man

man · noun, interjection, pronoun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*mon-“human being, man”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*mann-“man”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*mann
4. Old English · inherited frommann m“human being, person, man”
5. Middle English · inherited fromman
6. English todayman

From Middle English man, from Old English mann m (“human being, person, man”), from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann- (“man”), from Proto-Indo-European *mon- (“human being, man”). Doublet of mann and Manu. Cognates This word has many cognates, in every Germanic language (whether extant or extinct), with similarities in form and meaning. Virtually all the words below mean “man” and “husband”, with some specific cases noted. In Ingvaeonic (the languages closest to English): :* Low German Mann :* North Frisian maan, man, moon, muon :* Saterland Frisian Mon :* Scots man :* West Frisian man :* Yola man In the remainder of West Germanic: :* Alemannic German ma, Maa, Mann, mo, mà, Mànn :* Bavarian Mo, mon, moon, Må, mònn :* Cimbrian man, mann, månn :* Dutch, Limburgish, and Zealandic man :* German and Luxembourgish Mann :* Mòcheno mònn :* Vilamovian maon, mon, mōn :* Yiddish מאַן (man) In East Germanic: :* Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰 (manna), which meant “man”, “human“ and “person”, but likely also “husband” In North Germanic: :* Danish mand :* Faroese and Icelandic maður, both additionally meaning “human” and “person”, as in Old Norse :* Gutnish and Swedish man :* Norn, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk mann :* Norwegian Nynorsk mainnj :* Old Norse maðr Outside Germanic: : Indo-Iranian: ::* Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬎𐬱 (manuš, “human”) ::* Sanskrit मनुस् (manus, “human”), मनु (manu, “human; humanity; thought”; “thinking; wise; intelligent”) ::* Also Sanskrit म॒नु॒ष्य॑ (manuṣyà, “human; man; huband”, whence English manusya) : Slavic (all of these mean “man” and “husband”, though in some cases the former is no longer part of the modern standard): ::* Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian муж (muž) ::* Bulgarian мъж (măž) ::* Czech and Slovak muž ::* Macedonian маж (maž) ::* Polish mąż (“husband”; the meaning “man” is obsolete, akin to English wife) ::* Serbo-Croatian му̑ж, mȗž ::* Slovene mož

man · verb²

1. Old English · inherited frommannian
2. Middle English · inherited frommannen
3. English todayman

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

man · proper noun³

Clipping of manual.

Man · proper noun⁴

From man.

Man · proper noun⁵

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*men-“to tower, stand out”
2. Proto-Celtic · derived from*moniyos
3. Old Irish · derived fromMana
4. English todayMan

From Old Irish Mana, from Proto-Celtic *moniyos, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to tower, stand out”).

Man · proper noun⁶

From Cantonese 文 (man⁴).

Man · proper noun⁷

From Cantonese 萬／万 (maan⁶) or 文 (man⁴).

Man · proper noun⁸

Clipping of Manchester.

Man · proper noun⁹

Various other places.

Words from the same roots