Etymograph

English

manless

Manless comes from Proto-Germanic *manalausaz ‘without a man, without a husband’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mon-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mon-1‘man’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mann-2‘man’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*manalausaz3‘without a man, without a husband’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mannlēas3
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500manles3
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1961manless3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *mann-, which cites Kroonen, Kluge
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *manalausaz
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English manless
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs: “A eunuch is a negative creature. A beardless Moslem…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mon-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *mann-, which cites Kroonen, Kluge‘man’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mann-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *manalausaz‘man’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*manalausazWiktionary, English manless‘without a man, without a husband’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mannlēasWiktionary, English manless
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500manlesWiktionary, English manless
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1961manlessWiktionary, English manless. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs: “A eunuch is a negative creature. A beardless Moslem…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mon- ‘man’

mush, mannequin, mannish, 13 more

through Proto-Germanic *mann- ‘man’

men, man, chairman, mankind, mann, madman, horseman, munchkin, mensch, shipman, manfully, 14 more

Today it means

adj Without a man or men.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “manless”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *mann-, Proto-Germanic *manalausaz. 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-Indo-European *mon- / manless

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