man (mæn
)
Definitions
noun
Word forms: plural, men, mɛn
- an adult male human being, as distinguished from a woman
- (modifier) male; masculine ⇒
a man child
- archaic a human being regardless of sex or age, considered as a representative of mankind; a person
- (sometimes capital) human beings collectively; mankind ⇒
the development of man
- Also called
modern man - a member of any of the living races of a member of any of the living races of Homo sapiens, characterized by erect bipedal posture, a highly developed brain, and powers of articulate speech, abstract reasoning, and imagination
- any extinct member of the species any extinct member of the species Homo sapiens, such as Cro-Magnon man
- a member of any of the extinct species of the genus a member of any of the extinct species of the genus Homo, such as Java man, Heidelberg man, and Solo man
- an adult male human being with qualities associated with the male, such as courage or virility ⇒
be a man
- manly qualities or virtues ⇒
the man in him was outraged
- a subordinate, servant, or employee contrasted with an employer or manager
- ((in combination) ⇒
the number of man-days required to complete a job
- (usually plural) a member of the armed forces who does not hold commissioned, warrant, or noncommissioned rank (as in the phrase officers and men)
- a member of a group, team, etc
- a husband, boyfriend, etc ⇒
man and wife
- an expression used parenthetically to indicate an informal relationship between speaker and hearer
- a movable piece in various games, such as draughts
- South Africa slang any person: used as a term of address
- a vassal of a feudal lord
- See as one man
- See be one's own man
- See he's your man
- See man and boy
- See sort out the men from the boys
- See to a man
exclamation
- informal an exclamation or expletive, often indicating surprise or pleasure
verb
Word forms: mans, manning, manned
(tr) - to provide with sufficient people for operation, defence, etc ⇒
to man the phones
- to take one's place at or near in readiness for action
- falconry to induce (a hawk or falcon) to endure the presence of and handling by man, esp strangers
Alternative Forms
ˈmanless adjectiveWord Origin
Old English mann; related to Old Frisian man, Old High German man, Dutch man, Icelandic mathrSynonyms
View thesaurus entrymaun or man or mun(mɑːn; mɔːn; mʌn)
Definitions
verb
- a dialect word for must1
Word Origin
C14: from Old Norse man must, will-man
Definitions
combining form in countable noun
- indicating a person who has a role, works in a place, or operates equipment as specified ⇒
salesman
barman
cameraman
Quotations
"Man is only a reed, the weakest thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed"
"Man is the measure of all things"
"Man is heaven's masterpiece"
"The more I see of men, the better I like dogs"
"There are many wonderful things, and nothing is more wonderful than man"
"Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave"
"Man is an embodied paradox, a bundle of contradictions"
"Man has but three events in his life: to be born, to live, and to die. He is not conscious of his birth, he suffers at his death and he forgets to live"
"The four stages of man are infancy, childhood, adolescence and obsolescence"
"Man is a useless passion"
"Glory to Man in the highest! for Man is the master of things"
"I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated his ability"
"What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!"
"Man is nature's sole mistake"
"Man is something to be surpassed"
"The human race, to which so many of my readers belong"
"Man was formed for society"
"man: an animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be"
"Men are but children of a larger growth"
"Man, became man through work, who stepped out of the animal kingdom as transformer of the natural into the artificial, who became therefore the magician"
"Men play the game, women know the score"
"The best of men are but men at best"
Translations
- British English:
man
A man is an adult male human.A young man walked into the room.mæn NOUN A young man walked into the room.
- Spanish:
hombre
nm
- French:
homme
nm
- German:
Mann
nm Männer
- Chinese: 男人 n
- Arabic: رَجُل n
- Portuguese: homem nm
- Russian: мужчина nm
- Croatian: čovjek nm ljudi
- Czech: muž nm
- Danish: mand nutr
- Dutch: man nm
- Finnish: mies n
- Greek: άντρας nm
- Italian: uomo nm uomini
- Japanese: 男 n
- Korean: 남자 n
- Norwegian: mann nm menn
- Polish: mężczyzna nm mężczyźni
- Brazilian Portuguese: homem nm
- European Spanish:
hombre
nm
- Swedish: man nutr män
- Thai: ผู้ชาย n
- Turkish: erkek n erkekler
- Vietnamese: đàn ông n
Usage examples
from a bearded man at mid on who James presumed to be the fielding side's captain.
Country Life (2004)The only problem is the one man who might have the answer doesn't know any more than the rest of us.
Irish Times (2002)Spike, a man to whom the bearing of grudges comes naturally, has never really forgiven it.
Glasgow Herald (2001)Breaking tribal law can lead to a man being exiled from the world, of course.
, ABORIGINE DREAMING: Introduction to the Wisdom and Thought of the Aboriginal Traditions of Australia (2002)