Definify.com

Definition 2024


man's

man

See also: Appendix:Variations of "man", -man, and Man

English

Noun

man (plural men)

A man.
  1. An adult male human.
    The show is especially popular with middle-aged men.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, act 4, scene 1:
      The king is but a man, as I am; the violet smells to him as it doth to me.
    • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterI:
      [] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
  2. (collective) All human males collectively: mankind.
    • 2011, Eileen Gray and the Design of Sapphic Modernity: Staying In, p.109:
      Unsurprisingly, if modern man is a sort of camera, modern woman is a picture.
  3. A human, a person of either gender, usually an adult. (See usage notes.)
    every man for himself
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2, act 4, scene 2:
      [] a man cannot make him laugh.
    • 1611, Bible (KJV), Romans 12.17:
      Recompence to no man euill for euill.
    • c. 1700, Joseph Addison, Monaco, Genoa, &c., page 9:
      A man would expect, in so very ancient a town of Italy, to find some considerable antiquities; but all they have to show of this nature is an old Rostrum of a Roman ship, that stands over the door of their arsenal.
    • 1991 edition (original: 1953), Darell Huff, How to Lie with Statistics, pp.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 daya 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?
  4. (collective) All humans collectively: mankind, humankind, humanity. (Sometimes capitalized as Man.)
    • 1460-1500, The Towneley Playsː
      I see that it is good; now make we man to our likeness, that shall be keeper of mere & leas(ow), of fowls and fish in flood.
    • 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.
    • 2013 July 20, Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.
  5. (anthropology, archaeology, paleontology) A member of the genus Homo, especially of the species Homo sapiens.
    • 1990, The Almanac of Science and Technology (ISBN 0151050503), p.68:
      The evidence suggests that close relatives of early man, in lineages that later became extinct, also were able to use tools.
  6. (obsolete) A sentient being, whether human or supernatural.
    • c. 1500, A Gest of Robyn Hode, in the Child Ballads:
      For God is holde a ryghtwys man.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing, act 3, scene 5:
      God's a good man.
    • 1609, Ben Jonson, Epicœne, or The silent woman:
      Expect: But was the devil a proper man, gossip?
      As fine a gentleman of his inches as ever I saw trusted to the stage, or any where else.
  7. An adult male who has, to an eminent degree, qualities considered masculine, such as strength, integrity, and devotion to family; a mensch.
    • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:
      He’s more a man than any pair of rats of you in this here house []
    • 2011, Timothy Shephard, Can We Help Us?: Growing Up Bi-Racial in America (ISBN 1456754610), p.181:
      I had the opportunity to marry one of them but wasn't mature enough to be a man and marry her and be close to the [] children and raise them [].
  8. (uncountable, obsolete, uncommon) Manliness; the quality or state of being manly.
  9. A husband.
    • Book of Common Prayer:
      I pronounce that they are man and wife.
    • 1715, Joseph Addison, The Freeholder:
      In the next place, every wife ought to answer for her man.
  10. A lover; a boyfriend.
  11. 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.)
    Some people prefer apple pie, but me, I’m a cherry pie man.
  12. A person, usually male, who has duties or skills associated with a specified thing. (Used as the last element of a compound.)
    I always wanted to be a guitar man on a road tour, but instead I’m a flag man on a road crew.
  13. A person, usually male, who can fulfill one's requirements with regard to a specified matter.
    • 2007, Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night (ISBN 0778324567), p.553:
      "She's the man for the job."
    • 2008, Soccer Dad: A Father, a Son, and a Magic Season (ISBN 160239329X), p.148:
      Joanie volunteered, of course — if any dirty job is on offer requiring running, she's your man
    • 2012, The Island Caper: A Jake Lafferty Action Novel (ISBN 1622951999), p.34:
      He also owns the only backhoe tractor on Elbow Cay, so whenever anyone needs a cistern dug, he's their man.
  14. A male who belongs to a particular group: an employee, a student or alumnus, a representative, etc.
    • 1909, Harper's Weekly, Vol.53, p.iii:
      When President Roosevelt goes walking in the country about Washington he is always accompanied by two Secret Service men.
    • 1913, Robert Herrick, One Woman's Life, p.46:
      "And they're very good people, I assure you — he's a Harvard man." It was the first time Milly had met on intimate terms a graduate of a large university.
  15. An adult male servant. (historical) A vassal. A subject.
    Like master, like man. (old proverb)
    all the king's men
    • 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.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.
  16. A piece or token used in board games such as chess.
    • 1883, Henry Richter, Chess Simplified!, p.4:
      The white men are always put on that side of the board which commences by row I, and the black men are placed opposite.
  17. (MLE, slang) Used to refer to oneself or one's group: I, we; construed in the third person.
    • 2011, Top Boy:
      Sully: If it weren’t for that snake ... Man wouldn’t even be in this mess right now.
  18. A term of familiar address often implying on the part of the speaker some degree of authority, impatience, or haste.
    Come on, man, we've no time to lose!
  19. A friendly term of address usually reserved for other adult males.
    Hey, man, how's it goin'?

Usage notes

  • The use of “man” 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.[1] 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”,[1] “flatly discriminatory in that it slights or ignores the membership of women in the human race”.[2] 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.[3] Some style guides recommend against generic “man”,[4] 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.[2]

Synonyms

  • (adult male human): omi (Polari); see also Wikisaurus:man
  • See also Wikisaurus:person
  • See also Wikisaurus:board game piece

See also

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To supply (something) with staff or crew (of either sex).
    The ship was manned with a small crew.
  2. (transitive) To take up position in order to operate (something).
    Man the machine guns!
  3. (reflexive, possibly dated) To brace (oneself), to fortify or steel (oneself) in a manly way. (Compare man up.)
    • 1876, Julian Hawthorne, Saxon Studies:
      he manned himself heroically
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To wait on, attend to or escort.
  5. (transitive, obsolete) To accustom (a hawk or other bird) to the presence of men.

Derived terms

Translations

Interjection

man

  1. Used to place emphasis upon something or someone; sometimes, but not always, when actually addressing a man.
    Man, that was a great catch!

Quotations

  • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:man.

Translations

References

  1. 1 2 man” (US) / “man” (UK) in Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press.
  2. 1 2 man” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
  3. American Heritage Dictionary, 5th edition
  4. Purdue OWL

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: other · very · upon · #69: man · may · about · its

Anagrams


Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch man.

Noun

man (plural mans or manne)

  1. man
  2. husband

Albanian

Alternative forms

  • Tosk: mën
  • Gheg: mand, mandë

Etymology

Syncopated form of Gheg mand, from Proto-Albanian *manta.

Noun

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

  1. mulberry, mulberry tree

Hyponyms

  • man i bardhë ‘white mulberry’ (Morus alba)
  • man i kuq ‘red mulberry’ (Morus rubra)
  • man toke ‘wild strawberry’ (Fragoria vesca)
  • man i zi ‘black mulberry’ (Morus nigra)

Arigidi

Pronoun

man

  1. 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)

Bagirmi

Noun

man

  1. water

References

  • R. C. Stevenson, Bagirmi Grammar (1969)

Bonggo

Noun

man

  1. 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)

Chinese

Etymology

Borrowing from English man.

Pronunciation

  • (Mandarin) IPA(key): /mɛːn⁵⁵/
  • (Cantonese) IPA(key): /mɛːn⁵⁵/

Adjective

man

  1. (slang) manly; masculine

Chinook Jargon

Etymology

From English man.

Noun

man

  1. man

Synonyms

Antonyms

Adjective

man

  1. male

Antonyms


Chuukese

Noun

man

  1. Alternative spelling of maan

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse mǫn, from Proto-Indo-European *mon- (neck).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /maːn/, [mæːˀn]

Noun

man c (singular definite manen, plural indefinite maner)

  1. mane (longer hair growth on back of neck of a horse)
Declension
Related terms

Etymology 2

Same as mand (man), from Old Norse maðr (man). Transition to pronoun by German influence.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /man/, [man]

Pronoun

man

  1. you
  2. they, people
  3. we, one

Etymology 3

See mane.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /maːn/, [mæːˀn]

Verb

man

  1. imperative of mane

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɑn/
  • Rhymes: -ɑn

Etymology

From Old Dutch man, from Proto-Germanic *mann-, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *man-. Cognate with English and West Frisian man, German Mann, Danish mand.

Noun

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

  1. man human male, either adult or age-irrespective
    De oude man en de zee.
    The Old Man and the Sea.
  2. 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.”)
  • 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).

Derived terms

Related terms

Anagrams


Faroese

Verb

man

  1. First and third-person singular present of munna
    I, he, she, it will / may

Conjugation

Derived terms

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

Pronoun

man

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

Synonyms


Friulian

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Noun

man m (plural mans)

  1. hand

Galician

Etymology

From Old Portuguese mão, from Latin manus. Compare Catalan , French main, Italian mano, Occitan man, Portuguese mão, Romanian mână, Sardinian manu, Spanish mano.

Noun

man f (plural mans)

  1. (anatomy) hand

Usage notes

  • Man is a false friend, and does not mean man. Galician equivalents are shown in the "Translations" section of the English entry man.

German

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

From Middle High German man, from Old High German man, from Proto-Germanic *mann- (man), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *man-. Originally the same word as Mann (man), which see for more. The same construct in Dutch men, French on.

Pronoun

man

  1. one; you; they; people (indefinite pronoun; construed as a third-person singular)
    Man kann nicht immer kriegen, was man will.
    You can’t always get what you want.
    Manchmal muss man Kompromisse machen.
    Sometimes one must compromise.
    Zumindest sagt man das so...
    At least that’s what they say...
    • 2008, Frank Behmeta, Wenn ich die Augen öffne, page 55:
      Kann man es fühlen, wenn man schwanger ist?
      Can one feel that one is pregnant?
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.

Etymology 2

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

Adverb

man

  1. (colloquial, regional, Northern Germany) just; only
    Komm man hier rüber!
    Just come over here!
    Das sind man dreißig Stück oder so.
    These are only thirty or so.

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

  1. (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

  1. Romanization of 𐌼𐌰𐌽

Icelandic

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmaːn/
  • 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)

  1. (obsolete, uncountable, collective) slaves
  2. (archaic, countable) a female slave
  3. (archaic or poetic, countable) maiden
Declension
Synonyms
Derived terms
  • mansal
  • mansmaður

Etymology 2

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

Noun

man n (genitive singular mans, no plural)

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

Etymology 3

Borrowing from Hebrew מן (mān, manna), perhaps via , appearing in Guðbrandur Þorláksson’s 1584 Bible translation.

Noun

man n (declension uncertain, perhaps indeclinable)

  1. (biblical, obsolete) manna

Etymology 4

Verb

man

  1. first person singular present indicative of muna I remember
    Ég man ekki.
    I don't remember.
  2. third person singular present indicative of muna he/she/it remembered
    Hann man hvað gerðist.
    He remembers what happened.

References


Istriot

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Noun

man m

  1. hand

Japanese

Romanization

man

  1. rōmaji reading of まん
  2. rōmaji reading of マン

Kurdish

Verb

man

  1. to stay
  2. to remain

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Noun

man f (plural mans)

  1. hand

Latvian

Pronoun

man

  1. to me; dative singular form of es

Ligurian

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [maŋ]

Noun

man f (plural moæn)

  1. hand

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [man]

Pronoun

mán

  1. (first-person singular) dative form of .
    Duok man knygą.
    Give me that book.

Lojban

Rafsi

man

  1. rafsi of manku.

Luxembourgish

Verb

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

  1. (regional, southern dialects) Alternative form of maachen

Mandarin

Romanization

man

  1. Nonstandard spelling of mān.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of mán.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of mǎn.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of màn.

Usage notes

  • English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Norman

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

From Old French main, mein, man, from Latin manus (hand), from Proto-Indo-European *man-.

Noun

man f (plural mans)

  1. (France, anatomy) hand

Etymology 2

Adjective

man (feminine ma)

  1. my (belonging to me)
Coordinate terms
  • tan (your)
  • san (hers, his, its)

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian mīn.

Pronoun

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

  1. (Föhr-Amrum) my

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

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

Pronoun

man

  1. you
  2. one
  3. they
  4. people

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɑːn/
  • Rhymes: -ɑːn

Noun

man

  1. mane (of a horse)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

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

  1. mane (of a horse)

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Provençal man, from Latin manus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ma]

Noun

man f (plural mans)

  1. hand

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *mann-, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *man-. Compare Old Saxon man, Old High German man, Old Frisian man, mon, Old English mann, Old Norse maðr.

Noun

man m

  1. human, person
  2. man

Declension

Descendants


Old English

Etymology 1

From mann.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɑn/

Pronoun

man

  1. one, someone, they (often used to form the passive)

Etymology 2

Cognate with Old Saxon mēn, Old High German mein, Old Norse mein.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɑːn/

Noun

mān n

  1. crime, sin, wickedness

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *mann-, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *man-. Compare Old Saxon man, Dutch man, Old English mann, Old Frisian man, mon, Old Norse maðr, Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰 (manna).

Noun

man m

  1. man

Descendants


Old Provençal

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Noun

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

  1. hand (anatomy)

Descendants

References


Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *mann-, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *man-. Compare Old English mann, Old Frisian man, mon, Old Dutch man, Old High German man, Old Norse maðr.

Noun

man m

  1. human, person
  2. man

Synonyms

Descendants

  • German Low German: Mann

Scottish Gaelic

Preposition

man

  1. Alternative form of mar

Usage notes

  • Unlike mar, man does not lenite the following word.

Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old Swedish maþer, mander, from Old Norse maðr, from Proto-Germanic *mann-, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *man-.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈman/

Noun

man c

  1. a man (adult male human)
  2. somebody's husband (not used in other contexts, where could be confused with a man in general, other than as äkta man, see also make, gemål)
    Vi går till caféet med våra män.
    We go to the café with our husbands.
  3. a member of a crew, workforce or (military) troop
    I äldre tider sa man att björnen ägde sju mans styrka men en mans vett.
    In older times, they said the bear has the strength of seven men but the sense of one man.
Declension

Definitions 1, 2 and 3:

Definition 3:

Pronoun

man c

  1. (indefinite) one, they; people in general
    Vad man kan se
    What one can see
Declension

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish man, from Old Norse mǫn, from Proto-Germanic *manō, from Proto-Indo-European *mono-, from Proto-Indo-European *men-.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmɑːn/

Noun

man c

  1. mane (of a horse or lion)
Declension
Inflection of man 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative man manen manar manarna
Genitive mans manens manars manarnas

Tarpia

Noun

man

  1. 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

  1. man (adult male human)
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Genesis 2:5 (translation here):
      ...i no gat diwai na gras samting i kamap long graun yet, long wanem, em i no salim ren i kam daun yet. Na i no gat man bilong wokim gaden.

Adjective

man

  1. male
This entry has fewer than three known examples of actual usage, the minimum considered necessary for clear attestation, and may not be reliable. Tok Pisin is subject to a special exemption for languages with limited documentation. If you speak it, please consider editing this entry or adding citations. See also Help and the Community Portal.

Antonyms

Derived terms


Torres Strait Creole

Etymology

From English man.

Noun

man

  1. husband
  2. a married man
  3. any man

Venetian

Etymology

From Latin manus. Compare Italian mano.

Noun

man f (invariable)

  1. hand

Vietnamese

Etymology

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese (“ten thousand; SV: vạn)

Pronunciation

Numeral

man

  1. (archaic, cardinal) ten thousand; myriad
    một man
    ten thousand

Derived terms

  • cơ man (a large quantity of)

Volapük

Etymology

Borrowing from English man (compare Dutch: man, Swedish: man, Norwegian: mann, German: Mann, German Low German: Mann, Yiddish: מאַן (man, man)).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [man]

Noun

man (plural mans)

  1. man (adult male human)

Declension

Coordinate terms

Derived terms


Welsh

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /man/

Noun

man m, f (plural mannau)

  1. place

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
man fan unchanged unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian man, from Proto-Germanic *mann-, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *man-. Compare English and Dutch man, German Mann, Danish mand.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɔn/

Noun

man (plural manlju or mannen)

  1. man
  2. husband

Wik-Mungkan

Noun

man

  1. neck

Derived terms

  • man awal
  • man ngaat
  • man poonchal

Yola

Noun

man

  1. man
  2. husband

Antonyms

References

  • J. Poole W. Barnes, A Glossary, with Some Pieces of Verse, of the Old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy (1867)