Etymograph

English

man

Man comes from Old English mann ‘human being, person, man’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *mann- ‘person, man’, whose deeper origin is disputed.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mann-1‘human being, person, man’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mann1‘person’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150mann1‘human being, person, man’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500man1
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1450man1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English man
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1450, Thomas Chestre: “He was of all colours Þat man may se…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mann-Wiktionary, English man‘human being, person, man’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mannWiktionary, English man‘person’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150mannWiktionary, English man‘human being, person, man’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500manWiktionary, English man
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1450manWiktionary, English man. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1450, Thomas Chestre: “He was of all colours Þat man may se…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mon- ‘human being, man’

mush, 14 more

through Proto-Germanic *mann-

men, mankind, munchkin, mannequin, mensch, shipman, mannish, 13 more

through Proto-West Germanic *mann ‘person, human, individual’

mann, 13 more

through Old English mann ‘human being, person, man’

chairman, horseman, madman, 11 more

through Middle English man

manfully, 2 more

Another origin of man

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mon-‘man, human being’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mann-‘human, human being, person, individual’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mann‘person, human, individual’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mann‘human being, man’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150mannian‘to man, supply with men, populate, garrison’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mannen
  7. Englishtodayman

Today it means

noun An adult male human.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “man”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *mann- / man

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