Etymology

manly

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Today it means: Having the characteristics of a man. Full definition →

Middle English manli, manlich, manly ← Old English *manlīċ ← Proto-West Germanic *mannlīk
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manly · adjective1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*mannlīkaz
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*mannlīk
  3. Old English · inherited from*manlīċ
  4. Middle English · inherited frommanli, manlich, manly
  5. English todaymanly

From Middle English manli, manlich, manly, from Old English *manlīċ (suggested by adverb manlīċe (“in a way befitting a person; nobly, stately”)), from Proto-West Germanic *mannlīk, from Proto-Germanic *mannlīkaz, equivalent to man + -ly (adjectival suffix). Cognate with Old High German manlīh (“manly”) (whence German männlich), Dutch mannelijk, Old Norse mannligr (“human”) (Danish mandlig, Swedish manlig).

manly · adverb2

  1. Old English · inherited frommanlīċe
  2. Middle English · inherited frommanli, manlich, manly
  3. English todaymanly

From Middle English manli, manlich, manly, from Old English manlīċe, equivalent to man + -ly (adverbial suffix).

Manly · proper noun3

English and Irish surname, variant of Manley.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.