English
mascularity
Mascularity comes from Latin masculus ‘male, masculine’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *méryos ‘young man’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méryos1‘young man’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmās2‘male’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculus3‘male, masculine’
- Englishearliest quotation 1854mascularity3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin mas
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin masculus
- 3 Wiktionary, English mascularity
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Elisha Kent Kane, New York: Harper & Brothers: “To some the unmentionables might savor of mascularity; but…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méryosWiktionary, Latin mas‘young man’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmāsWiktionary, Latin masculus‘male’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculusWiktionary, English mascularity‘male, masculine’
- Englishearliest quotation 1854mascularityWiktionary, English mascularity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Elisha Kent Kane, New York: Harper & Brothers: “To some the unmentionables might savor of mascularity; but…”
Linked words
through Latin mās ‘male’
married, marriage, marry, marital, 8 more
through Latin masculus ‘male, masculine’
Today it means
noun Synonym of masculinity.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “mascularity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin mas, Latin masculus. 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 *méryos / mascularity