Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

man

/ˈmæn/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: 5.82 in modern English

Syllables
man
IPA
/ˈmæn/
5
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An adult male human.

noun

An adult male human.

noun

An adult male human.

noun

An adult male human.

noun

An adult male human.

noun

A human, a person regardless of gender or sex, usually an adult.

Dated; Formal

noun

A human, a person regardless of gender or sex, usually an adult.

Dated; Formal

noun

A member of the genus Homo, especially of the species Homo sapiens.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English man, from Old English mann m (“human being, person, man”), from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann- (“man”), from Proto-Indo-European *mon- (“human being, man”). Doublet of mann and Manu. Cognates This word has many cognates, in every Germanic language (whether extant or extinct), with similarities in form and meaning. Virtually all the words below mean “man” and “husband”, with some specific cases noted. In Ingvaeonic (the languages closest to English): :* Low German Mann :* North Frisian maan, man, moon, muon :* Saterland Frisian Mon :* Scots man :* West Frisian man :* Yola man In the remainder of West Germanic: :* Alemannic German ma, Maa, Mann, mo, mà, Mànn :* Bavarian Mo, mon, moon, Må, mònn :* Cimbrian man, mann, månn :* Dutch, Limburgish, and Zealandic man :* German and Luxembourgish Mann :* Mòcheno mònn :* Vilamovian maon, mon, mōn :* Yiddish מאַן (man) In East Germanic: :* Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰 (manna), which meant “man”, “human“ and “person”, but likely also “husband” In North Germanic: :* Danish mand :* Faroese and Icelandic maður, both additionally meaning “human” and “person”, as in Old Norse :* Gutnish and Swedish man :* Norn, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk mann :* Norwegian Nynorsk mainnj :* Old Norse maðr Outside Germanic: : Indo-Iranian: ::* Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬎𐬱 (manuš, “human”) ::* Sanskrit मनुस् (manus, “human”), मनु (manu, “human; humanity; thought”; “thinking; wise; intelligent”) ::* Also Sanskrit म॒नु॒ष्य॑ (manuṣyà, “human; man; huband”, whence English manusya) : Slavic (all of these mean “man” and “husband”, though in some cases the former is no longer part of the modern standard): ::* Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian муж (muž) ::* Bulgarian мъж (măž) ::* Czech and Slovak muž ::* Macedonian маж (maž) ::* Polish mąż (“husband”; the meaning “man” is obsolete, akin to English wife) ::* Serbo-Croatian му̑ж, mȗž ::* Slovene mož

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈmæn/
  • British English: /ˈmæn/

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Law.

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Antonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce man?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈmæn/.
What does man mean?
An adult male human.
Where does man come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce man

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