ˌpəis-, -lətē, -i noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English personalite, from Late Latin personalitas, from personalis personal + Latin -itas -ity — more at personal
1.
a. : the quality or state of being a person and not an abstraction, thing, or lower being : the fact of being an individual person : personal existence or entity : capacity for the choices, experiences, and liabilities of an individual person
questions which must be answered by man not as part of nature but as a personality — Christian Gauss
the proper moral relation between the individual and society, or … between personality and community — J.A.Hobson
b. : the distinctive quality or state of a spiritual entity
the three Personalities of the Trinity
2. : the qualities of a person that constitute or fix his legal status or general legal capacity
3. : a personal being : a single individual
4.
a. : the condition or fact of relating to a particular person ; specifically : the condition of referring directly to or being aimed at an individual especially disparingly or hostilely
b. : an utterance that refers to the person, conduct, or other aspect of some individual usually disparingly or offensively : personal remark — usually used in plural
indulgence in personalities
5.
a. : the complex of characteristics that distinguishes a particular individual or individualizes or characterizes him in his relationships with others
the organization flourished under her administration, for she had a winning personality and a capacity for hard work — Marie A. Kasten
a pious and good man, but an utterly negligible personality — Compton Mackenzie
b. : a comparable complex characteristic of a group or nation
southeast Asia had now attained a diplomatic personality of its own — Virginia M. Thompson & Richard Adloff
c. : the total of distinctive traits and characteristics
the personality of the English countryside — S.W.Wooldridge
d.
(1) : the totality of an individual's emergent tendencies to act or behave especially self-consciously or to act on, interact with, perceive, react to, or otherwise meaningfully influence or experience his environment
(2) : the organization of the individual's distinguishing character traits, attitudes, or habits — compare ego , self
6.
a. : distinction or excellence of personal and social traits : the social characteristic of commanding notice, admiration, respect, or influence through personal characteristics
a superior in charm, in experience, in knowledge of the world and in force of personality — Arnold Bennett
b. : a person having such quality ; also : a person of importance, prominence, renown, or notoriety
an able speaker, a strong and positive character, and a gentle and lovable personality — F.T.Persons
Synonyms: see disposition