'personlike' originates from English, formed from the noun 'person' + the suffix '-like', where 'person' ultimately comes from Latin 'persona' meaning 'mask, character' and the suffix '-like' derives from Old English '-līc' meaning 'having the nature of; similar to'.

'person' entered English via Old French and Latin ('persona'), while the adjectival element '-like' evolved from Old English '-līc' (later Middle English '-lich'/'-like'); these elements combined in Modern English to form 'personlike'.

Initially the components referred to 'persona' (mask/character) and '-līc' (having the nature of); over time the combined form came to mean 'having qualities of a person' or 'resembling a person' in modern usage.