manhattan

Man·hat·tan
M3A1N1H4A1T1T1A1N1
UK/mænˈhætn̩/US[mænˈhæʔn̩]New York City/mənˈhætn̩/New York City[mn̩ˈhætn̩]

noun

a bar chart representing the number of runs scored in each over (supposed to resemble a skyline of skyscrapers).

“Near-synonyms: New York County, County of New York (coterminous)”

CommonScrabble 14

Meanings

manhattan1

nounmanhattan (plural manhattans)

plural manhattans

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of Manhattan (“cocktail”).
  2. ball gamesa bar chart representing the number of runs scored in each over (supposed to resemble a skyline of skyscrapers).

Manhattan2

proper noun

alternative manhattan

  1. An indigenous people of North America who lived in present day New York State.
  2. A borough of New York City, New York, United States, mainly on Manhattan Island; in full, Borough of Manhattan.

    Near-synonyms: New York County, County of New York (coterminous)

    2 more examples

    Holonyms: New York < New York < United States < North America < Earth, World

    Meronyms: Harlem, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Lower East Side, Madison Avenue, Wall Street, World Trade Center, Battery

    Synonyms: New York County, County of New York

  3. An island of New York, United States; in full, Manhattan Island.

    Lo, body and soul—this land, / My own Manhattan with spires, and the sparkling and hurrying tides, and the ships, / The varied and ample land, the South and the North in the light, Ohio’s shores and flashing Missouri, / And ever the far-spreading prairies cover’d with grass and corn.

    1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems
    1 more example

    Adam Gopnik has, by many accounts, including his own, a lovely life. A longtime staff writer for the New Yorker and bestselling author, Gopnik lives in Manhattan with his wife, Martha, a film-maker, and their two children, and he moves in the kind of circles that allow him to drop casual lines into conversation such as: “As John Updike once said to me …”, although he has the nervy Jewish self-consciousness to follow that with “… if you’ll forgive the namedrop.”

    2017 December 8, Hadley Freeman, “Adam Gopnik: ‘You’re waltzing along and suddenly you’re portrayed as a monster of privilege’”, in The Guardian
  4. A number of places in the United States:
    1. A ghost town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States.
    2. An unincorporated community in Manatee County, Florida, United States.
    3. A township in Will County, Illinois, United States.
    4. A village in Will County, Illinois, United States.
    5. An unincorporated community in Putnam County, Indiana, United States.
    6. A city, the county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States.
    7. A town in Gallatin County, Montana, United States.
    8. An unincorporated community in Nye County, Nevada, United States.
nounManhattan (plural Manhattans)

plural Manhattans · alternative manhattan

  1. A cocktail made from whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters.

    Manhattan. Dry Manhattan on the rocks.

    1980, Paul Schrader, American Gigolo, spoken by Julian Kaye (Richard Gere)

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounA borough of New York City, New York, United States, mainly on Manhattan Island; in full, Borough of Manhattan.

Origin

  1. Munseemunahan
  2. Unamimënatay“island”
  3. EnglishManhattan

From the earlier form Manna-hata recorded by Dutch travelers and settlers, from its name in Unami, the local Algonquian language. The name generally understood to be a compound of Unami mënatay (“island”) or Munsee munahan (compare Abenaki manahan) with another element. According to a report by John Heckewelder, the name is connected to a wooded area whose trees were suitable for making bows. Linguist Ives Goddard explains the early forms Manna-hatta(n) and Mannahachtink as spellings of Munsee manaháhtaan (“place for gathering the wood to make bows”) and its related locative form manaháhteenk. This interpretation breaks down the word as a compound of manah- (“gather”) + -aht (“bow”) + -aan (“place”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian Манхатън, манхатън
  • Манхатън (Manhatăn)borough
  • манхатън (manhatăn)cocktail
Chinese Cantonese 曼克頓 /曼克顿, 曼赫頓 /曼赫顿
  • 曼克頓 /曼克顿 (maan⁶ hak¹ deon⁶)borough
  • 曼赫頓 /曼赫顿borough
  • 曼克頓 /曼克顿 (maan⁶ hak¹ deon⁶)tribe
  • 曼赫頓 /曼赫顿tribe
  • 曼克頓 /曼克顿 (maan⁶ hak¹ deon⁶)cocktail
  • 曼赫頓 /曼赫顿cocktail
Chinese Mandarin 曼哈頓 /曼哈顿, 曼赫頓 /曼赫顿
  • 曼哈頓 /曼哈顿 (Mànhādùn)borough
  • 曼赫頓 /曼赫顿borough
  • 曼哈頓 /曼哈顿 (Mànhādùn)tribe
  • 曼赫頓 /曼赫顿tribe
  • 曼哈頓 /曼哈顿 (Mànhādùn)cocktail
  • 曼赫頓 /曼赫顿cocktail
Esperanto Manhatano
  • Manhatanoborough
Finnish Manhattan, manhattan
  • Manhattanborough
  • manhattantribe
  • manhattancocktail
French Manhattan
  • Manhattanborough
Greek Μανχάταν
  • Μανχάταν (Manchátan)borough
Italian Manhattan
  • Manhattanborough
Japanese マンハッタン
  • マンハッタンborough
Korean 맨해튼
  • 맨해튼 (maenhaeteun)borough
Russian Манхэ́ттен, манхэ́ттен
  • Манхэ́ттен (Manxɛ́ttɛn)borough
  • манхэ́ттен (manxɛ́ttɛn)tribe
  • манхэ́ттен (manxɛ́tten)cocktail
Tamil மதுக்கலவை
  • மதுக்கலவை (matukkalavai)cocktail
Turkish Manhattan
  • Manhattanborough
Vietnamese Manhattan, Mã Nhật Tân
  • Manhattanborough
  • Mã Nhật Tânborough
Yiddish מאַנהעטן
  • מאַנהעטן (manhetn)borough
Cite this entry
APA

manhattan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manhattan

MLA

“manhattan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manhattan. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “manhattan,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manhattan.

Source: manhattan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.