man (m n)n. pl. men (m n) 1. An adult male human. 2. A human regardless of sex or age; a person. 3. A human or an adult male human belonging to a specific occupation, group, nationality, or other category. Often used in combination: a milkman; a congressman; a freeman. 4. The human race; mankind: man's quest for peace. 5. Zoology A member of the genus Homo, family Hominidae, order Primates, class Mammalia, characterized by erect posture and an opposable thumb, especially a member of the only extant species, Homo sapiens, distinguished by a highly developed brain, the capacity for abstract reasoning, and the ability to communicate by means of organized speech and record information in a variety of symbolic systems. 6. A male human endowed with qualities, such as strength, considered characteristic of manhood. 7. Informal a. A husband. b. A male lover or sweetheart. 8. mena. Workers. b. Enlisted personnel of the armed forces: officers and men. 9. A male representative, as of a country or company: our man in Tokyo. 10. A male servant or subordinate. 11. Informal Used as a familiar form of address for a man: See here, my good man! 12. One who swore allegiance to a lord in the Middle Ages; a vassal. 13. Games Any of the pieces used in a board game, such as chess or checkers. 14. Nautical A ship. Often used in combination: a merchantman; a man-of-war. 15. often Man Slang A person or group felt to be in a position of power or authority. Used with the: "Their writing mainly concerns the street life the pimp, the junky, the forces of drug addiction, exploitation at the hands of 'the man'" Black World. tr.v. manned, man·ning, mans 1. To supply with men, as for defense or service: man a ship. 2. To take stations at, as to defend or operate: manned the guns. 3. To fortify or brace: manned himself for the battle ahead. interj. Used as an expletive to indicate intense feeling: Man! That was close. Idioms: as one man1. In complete agreement; unanimously. 2. With no exception: They objected as one man. one's own man Independent in judgment and action. to a man Without exception: All were lost, to a man.
[Middle English, from Old English mann; see man-1 in Indo-European roots.] Usage Note: Traditionally, many writers have used man and words derived from it to designate any or all of the human race regardless of sex. In fact, this is the oldest use of the word. In Old English the principal sense of man was "a human," and the words wer and wyf (or wæpman and wifman) were used to refer to "a male human" and "a female human" respectively. But in Middle English man displaced wer as the term for "a male human," while wyfman (which evolved into present-day woman) was retained for "a female human." Despite this change, man continued to carry its original sense of "a human" as well, resulting in an asymmetrical arrangement that many criticize as sexist.·Nonetheless, a majority of the Usage Panel still accepts the generic use of man, although the women members have significantly less enthusiasm for this usage than the men do. For example, the sentence If early man suffered from a lack of information, modern man is tyrannized by an excess of it is acceptable to 81 percent of the Panel but a breakdown by sex shows that only 58 percent of the women Panelists accept it, while 92 percent of the men do. A majority of the Panel also accepts compound words derived from generic man. The sentence The Great Wall is the only man-made structure visible from space is acceptable to 86 percent (76 percent of the women and 91 percent of the men). The sentence "The history of language is the history of mankind" (James Bradstreet Greenough and George Lyman Kittredge) is acceptable to 76 percent (63 percent of the women and 82 percent of the men). The Panel finds such compounds less acceptable when applied to women, however; only 66 percent of the Panel members (57 percent of the women and 71 percent of the men) accept the use of the word manpower in the sentence Countries that do not permit women to participate in the work force are at a disadvantage in competing with those that do avail themselves of that extra source of manpower.·Similar controversy surrounds the generic use of -man compounds to indicate occupational and social roles. Thus the use of chairman in the sentence The chairman will be appointed by the Faculty Senate is acceptable to 67 percent of the Panel (52 percent of the women and 76 percent of the men). Approval rates fall much further, however, for -man compounds applied to women. Only 48 percent (43 percent of the women and 50 percent of the men) accept the use of the word in Emily Owen, chairman of the Mayor's Task Force, issued a statement assuring residents that their views would be solicited. A majority of the Panelists also rejects the verb man when used to refer to an activity performed by women. Fifty-six percent of the Panel (61 percent of the women and 54 percent of the men) disapprove of the sentence Members of the League of Women Voters will be manning the registration desk. See Usage Notes at -ess, men, people, person. |
man Noun pl men 1. an adult male human being, as distinguished from a woman 2. a human being of either sex; person: all men are born equal 3. human beings collectively; mankind Related adjective anthropoid 4. a human being regarded as representative of a particular period or category: Neanderthal man 5. an adult male human being with qualities associated with the male, such as courage or virility: take it like a man 6. an employee, servant, or representative 7. a member of the armed forces who is not an officer 8. a member of a group or team 9. a husband, boyfriend, or male lover 10. a movable piece in various games, such as draughts 11. S African slang any person: used as a term of address 12. as one man with unanimous action or response 13. he's your man he's the person needed 14. man and boy from childhood 15. sort out the men from the boys to discover who can cope with difficult or dangerous situations and who cannot 16. to a man without exception Verb [manning, manned] 1. to provide with sufficient people for operation or defence 2. to take one's place at or near in readiness for action [Old English mann] manhood nUSAGE: The use of words ending in -man is avoided as implying a male in job advertisements, where sexual discrimination is illegal, and in many other contexts where a term that is not gender-specific is available, such as salesperson, barperson, camera operator.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. |  man - an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman); "there were two women and six men on the bus"adult, grownup - a fully developed person from maturity onward male person, male - a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies baboo, babu - used as a Hindi courtesy title; equivalent to English `Mr' bey - (formerly) a title of respect for a man in Turkey or Egypt; "he introduced me to Ahmet Bey" boy - a friendly informal reference to a grown man; "he likes to play golf with the boys" bruiser, strapper, bull, Samson - a large and strong and heavyset man; "he was a bull of a man"; "a thick-skinned bruiser ready to give as good as he got" Esq, Esquire - a title of respect for a member of the English gentry ranking just below a knight; placed after the name castrate, eunuch - a man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction; "eunuchs guarded the harem" father-figure - a man (often a powerful or influential man) who arouses emotions usually felt for your real father and with whom you identify psychologically buster, dude, fellow - an informal form of address for a man; "Say, fellow, what are you doing?"; "Hey buster, what's up?" galoot - a disreputable or clumsy man geezer - a man who is (usually) old and/or eccentric guy, hombre, bozo, cat - an informal term for a youth or man; "a nice guy"; "the guy's only doing it for some doll" Herr - a German man; used before the name as a title equivalent to Mr in English Hooray Henry - a lively and ineffectual upper-class young man housefather - a man in charge of children in an institution hunk - a well-built sexually attractive man ex, ex-husband - a man who was formerly a certain woman's husband inamorato - a man with whom you are in love or have an intimate relationship ironside - a man of great strength or bravery adonis - any handsome young man Monsieur - used as a French courtesy title; equivalent to English `Mr' Peter Pan - a boyish or immature man; after the boy in Barrie's play who never grows up ponce - a man who is effeminate in his manner and fussy in the way he dresses posseman - an able-bodied man serving as a member of a posse Senhor - a Portuguese title of respect; equivalent to English `Mr' shaver - an adult male who shaves signior, signor - used as an Italian courtesy title; can be prefixed to the name or used separately adult female, woman - an adult female person (as opposed to a man); "the woman kept house while the man hunted" | | 2. |  man - someone who serves in the armed forces; a member of a military force; "two men stood sentry duty"commando, ranger - a member of a military unit trained as shock troops for hit-and-run raids military officer, officer - any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command; "an officer is responsible for the lives of his men" noncombatant - a member of the armed forces who does not participate in combat (e.g. a chaplain or surgeon) occupier - a member of a military force who is residing in a conquered foreign country striper - a serviceman who wears stripes on the uniform to indicate rank or years of service; "he's a four-striper" veteran, veteran soldier - a serviceman who has seen considerable active service; "the veterans laughed at the new recruits" | | 3. | man - the generic use of the word to refer to any human being; "it was every man for himself" | | 4. |  man - any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriagelumbus, loin - either side of the backbone between the hipbone and the ribs in humans as well as quadrupeds hominid - a primate of the family Hominidae Homo erectus - extinct species of primitive hominid with upright stature but small brain; "Homo erectus was formerly called Pithecanthropus erectus" Homo soloensis - extinct primitive hominid of late Pleistocene; Java; formerly Javanthropus Homo habilis - extinct species of upright East African hominid having some advanced humanlike characteristics Homo sapiens - the only surviving hominid; species to which modern man belongs; bipedal primate having language and ability to make and use complex tools; brain volume at least 1400 cc chassis, bod, human body, material body, physical body, physique, build, anatomy, figure, flesh, frame, shape, soma, form - alternative names for the body of a human being; "Leonardo studied the human body"; "he has a strong physique"; "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" body hair - short hair growing over a person's body side - either the left or right half of a body; "he had a pain in his side" foot, human foot, pes - the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint; "his bare feet projected from his trousers"; "armored from head to foot" arm - a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb hand, manus, mitt, paw - the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb; "he had the hands of a surgeon"; "he extended his mitt" face, human face - the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear; "he washed his face"; "I wish I had seen the look on his face when he got the news" nutrition - the scientific study of food and drink (especially in humans) hyperdactyly, polydactyly - birth defect characterized by the presence of more than the normal number of fingers or toes syndactylism, syndactyly - birth defect in which there is partial or total webbing connecting two or more fingers or toes | | 5. | man - a male subordinate; "the chief stationed two men outside the building"; "he awaited word from his man in Havana" | | 6. | man - an adult male person who has a manly character (virile and courageous competent); "the army will make a man of you"male person, male - a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies | | 7. |  man - a manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer; "Jeeves was Bertie Wooster's man" | | 8. | man - a male person who plays a significant role (husband or lover or boyfriend) in the life of a particular woman; "she takes good care of her man"colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech lover - a significant other to whom you are not related by marriage male person, male - a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies woman - a female person who plays a significant role (wife or mistress or girlfriend) in the life of a particular man; "he was faithful to his woman" | | 9. | Man - one of the British Isles in the Irish SeaBritish Isles - Great Britain and Ireland and adjacent islands in the north Atlantic | | 10. | man - game equipment consisting of an object used in playing certain board games; "he taught me to set up the men on the chess board"; "he sacrificed a piece to get a strategic advantage"black - (board games) the darker pieces chequer, checker - one of the flat round pieces used in playing the game of checkers tile - game equipment consisting of a flat thin piece marked with characters and used in board games like Mah-Jong, Scrabble, etc. white - (board games) the lighter pieces | | 11. |  man - all of the living human inhabitants of the earth; "all the world loves a lover"; "she always used `humankind' because `mankind' seemed to slight the women"group, grouping - any number of entities (members) considered as a unit human, human being, homo, man - any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage people - (plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively; "old people"; "there were at least 200 people in the audience" | | Verb | 1. | man - take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place; "Mr. Smith manned the reception desk in the morning"man - provide with workers; "We cannot man all the desks"; "Students were manning the booths" do work, work - be employed; "Is your husband working again?"; "My wife never worked"; "Do you want to work after the age of 60?"; "She never did any work because she inherited a lot of money"; "She works as a waitress to put herself through college" | | 2. | man - provide with workers; "We cannot man all the desks"; "Students were manning the booths"staff - provide with staff; "This position is not always staffed" crew - serve as a crew member on man - take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place; "Mr. Smith manned the reception desk in the morning" |
man noun 4. partner, boy, husband, lover, mate, boyfriend, old man, groom, spouse, sweetheart, beau, significant other U.S. verb 5. staff, people, fill, crew, occupy, garrison, furnish with men to a man without exception, as one, every one, unanimously, each and every one, one and all, bar none >> adjectives anthropic, anthropoid, anthropoidal  Translations man [ pl men] [mæn, mɛn] n → hombre m;
 man [ men , pl ] [mæn, mɛn] n → homme m;
 man [mæn] [ men , pl ] n → Mann m;
 man [mæn] n [ pl men] → uomo;
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