man

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of man in English

English Online Dictionary. What means man‎? What does man mean?

Translingual

Symbol

man

(international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Mandingo.

English

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /mæn/
- (US, Canada, æ-tensing) IPA^(key): [mɛən], [meən], [mẽə̃n]
(Jamaica) IPA^(key): [mɑn]
(New Zealand, parts of South Africa) IPA^(key): [mɛn]
(General Australian) IPA^(key): /meːn/
Rhymes: -æn

Etymology 1

From Middle English man, from Old English mann m (“human being, person, man”), from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann- m, from Proto-Indo-European *mon- (“human being, man”). Doublet of Manu.

Alternative forms

(singular): mang (dialectal rendering, suggesting a Spanish accent), mane (dialectal rendering, suggesting an AAVE accent), mans (slang), mon (slang, used in the vocative, in places such as Jamaica and Shropshire in England), mxn (rare, feminist)
(plural): mans (Multicultural London English, Toronto, nonstandard, proscribed), mens, man, mandem (Multicultural London English), mens (nonstandard, African-American Vernacular), mxn (rare, feminist), myn (very rare, chiefly humorous)
(interjection): maaan (elongated)

Noun

man (plural men)

An adult male human.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:man.
(collective) All human males collectively: mankind.
A human, a person regardless of gender or sex, usually an adult. (See usage notes.)
- 1991 edition (original: 1953), Darell Huff, How to Lie with Statistics, pages 19–20:
  Similarly, the next time you learn from your reading that the average man (you hear a good deal about him these days, most of it faintly improbable) brushes his teeth 1.02 times a day—a figure I have just made up, but it may be as good as anyone else's – ask yourself a question. How can anyone have found out such a thing? Is a woman who has read in countless advertisements that non-brushers are social offenders going to confess to a stranger that she does not brush her teeth regularly?
(collective) All humans collectively: mankind, humankind, humanity. (Sometimes capitalized as Man.)
- 1647, Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 10:
  How did God create man?
  
  God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
(anthropology, archaeology, paleontology) A member of the genus Homo, especially of the species Homo sapiens.
A male person, usually an adult; a (generally adult male) sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.
An adult male who has, to an eminent degree, qualities considered masculine, such as strength, integrity, and devotion to family; a mensch.
(uncountable, obsolete, uncommon) Manliness; the quality or state of being manly.
A husband.
A male lover; a boyfriend.
A male enthusiast or devotee; a male who is very fond of or devoted to a specified kind of thing. (Used as the last element of a compound.)
A person, usually male, who has duties or skills associated with a specified thing. (Used as the last element of a compound.)
A person, usually male, who can fulfill one's requirements with regard to a specified matter.
A male who belongs to a particular group: an employee, a student or alumnus, a representative, etc.
An adult male servant.
(historical) A vassal; a subject.
(old proverb)
- c. 1700s, William Blackstone:
  The vassal, or tenant, kneeling, ungirt, uncovered, and holding up his hands between those of his lord, professed that he did become his man from that day forth, of life, limb, and earthly honour.
A piece or token used in board games such as backgammon.
A term of familiar address often implying on the part of the speaker some degree of authority, impatience, or haste.
A friendly term of address usually reserved for other adult males.
(sports) A player on whom another is playing, with the intent of limiting their attacking impact.
- 2018 Dinny Navaratnam, Andrews will learn from experience: Fagan Brisbane Lions, 30 July 2018. Accessed 6 August 2018.
  "It was a brutal return to football for Brisbane Lions defender Harris Andrews as his man Tom Hawkins booted seven goals but Lions Coach Chris Fagan said the team's defensive faults, rather than the backman's, allowed the big Cat to dominate."
A clipping of "in man" or equivalent used in the CGS unit roentgen equivalent man.

Usage notes

The use of "man" (compare Old English: mann, wer, wīf) to mean both "human (of any gender)" and "adult male", which developed after Old English's distinct term for the latter (wer) fell out of use, has been criticized since at least the second half of the twentieth century. Critics claim that the use of "man", both alone and in compounds, to denote a human or any gender "is now often regarded as sexist or at best old-fashioned", "flatly discriminatory in that it slights or ignores the membership of women in the human race". The American Heritage Dictionary wrote that in 2004 75–79% of their usage panel still accepted sentences with generic man, and 86–87% accepted sentences with man-made. Some style guides recommend against generic "man", and "although some editors and writers reject or disregard […] objections to man as a generic, many now choose instead to use" human, human being or person instead.
- This generic usage is still preserved in certain dialects, pidgins, and creoles of English, as well as fixed expressions and certain religious documents and declarations such as the Nicene Creed (e.g. "...for us men and our salvation..."). Consideration of this has sometimes led to accusations of the critics of the generic man as enforcing linguistic prescriptivism.
See also the man

Synonyms

(adult male human): omi (Polari); see more at Thesaurus:man
(person): human, person, see more at Thesaurus:person
(board game piece): see Thesaurus:board game piece

Coordinate terms

(gender): woman
(age): boy; male

Derived terms

See also Category:English terms suffixed with -man

Related terms

Descendants

See also descendants of -man.

Tok Pisin: man
→ Cantonese: man (men¹)
→ Chinook Jargon: man
→ Korean: 맨 (maen)
→ Mandarin: man (mān)
→ Spanish: man
→ Thai: แมน (mɛɛn)
→ Volapük: man

Translations

Adjective

man (not comparable)

Only used in man enough

Interjection

man

Used to place emphasis upon something or someone; sometimes, but not always, when actually addressing a man.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:man.

Translations

Pronoun

man

(MLE, slang, personal pronoun) Used to refer to oneself or one's group: I, we; construed in the third person.
(MLE, slang, personal pronoun) You; construed in the third person.
(MLE, slang, indefinite personal pronoun) Any person, one

Usage notes

The usage of man as a pronoun originally died out in the 15th century. It has independently reappeared in Multicultural London English. There it is most commonly used as a first person pronoun or as an indefinite personal pronoun, but uses in the second and third person are also attested.

Etymology 2

From Middle English mannen, from Old English mannian, ġemannian (“to man, supply with men, populate, garrison”), from mann (“human being, man”). Cognate with Dutch bemannen (“to man”), German bemannen (“to man”), Danish bemande (“to man”), Swedish bemanna (“to man”), Icelandic manna (“to supply with men, man”).

Verb

man (third-person singular simple present mans, present participle manning, simple past and past participle manned)

(transitive) To supply (something) with staff or crew (of either sex).
(transitive) To take up position in order to operate (something).
(reflexive, possibly dated) To brace (oneself), to fortify or steel (oneself) in a manly way. (Compare man up.)
(transitive, obsolete) To wait on, attend to or escort.
(transitive, obsolete, chiefly falconry) To accustom (a raptor or other type of bird) to the presence of people.

Derived terms

beman
overman (verb)

Translations

Etymology 3

Clipping of manual

Proper noun

man

(computing) A command used to display help pages in Unix and Unix-like operating systems.

Derived terms

man page, manpage

References

Anagrams

'Nam, 'nam, AMN, MNA, N. Am., NAM, Nam, mna

Abinomn

Noun

man

moon

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch man, from Middle Dutch man, from Old Dutch man, from Proto-Germanic *mann-, from Proto-Indo-European *mon- (“human being, man”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/

Noun

man (plural mans or manne, diminutive mannetjie)

man
husband

Usage notes

The normal plural in contemporary Afrikaans is mans. The form manne now usually refers to the members of a male group, such as a group of friends or a team or unit. Compare:

Vroue en mans moet gelyke regte hê. ― Women and men must have equal rights.

Die manne het goed gespeel vandag. ― The men played well today.

Albanian

Alternative forms

Tosk: mën
Gheg: mand, mandë

Etymology

Syncopated form of Gheg mand, from Proto-Albanian *manta. Compare Ancient Greek βάτος (bátos, “bramble”), said by Beekes to be a Mediterranean wanderwort, and μαντία (mantía, “blackberry”) (Dacian loan).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/

Noun

man m (plural mana, definite mani, definite plural manat)

mulberry, mulberry tree

Declension

Hyponyms

man i bardhë (“white mulberry”) (Morus alba)
man i kuq (“red mulberry”) (Morus rubra)
man i zi (“black mulberry”) (Morus nigra)
man toke (“wild strawberry”) (Fragaria vesca)

Aragonese

Etymology

Akin to Spanish mano, from Latin manus.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈman/
Rhymes: -an
Syllabification: man

Noun

man f (plural mans)

hand

Arigidi

Pronoun

man

I, first person singular pronoun, as subject

References

B. Oshodi, The HTS (High Tone Syllable) in Arigidi: An Introduction, in the Nordic Journal of African Studies 20(4): 263–275 (2011)\
Boluwaji Oshodi (2011 December) A Reference Grammar of Arigidi, Montem Paperbacks, →ISBN

Bagirmi

Noun

man

water

References

R. C. Stevenson, Bagirmi Grammar (1969)

Bariai

Noun

man

bird

References

Steve Gallagher, Peirce Baehr, Bariai Grammar Sketch (2005)

Bikol Central

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *man.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈman/, [ˈman̪]

Adverb

man (Basahan spelling ᜋᜈ᜔)

also
Synonym: pati

Particle

man (Basahan spelling ᜋᜈ᜔)

used to abate or soften the impacts of negatives and commands
Dai man iyan ― It's nothing.

Bonggo

Noun

man

bird

References

George W. Grace, Notes on the phonological history of the Austronesian languages of the Sarmi Coast, in Oceanic Linguistics (1971, 10:11-37)

Caló

Pronoun

man

Contraction of mangue (“I, me”).

References

“man” in J. Tineo Rebolledo, A Chipicalli (La Llengua Gitana), Granada: Gómez de la Cruz, 1900, →OCLC, page 60.
“man” in Francisco Quindalé, Diccionario gitano, Madrid: Oficina Tipográfica del Hospicio.
“man” in Vocabulario : Caló - Español, Portal del Flamenco y Universidad.

Cebuano

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *man. Compare Tagalog man.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈman/, [ˈman̪]

Particle

man (Badlit spelling ᜋᜈ᜔)

gives information; could be omitted
contradicts a previous statement or presumption; usually with the particle ugod/gud
makes a question not abrupt

Chinese

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from English man.

Pronunciation

Adjective

man

(informal) manly; masculine
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:man.

Chinook Jargon

Etymology

Borrowed from English man.

Noun

man

Synonyms

siwash

Antonyms

klootchman

Adjective

man

male

Antonyms

klootchman

Chuukese

Noun

man

Alternative spelling of maan

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

mann, månn

Etymology

From Middle High German man, from Old High German man, from Proto-Germanic *mann-.

Noun

man m (Tredici Comuni)

man
husband

References

Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Czech

Etymology

From Old Czech man, from Middle High German and Old High German man.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈman]
Hyphenation: man

Noun

man m anim (feminine manka)

(historical) vassal, feoffee
Synonyms: vazal, leník

Declension

Derived terms

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse mǫn, from Proto-Germanic *manō (“mane”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /maːˀn/, [mæˀn]

Noun

man c (singular definite manen, plural indefinite maner)

(rare, used primarily by horse specialists) mane (longer hair growth on the back of the neck of a horse)
Synonym: manke

Declension

Etymology 2

The same word as the noun mand (“man”). Calque of German man.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/, [man]

Pronoun

man (accusative en or én, possessive ens or éns)

you, one, they, people (a general, unspecified person)
I (used modestly instead of the first-person pronoun)
you (used derogatorily instead of the second-person pronoun)

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /maːˀn/, [ˈmæˀn]

Verb

man

imperative of mane

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch man, from Old Dutch man, from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɑn/
Hyphenation: man
Rhymes: -ɑn

Noun

man m (plural mannen or man or mans, diminutive mannetje n or manneke n or manneken n)

man, human male, either adult or age-irrespective
husband, male spouse

Usage notes

The normal plural is mannen. The unchanged form man is used after numerals only; it refers to the size of a group rather than a number of individuals. For example: In totaal verloren er 5000 man hun leven in die slag. (“5000 men altogether lost their lives in that battle.”) The plural mans is dated, now mostly occurring in nautical contexts or in dialect.
Compound words with -man as their last component often take -lieden or -lui in the plural, rather than -mannen. For example: brandweerman (“firefighter”) → brandweerlieden (alongside brandweerlui and brandweermannen).
Various alternative diminutives exist, including manneke (used especially in Flanders) and the dialectal mannechie.

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Afrikaans: man
Jersey Dutch: mān
Negerhollands: man
- → Virgin Islands Creole: mani (dated)
→ Caribbean Javanese: mang

Interjection

man

Indicates that something is larger/stronger/... than usual.

Coordinate terms

tjonge

Anagrams

Fala

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese mão, from Latin manus.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈman/

Noun

man f (plural mans or más)

hand

References

Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[9], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

Faroese

Verb

man

first/third-person singular present of munna
I, he, she, it will / may

Derived terms

tað man vera (so) - this may be (so)
tað man óivað vera beinari - this will doubtless be more correct

Pronoun

man

(colloquial) one, they (indefinite third-person singular pronoun)

Synonyms

(standard): mann

French

Etymology

Blend of mon +‎ ma.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɑ̃/

Determiner

man n (singular, plural mes)

(gender-neutral, neologism) my

Related terms

¹ Also used before feminine adjectives and nouns beginning with a vowel or mute h.

² Also used as the polite singular form.

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Noun

man m (plural mans)

hand

Gaikundi

Noun

man

foot

Galician

Alternative forms

mão (reintegrationist spelling, lusista)
mam (reintegrationist spelling)
mao (central and eastern Galicia)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese mão, from Latin manus. Cognate with Portuguese mão and Spanish mano.

Noun

man f (plural mans)

hand
(figurative) ownership; protection; power; grasp

Usage notes

Man is a false friend, and does not mean man. The Galician word for man is home.

Derived terms

References

“mão” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
“mãao” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
“man” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
“man” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
“man” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

German

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/
(Austria)
Rhymes: -an
Homophone: Mann

Etymology 1

From Middle High German man, from Old High German man, from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann- (“person”).

Pronoun

man

one, you (indefinite pronoun; construed as a third-person singular)
they, people (people in general)
someone, somebody (some unspecified person)
they (some unspecified group of people)

Usage notes

Man is used in the nominative case only; for the oblique cases forms of the pronoun einer are used. For example: Man kann nicht immer tun, was einen glücklich macht. — One cannot always do what makes one happy.
Since man derives from the same source as Mann (“man; male”), its use is considered problematic by some feminists. They have proposed alternating man and the feminine neologism frau, or using the generic neologism mensch. This usage has gained some currency in feminist and left-wing publications, but remains rare otherwise.
In the sense of “someone,” man is often translated using the passive voice (“I was told that...” rather than “someone told me that...”).

Etymology 2

From Middle Low German man. A contraction of Old Saxon newan (“none other than”). Compare a similar contraction in Dutch maar (“only”).

Adverb

man

(colloquial, regional, Northern Germany) just; only

German Low German

Etymology

From Middle Low German man. A contraction of Old Saxon newan (“none other than”). Compare a similar contraction in Dutch maar (“only”).

Conjunction

man

(in many dialects, including Low Prussian) only; but

Synonyms

(in various dialects) avers, awer (and many variations thereof; for which, see those entries)
(in some dialects) bloots

Gothic

Romanization

man

Romanization of 𐌼𐌰𐌽

Icelandic

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/, [maːn]
Rhymes: -aːn

Etymology 1

From Old Norse man, perhaps from Proto-Germanic *gamaną (with unstressed prefix *ga-).

Noun

man n (genitive singular mans, nominative plural mön)

(obsolete, uncountable, collective) slaves
(archaic, countable) a female slave
(archaic or poetic, countable) maiden

Declension

Synonyms

(female slave): ambátt

Derived terms

mansal
mansmaður

Etymology 2

From mana (“to dare [someone] [to do something]”).

Noun

man n (genitive singular mans, no plural)

the act of daring someone to do something; provocation, dare

Declension

Etymology 3

Appears in Guðbrandur Þorláksson’s 1584 Bible translation. Borrowed from German Man (in Luther’s 1534 German Bible), from Hebrew מן (mān, “manna”).

Noun

man n (indeclinable)

(biblical, obsolete) manna

Synonyms

(manna): manna

Etymology 4

Verb

man

first-person singular present indicative of muna; I remember
third-person singular present indicative of muna; he/she/it remembers

References

“man” in: Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon — Íslensk orðsifjabók, (1989). Reykjavík, Orðabók Háskólans. (Available on Málið.is under the “Eldra mál” tab.)

Istriot

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Noun

man m

hand

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

Derived from English man.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/

Noun

man (plural man dem, quantified man)

man (adult male human)

Adjective

man

male

Coordinate term

uman

Japanese

Romanization

man

Rōmaji transcription of まん
Rōmaji transcription of マン

Kapampangan

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *man.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈman/, [ˈmän]

Adverb

man

although; even if; even though
Synonyms: mo, agyang pa
also; too
Synonyms: din, pati
only; even
Synonyms: mu, mo

Derived terms

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Noun

man f (plural mans)

(Gherdëina, Badiot, Fascian) hand

Latvian

Pronoun

man

to me; dative singular of es

Ligurian

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [maŋ]

Noun

man f (plural moæn)

hand

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [man]

Pronoun

mán

first-person singular dative of aš

Lombard

Alternative forms

ma, mà (Eastern orthographies)

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /maːn/, [maːŋ] (Western)
IPA^(key): /maː/, [ma(ː)] (Eastern)

Noun

man f (plural man)

hand

Luxembourgish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /maːn/

Verb

man (third-person singular present meet, past participle gemat or gemeet, auxiliary verb hunn)

(regional, southern dialects) Alternative form of maachen

Mandarin

Romanization

man

Nonstandard spelling of mān.
Nonstandard spelling of mán.
Nonstandard spelling of mǎn.
Nonstandard spelling of màn.

Usage notes

Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch man, from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann-.

Noun

man m

human
person
man, male
husband
subordinate

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

- general:

- persons:

Descendants

Dutch: man
Limburgish: man
Zealandic: man

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English mann, from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann-, from Proto-Indo-European *mon-.

Alternative forms

mæn, mane, manne, mon, monne, ma, men

Pronoun

man

Typically singular, indefinite pronoun: one, you (indefinite).

Derived terms

me
noman
animan

References

“man, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 12 June 2018.
“men, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 12 June 2018.

Etymology 2

Noun

man

Alternative form of mon (“man”)

Etymology 3

Verb

man

(Late Middle English) Alternative form of mone (“shall”)

Miskito

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/

Pronoun

man

(in the singular) you

Norman

Alternative forms

main (Jersey)
môin (Guernsey)

Etymology 1

From Old French main, mein, man, from Latin manus (“hand”).

Noun

man f (plural mans)

(France, anatomy) hand

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

man (feminine ma)

my (belonging to me)

Coordinate terms

tan (“your”)
san (“hers, his, its”)

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian mīn, from Proto-West Germanic *mīn.

Pronoun

man m (feminine min, neuter min, plural min)

(Föhr-Amrum) my

Northern Kurdish

Verb

man

to stay
to remain

Northern Sami

Pronoun

man

accusative/genitive singular of mii

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɑn/
Homophone: mann
Rhymes: -ɑn

Pronoun

man

you
one
they
people

Etymology 2

From Old Norse mǫn, from Proto-Germanic *manō.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɑːn/
Rhymes: -ɑːn

Noun

man f or m (definite singular mana or manen, indefinite plural maner, definite plural manene)

a mane (of a horse)

References

“man” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
“man” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse mǫn, from Proto-Germanic *manō.

Noun

man f (definite singular mana, indefinite plural maner, definite plural manene)

mane (of a horse)

References

“man” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan man, from Latin manus.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ma]

Noun

man f (plural mans)

hand

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann-.

Noun

man m

human, person
man, male

Inflection

Derived terms

Descendants

Middle Dutch: man
- Dutch: man
- Limburgish: man
- Zealandic: man

Old English

Alternative forms

mann

Etymology 1

From mann.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɔn/

Pronoun

man

one, you (indefinite pronoun; construed as a third-person singular)
- c. 992, Ælfric, "The First Sunday in September, When Job Is Read"
- c. 992, Ælfric, "Dedication of the Church of St. Michael"
- c. 897, Alfred the Great, translation of Pope Gregory's Pastoral Care
they, people (people in general)
someone, somebody (some unspecified person)
they (some unspecified group of people)
- The Dialogues of Solomon and Saturn
often used where modern English would use the passive voice
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
- Early 11th century, Wulfstan, "On the Beginning of Creation"
it
- c. 900, translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans
- late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

Descendants

Middle English: man, me

Etymology 2

See mann.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɔnn/, [mɔn]

Noun

man m

Alternative form of mann

Declension

Etymology 3

From Proto-Germanic *mainą.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɔːn/

Noun

mān n

crime, sin, wickedness

Derived terms

mānswerian

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann-.

Noun

man m

Declension

Descendants

Middle High German: man
- Alemannic German: ma, mà, Maa, Mann, Mànn, mo, ma'
  Swabian: Ma, Mâ, Mô, Mâo, Mâu
- Bavarian: mon, mònn, moon, ma'
  Cimbrian: man, mann, månn
  
  Mòcheno: mònn
- Central Franconian:
  Hunsrik: Mann
- East Central German:
  Silesian East Central German: Moan
- German: Mann, man
- Luxembourgish: Mann
- Transylvanian Saxon: Mouen, Mäun
- Rhine Franconian:
  Pennsylvania German: Mann
- Yiddish: מאַן (man)

Old Norse

Etymology

Probably from Proto-Germanic *gamaną (“fellow human”)

Noun

man n (genitive mans, plural mǫn)

household, house-folk, bondslaves
bondwoman, female slave
woman, maid
- 900-1100, The Alvíssmál, verse 7:

Declension

Derived terms

mankynni n pl
mansal n
mansmaðr m

Descendants

Icelandic: man

References

Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic‎^[13], Oxford: Clarendon Press

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Noun

man f (oblique plural mans, nominative singular man, nominative plural mans)

hand (anatomy)

Descendants

Occitan: man

References

Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “manus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volumes 6/1: Mabile–Mephitis, page 285

Old Saxon

Noun

man m

Alternative form of mann

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Latin māne (“morning”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈman/

Noun

man f (plural manes)

morning

Synonyms

mannana f

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Spanish mano.

Noun

man

hand

Romani

Pronoun

man

accusative of me

Sambali

Adverb

man

also

Saterland Frisian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/
Hyphenation: man
Rhymes: -an

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle Low German man. Related to German Low German man and Swedish men.

Conjunction

man

Adverb

man

but, just

Etymology 2

From an unstressed variant of Old Frisian mon (“man”). Compare Dutch men and German man.

Pronoun

man

one, they

Related terms

Mon (“man, husband”)

References

Marron C. Fort (2015) “man”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Scottish Gaelic

Preposition

man (+ nominative with the definite article, + dative otherwise, no mutation)

(Lewis) Alternative form of mar

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English man.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈman/ [ˈmãn]
Rhymes: -an
Syllabification: man

Noun

man m (plural mans or manes)

(Latin America, colloquial) man, guy, dude
Synonyms: tipo, tío; see also Thesaurus:tío

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

From English man.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/, /maŋ/

Noun

man

man, male human
A man no ben man taki. ― The man could not speak.

Derived terms

-man
manpikin

Verb

man

to be able to
A man no ben man taki. ― The man could not speak.

Synonyms

Sumerian

Romanization

man

Romanization of 𒎙

Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old Swedish maþer, mander, from Old Norse maðr, from Proto-Germanic *mann-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/

Noun

man m

man (adult male human)
husband
a member of a crew, workforce or (military) troop
(slang, in the definite "mannen") man (usually friendly term of address)

Usage notes

(adult male human): The unchanged plural man is sometimes used after numerals. It means "men" as a measure for size or strength of a group rather than individuals:

Med tre man kan vi lyfta byrån ― With three people we can lift the cupboard

Military or police personnel, team members, demonstrators and the like are often counted using this unchanged plural. The same goes with German and Dutch where Mann and man can have an unchanged plural form in this particular case.

(husband): Not used in other contexts, where it could be confused with a man in general.

Declension

Derived terms

Pronoun

man c

(indefinite) people in general; one, you, they, people, etc.
(indefinite, often humorous) I (referring to oneself obliquely)
Synonym: jag

Usage notes

Man does not sound formal the way English one might when used instead of you. Man is usually the only option in cases where either you or one might be used in English, as Swedish du (“you”) and ni (“you (plural)”) read more like "you, specifically." See the quotations for (sense 1) above for various examples of how man might be translated while preserving tone.

See the usage notes for bli and skall for two other examples of words that have a direct translation that is often unidiomatic or a poor match for tone.

Declension

See Template:sv-decl-ppron for more pronouns.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish man, from Old Norse mǫn, from Proto-Germanic *manō.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːn/

Noun

man c

mane (of a horse or lion)

Declension

References

man in Svensk ordbok (SO)
man in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
man in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

Tagalog

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *man (“particle expressing solidarity, concession, qualification, or emphasis”).

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈman/, [ˈman]
Rhymes: -an

Adverb

man (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜈ᜔)

even (implying extreme example)
although; even if; even though
Synonyms: kahit, maski, bagaman
even; also; too
Synonyms: din, pati

Usage notes

The word cannot be at the start of a sentence.

Derived terms

Tarpia

Noun

man

bird

References

George W. Grace, Notes on the phonological history of the Austronesian languages of the Sarmi Coast, in Oceanic Linguistics (1971, 10:11-37)

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English man.

Noun

man

man (adult male human)

Adjective

man

male

Antonyms

meri

Derived terms

Torres Strait Creole

Etymology

From English man.

Noun

man

husband
a married man
any man

Venetian

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Noun

man f (invariable)

hand

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [maːn˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [maːŋ˧˧]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [maːŋ˧˧]
Homophone: mang

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 瞞 (“to lie”). Also compare 謾／谩 (“to deceive”).

Adjective

man

(only in compounds) dishonest; false; untruthful

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 蠻 (“barbarian; unreasonable”).

Noun

man

(derogatory, chiefly in compounds) a savage; barbarian

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 萬 (“ten thousand”, SV: vạn). Doublet of muôn and vạn.

Numeral

man

(archaic) ten thousand; myriad
một man ― ten thousand

Derived terms

cơ man (“multitude; myriad”)

Anagrams

Volapük

Etymology

Borrowed from the descendants of Proto-West Germanic *mann.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [man]

Noun

man (nominative plural mans)

man (adult male human)

Declension

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Welsh

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/
Rhymes: -an

Etymology 1

From Middle Welsh mann, from Proto-Celtic *mendu (“mark, location”), from Proto-Indo-European *men-dʰh₁u-. Cognate with Old Irish mind (“crown”), and also related to Old Irish mennar (“blemish, stain”); outside of Celtic, cognate with Latin mendum (“fault, blemish”), Hittite [script needed] (mant-, “something harming”).

Noun

man m or f (plural mannau or mannoedd)

place; location
Synonyms: lle, lleoliad, safle

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Possibly from Latin menda (“defect, blemish, mistake”), from Proto-Indo-European *mend- (“physical defect, fault”); if so, then from the same origin as Etymology 1. See Old Irish mennar (“blemish, stain”).

Noun

man m (plural mannau or mannoedd, diminutive mannyn or mennyn)

speck; blemish
stain
distinguishing mark
birthmark; mole
pimple; spot
(heraldry) mascle

Etymology 3

Learned borrowing from Hebrew מן (mān, “manna”).

Noun

man m

(uncommon) manna
Synonym: manna

Mutation

References

R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “man”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 264

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian man, from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɔn/

Noun

man c (plural manlju or mannen, diminutive mantsje)

man
Coordinate term: frou
husband
Coordinate term: frou

Wik-Mungkan

Noun

man

neck

Derived terms

Wolof

Pronunciation

Pronoun

man

I (first-person singular subject pronoun)

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English man, from Old English mann, from Proto-West Germanic *mann.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /man/

Noun

man (plural mannes)

man
husband
Coordinate term: mawen

Derived terms

cowlee man
gentleman

References

Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 55

Zealandic

Etymology

From Middle Dutch man, from Old Dutch man, from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann-.

Noun

man m (plural mannen)

man
husband

man

man

Translingual

Symbol

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Noun

Usage notes

Synonyms

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

Adjective

Interjection

Translations

Pronoun

Usage notes

Etymology 2

Verb

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

Proper noun

Derived terms

References

Further reading

Anagrams

Abinomn

Noun

Afrikaans

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Usage notes

Albanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Hyponyms

Aragonese

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Arigidi

Pronoun

References

Bagirmi

Noun

References

Bariai

Noun

References

Bikol Central

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adverb

Particle

Bonggo

Noun

References

Caló

Pronoun

References

Cebuano

Etymology

Pronunciation

Particle

Chinese

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

See also