Etymology

placeman

P3L1A1C3E1M3A1N1

Today it means: One appointed to an office, especially in government, as a reward for political or other support; an appointee, a yes-man. Full definition →

Middle English man ← Old English mann ← Proto-West Germanic *mann
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The story

  1. Englishplace
  2. Proto-Indo-European*mon-
  3. Proto-Germanic*mann-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*mann
  5. Old Englishmann
  6. Middle Englishman
  7. English todayplaceman

From place + -man.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.