Etymograph

English

personally

Personally comes from Middle English personally.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500personally1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1912personally1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English personally
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […]: “Personally I felt shy and uncomfortable at this obsequious…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500personallyWiktionary, English personally
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1912personallyWiktionary, English personally. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […]: “Personally I felt shy and uncomfortable at this obsequious…”

Every English word from Middle English personally

Today it means

adv In a personal manner.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “personally”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English personally / personally

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