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Antonyms for man


Grammar : Noun
Spell : man
Phonetic Transcription : mæn



Definition of man

Origin :
  • Old English man, mann "human being, person (male or female); brave man, hero; servant, vassal," from Proto-Germanic *manwaz (cf. Old Saxon, Swedish, Dutch, Old High German man, German Mann, Old Norse maðr, Danish mand, Gothic manna "man"), from PIE root *man- (1) "man" (cf. Sanskrit manuh, Avestan manu-, Old Church Slavonic mozi, Russian muzh "man, male").
  • Plural men (German Männer) shows effects of i-mutation. Sometimes connected to root *men- "to think" (see mind), which would make the ground sense of man "one who has intelligence," but not all linguists accept this. Liberman, for instance, writes, "Most probably man 'human being' is a secularized divine name" from Mannus [cf. Tacitus, "Germania," chap. 2], "believed to be the progenitor of the human race."
  • So I am as he that seythe, `Come hyddr John, my man.' [1473]
  • Sense of "adult male" is late (c.1000); Old English used wer and wif to distinguish the sexes, but wer began to disappear late 13c. and was replaced by man. Universal sense of the word remains in mankind and manslaughter. Similarly, Latin had homo "human being" and vir "adult male human being," but they merged in Vulgar Latin, with homo extended to both senses. A like evolution took place in Slavic languages, and in some of them the word has narrowed to mean "husband." PIE had two stems: *uiHro "freeman" (cf. Sanskrit vira-, Lithuanian vyras, Latin vir, Old Irish fer, Gothic wair) and *hner "man," a title more of honor than *uiHro (cf. Sanskrit nar-, Armenian ayr, Welsh ner, Greek aner).
  • MAN TRAP. A woman's commodity. ["Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence," London, 1811]
  • Man also was in Old English as an indefinite pronoun, "one, people, they." The chess pieces so called from c.1400. As an interjection of surprise or emphasis, first recorded c.1400, but especially popular from early 20c. Man-about-town is from 1734; the Man "the boss" is from 1918. To be man or mouse "be brave or be timid" is from 1540s. Men's Liberation first attested 1970.
  • At the kinges court, my brother, Ech man for himself. [Chaucer, "Knight's Tale," c.1386]
  • noun male human
Example sentences :
  • Here he had prestige because he was the son of Daniel Bines, organiser and man of affairs.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • No one knows what that man suffers; it makes him gloomy all the time about everything.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • If that man was a woman he'd be a warm neighbourhood gossip.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • I see some man in the East has a fad for breaking the ice in the river and going swimming.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • No man ventured to interfere with this lawful exercise of his authority.
  • Extract from : « Philothea » by Lydia Maria Child
  • I know it all by heart—all the things to say to a man on the downward path.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • The man who has just saved his life can no doubt obtain any favour.
  • Extract from : « Philothea » by Lydia Maria Child
  • "I told him high altitudes and high livin' would do any man—" Again he was silent.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • Be a man of affairs like your pa, and like that fellow Shepler.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • But he was a man and his own master—if you can rightly call a man his own master that does them things.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson

Synonyms for man

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019