Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

masculine

/ˈmæskjələn/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.71 in modern English

Syllables: mas-cu-line
IPA: /ˈmæskjələn/

13

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of or pertaining to the male gender.

adj

Of or pertaining to the male sex; biologically male, not female.

adj

Belonging to males; typically used by males.

adj

Having the qualities stereotypically associated with men: virile, aggressive, not effeminate; manly.

adj

Of, pertaining or belonging to the male grammatical gender, in languages that have gender distinctions.

adj

Of, pertaining or belonging to the male grammatical gender, in languages that have gender distinctions.

adj

Having the vowel harmony of a back vowel.

adj

Following or ending on a stressed syllable.

Example Sentences

"“John”, “Paul”, and “Jake” are masculine names."
"That lady, after her husband's death, held the reins with a masculine energy."
"[…] a masculine church."
"The noun Student is masculine in German."
"German uses the masculine form of the definite article, der, with Student."
"Masculine caesura, masculine catalexis, masculine ending, masculine rhyme."

Etymology

From Middle English masculyne, masculyn, from Old French masculin, from Latin masculīnus, diminutive of masculus (“male, manly”), itself a diminutive of mās (“male”). Displaced native Old English werlīċ (literally “manly”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: masculyne, masculin, masculīnus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈmæskjələn/
British English: /ˈmæskjʊlɪn/

Usage

Obsolete

Inflected Forms

more masculine (comparative) most masculine (superlative) m. (alternative, abbreviation) m (alternative, abbreviation) masculines (plural)

Derived Forms

antimasculine cismasculine demasculinization emasculate hypermasculine hypermasculinization masculinazi masculinely masculineness masculinisation masculinism masculinist

Phrases

generic masculine masculine caesura masculine ending masculine of center masculine rhyme he-

Frequently Paired Words

he- feminine neuter common

Synonyms

male manly virile macho masc masculine Of a woman butch mannish tomboyish unfeminine unladylike

Antonyms

female womanly effeminate emasculated epicene unmanly androgynous feminine

Questions

How do you pronounce masculine?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈmæskjələn/.
What does masculine mean?: Of or pertaining to the male gender.
Where does masculine come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce masculine

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “masculine”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈmæskjələn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “masculine”.
Repeat and practice — Say “masculine” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.