antipersonnel

8.4

Made to injure or kill people rather than damage property

adjective
/ˌæntiˈpɜrsənɛl/

NSFW

: antipersonal

Many countries have banned the use of antipersonnel devices to protect civilians in conflict zones.
antipersonnel mine

Examples

Antipersonnel mines are specifically designed to cause injuries to soldiers during warfare.
Several thousand mobile defensive teams of active units or highly ready reserves equipped with antitank and antipersonnel weapons and backed by local mobile reserve forces should be able to stop the first strategic ground-force echelon of invaders.

Academic text (1991)
The military has been criticized for using antipersonnel weapons in populated areas.

Compounds

antipersonnel device

NSFW

1 8.1

A weapon made to injure or kill people rather than damage machines

antipersonnel bomb

NSFW

8.2

An explosive that sends many small fast pieces to hurt people

Surface Forms

antipersonnel positive

Morphology

antipersonnel = personnel (transparent) = anti + personnel

The word is a straightforward formation meaning 'against personnel' or 'targeting people', with the prefix anti- contributing its standard oppositional sense.

Etymology

The word antipersonnel breaks into anti- 'against' and personnel 'people', so it describes weapons or devices made to harm people rather than to destroy things.