Interpersonal

How to spell interpersonal

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce interpersonal

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does interpersonal mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to relationships or communication between people.

Interpersonal in a sentence

• Strong interpersonal skills helped her manage the difficult team.

• The training course focused on interpersonal communication in the workplace.

Where does interpersonal come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is a relatively modern compound, built from Latin parts but assembled in English. The prefix inter- comes from Latin and means 'between' or 'among', while 'personal' descends from the Latin persona, a word that originally meant the mask worn by an actor and later came to mean a human individual or character. The combination first appeared in English in the early twentieth century, largely within the new fields of psychology and sociology, to describe what happens between people rather than within a single mind. The contrasting term 'intrapersonal' (inside one person) was coined alongside it, and keeping the two apart is part of the spelling challenge. Because every element is regular and the prefix simply bolts onto a familiar word, the spelling rarely traps anyone who can already spell 'personal'.

How the word is built

• inter- (between, among)
• person (from Latin persona: human individual)
• -al (adjective suffix)