The story
- Old Norse · derived frommenska“humanity”
- Middle English · derived frommenske“courtesy, honour”
- English todaymense
From earlier mensk, from Middle English menske (“courtesy, honour”), from Old English mennisċu (“the human condition, humanity”) and/or Old Norse menska (“humanity”). More at mennish, mensch.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.