The Spanish word 'personalísimo' (meaning 'very personal' or 'highly personal') has a fascinating journey that begins in ancient Greek. It starts with the Greek word 'prósopon' (πρόσωπον), which meant 'mask' or 'face'. This word was borrowed into Etruscan as 'phersu' (also meaning 'mask'), which then made its way into Latin as 'persona', meaning 'mask, character, or person'.

From 'persona', Latin developed the adjective 'personalis' meaning 'personal' or 'relating to a person'. This evolved into the Spanish word 'personal', which was then combined with the Spanish superlative suffix '-ísimo' to create 'personalísimo', meaning 'very personal' or 'extremely personal'.

Several common Spanish words share this etymology and can help you remember 'personalísimo'. The simpler word 'personal' means the same as English 'personal'. You might also recognize 'persona' (person), and 'personaje' (character, personality). All these words carry the core meaning of relating to an individual or their character, derived from the same Latin root 'persona'.

English speakers can easily connect 'personalísimo' to several familiar English words that share the same Greek-Latin ancestry. 'Person', 'personal', 'personality', and 'personify' all come from Latin 'persona'. The main difference is that English doesn't use the superlative suffix '-ísimo', instead using 'very' or 'extremely' to intensify these words. Understanding this connection can help you remember that 'personalísimo' essentially means 'very personal' or 'extremely personal'.