Etymograph

English

masculine

Masculine comes from Latin masculus ‘male, manly’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *méryos ‘young man’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méryos1‘young man’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmās2‘male’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculus2‘male, manly’diminutive of mās
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculīnus2diminutive of masculus
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400masculin2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500masculyne2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1655masculine2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin mas
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English masculine
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […]: “[…] a masculine church.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méryosWiktionary, Latin mas‘young man’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmāsWiktionary, English masculine‘male’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculusWiktionary, English masculine‘male, manly’diminutive of mās
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculīnusWiktionary, English masculinediminutive of masculus
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400masculinWiktionary, English masculine
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500masculyneWiktionary, English masculine
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1655masculineWiktionary, English masculine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […]: “[…] a masculine church.”

Linked words

through Latin mās ‘male’

married, marriage, marry, marital, 9 more

through Latin masculus ‘male, manly’

male, macho, machismo, 4 more

Today it means

adj Of or pertaining to the male gender.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “masculine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin mas. 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 / masculine

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