personal chattel
- noun
- /ˈpɜrsənl ˈʧætəl/
- Formal
:
bienes muebles
- The furniture in her apartment is considered personal chattel.
Examples
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Auction houses frequently deal with personal chattel such as antique furniture and jewelry.
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Under the will, all personal chattel must be sold to pay the debts.
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A car is generally considered a personal chattel rather than real property.
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He sold his personal chattels before moving abroad.
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A car is generally considered a personal chattel rather than real property.
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Auction houses frequently deal with personal chattel such as antique furniture and jewelry.
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He sold his personal chattel before moving abroad.
Synonyms
68
2.8
Things you can move, like cars or jewelry, that belong to one person, not land
33
3.5
Small personal items a person carries, like clothes or jewelry
16
3.1
Things a person owns that can be moved, like furniture or jewelry
11
9.3
A movable personal thing like furniture or a car
1
5.6
A thing you can move, like furniture or animals
1
6.1
Things someone owns that can be moved, not land and buildings, like a car or jewelry
Things a person owns that can be moved, not land or buildings
How Portable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'personal' (belonging to a person) modifies 'chattel' (a movable item), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to movable personal property. Although 'chattel' is relatively formal/legal vocabulary, the combination follows ordinary adjective+noun semantics and is therefore transparent rather than idiomatic.
Etymology
The phrase personal chattel comes from the old word chattel, which is linked to 'cattle' because animals were once the main movable things people owned. So personal chattel means the 'movable items' a person owns, like furniture, a car, or livestock.