# man

Pronunciation: say "MAN" /mæn/

## Noun

1. An adult male human, or a similar male being in fiction.
   - Simple: A grown-up male person.
   - _He was a tall man with a gray beard._
   - _Two men and a dog came up the lane._
2. A man who belongs to a group or works under someone, such as an employee, a representative or a soldier under an officer.
   - Simple: A grown-up male who belongs to a certain group or works for someone.
   - _The union man spoke first._
   - _The company's men were everywhere at the fair._
3. Human beings as a whole; humankind, including early humans as a species.
   - Simple: All people together, as a kind of living thing.
   - _Man has walked on the moon._
   - _Is man naturally good or naturally violent?_
4. A human being of any gender or sex, usually an adult.
   - Simple: A person of either sex, usually a grown-up.
   - _Time and tide wait for no man._
   - _No man can serve two masters._
6. A familiar term of address, usually to a man, sometimes showing impatience or urgency.
   - Simple: A friendly or impatient word used when talking to someone, usually a man.
   - _Take it easy, man._
   - _Thanks for holding the door, man, I really appreciate it._
7. All human males considered collectively; humankind in the male sense.
   - Simple: All male people thought of together as one group.
   - _Man has always feared what woman knows, the essay claims._
   - _The essay explores the changing roles of man and woman in marriage._
8. A woman's or partner's husband, boyfriend, or male lover.
   - Simple: Someone's husband or boyfriend.
   - _Is he your man or just a friend?_
   - _All her men were musicians._
9. As the last part of a compound, a man whose work, skill or enthusiasm concerns a specified thing.
   - Simple: A man connected with a certain job or interest, as in the gas man or a jazz man.
   - _Ask the gas man to check the meter._
   - _The delivery men left the new sofa in the hallway and drove off._
10. A grown male notable for the traits traditionally seen as manly, like strength, integrity, and commitment to family; a mensch.
   - Simple: A male person who shows courage, strength and honesty.
   - _It takes a man to say sorry._
   - _Be a man and tell her the truth yourself._
12. A person, usually male, who can meet one's requirements in a specified matter.
   - Simple: The right person to do what is needed.
   - _For old cars, Frank is your man._
   - _Who's the man to ask about visas?_
13. In sports, the player one is marking, with the aim of limiting their attacking impact.
   - Simple: In sport, the player on the other team you must stay close to and stop.
   - _Each defender has a man to watch._
   - _Both center backs lost their men at the corner._
14. In video games, one of the player's chances to play, lost when the character dies or certain mistakes are made.
   - Simple: In video games, one of the lives a player has.
   - _In the old arcade game, you start with three men._
   - _I lost my last man on the arcade game's final level._
15. Any of the counters or playing pieces that players move around a board in games like backgammon.
   - Simple: A piece used in a board game such as checkers.
   - _He lost a man in the first three moves._
   - _Count the men on the backgammon board before you start._
16. An adult male servant; a valet.
   - Simple: A male servant who looks after his employer.
   - _The colonel's man had served him for thirty years._
   - _His lordship's man laid out the evening clothes and brushed the coat before dinner._
18. In historical use, a vassal or a subject.
   - Simple: In history, a person bound to serve a lord or king.
   - _A knight was his lord's man and owed him forty days' service._
   - _As the baron's man, he owed him forty days of service each year._

## Interjection

5. An exclamation that lends emphasis to a remark, whether or not the speaker is actually talking to a man.
   - Simple: A word said to show strong feeling about something.
   - _Oh man, look at the time._
   - _Man, this coffee is strong._

## Verb

11. To work at, operate, or be in charge of something, or to supply a place with the people needed to run it.
   - Simple: To be the person who works at or runs something, or to give a place enough workers.
   - _Can you man the grill while I go get more ice?_
   - _The barricade was manned all night._

## Adjective

17. Having manly qualities, used only before enough.
   - Simple: Brave and strong in the way expected of a male, used only before 'enough'.
   - _Be man enough to own your mistakes._
   - _Nobody was man enough to speak first._

## Pronoun

20. In Multicultural London English, used as a pronoun for oneself, the person spoken to, or people in general. *(dialectal, Multicultural London English)*
   - Simple: In some London speech, a word used to mean I, you or anyone.
   - _Man can't get a seat on that bus._
   - _What's man supposed to do?_

## Verb

19. To brace or steel oneself in a manly way, used reflexively. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To make yourself brave, used with words like 'himself' or 'yourself'.

## Noun

21. The quality or state of being manly; manliness. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The strength and courage expected of a grown male.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To serve someone, or to go along with them as an escort.
- (verb) To get a hawk or other bird used to being around people.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–10, 12–18, 20–21** — From Middle English 'man', from Old English 'mann' ('human being, person, man'), from Proto-West Germanic and Proto-Germanic '*mann-', probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European '*mon-' ('human being, man'). It is related to Dutch 'man', German 'Mann', and Swedish 'man'.
**Meanings 11, 19** — Old English built the verb mannian (also ġemannian), meaning "to man, supply with men, populate, garrison," on the noun mann ("human being, man"), and it became Middle English mannen. Dutch and German bemannen are related.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/man (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).