unmannerly

English

WOTD – 30 August 2020

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈmænəli/

  • Audio (Southern England)

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌʌnˈmænɚli/, /ˌən-/
• Hyphenation: un‧man‧ner‧ly

Etymology 1

From Middle English unmanerli (“of a person: disorderly, unruly; of conduct: inappropriate, improper”), from un- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + manerli, manerly (“well-mannered; modest; customary; moral”). Manerli is derived from maner (“kind, sort; form, nature; circumstances; method, manner; outward behaviour, manners; morals; custom, usage; cause, reason”) (from Anglo-Norman, Old French manere (“fashion, manner, way”), from Latin manuārius (“of or pertaining to the hand”), from manus (“hand”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon”)) + -li (suffix forming adjectives). The English word is analysable as un- +‎ mannerly, and is cognate with Danish umanerlig, German unmanierlich, Middle Dutch onmanierlijc (modern Dutch onmanierlijk), Swedish omanerlig, West Frisian ûnmanearlik.

Adjective

unmannerly (comparative more unmannerly, superlative most unmannerly)

1. (also figuratively) Not mannerly (“polite; having good manners”).

   Synonyms: discourteous, impolite, rude, uncivil; see also Thesaurus:impolite

   Antonyms: mannerly; see also Thesaurus:polite

   • 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 226, column 1:

     I humbly do entreat your Highneſſe pardon, / My haſt made me vnmannerly.

   • 1748, [Tobias Smollett], chapter III, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for J. Osborn […], →OCLC, page 17:

     He calmly rebuked my uncle for his unmannerly behaviour, which he ſaid he would excuſe on account of his education: he told him he had been very kind to the boy, whom he had kept at ſchool ſeven or eight years, although he was informed he made no progreſs in his learning; [...]

   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Midnight.—The Forecastle Bulwarks.”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 565:

     Halloa! whew! there goes my tarpaulin overboard; Lord, Lord, that the winds that come from heaven should be so unmannerly! This is a nasty night, lad.

   • 1917 November, W[illiam] B[utler] Yeats, “The People”, in The Wild Swans at Coole, Other Verses and a Play in Verse, Churchtown, Dundrum [Dublin]: The Cuala Press, →OCLC, page 10:

     ‘What have I earned for all that work,’ I said, / ‘For all that I have done at my own charge? / The daily spite of this unmannerly town, / Where who has served the most is most defamed, / The reputation of his lifetime lost / Between the night and morning. [...’]

   • 1962, Theodore G. Th. Pigeaud, “The Annual Court Festival in Majapahit”, in Java in the 14th Century: A Study in Cultural History: The Nāgara-Kĕrtāgama by Rakawi Prapanca of Majapahit, 1365 A.D. […] (Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde [Royal Institute for Linguistics, Geography and Ethnology] Translation Series; 4), 3rd edition, volumes IV (Commentaries and Recapitulation), Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media, published 2013, →DOI, →ISBN, page 309:

     If modern Javanese table manners are still nearly the same as those prevailing in 14th-century Majapahit, finishing the plates was considered unmannerly and an indication of greed. The partly emptied plates were given to the servants to finish.

   • 2009, Michael D. McNally, “The Shape of Wisdom”, in Honoring Elders: Aging, Authority, and Ojibwe Religion, New York, N.Y., Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 291:

     The Analects [of Confucius] dramatize in the famous scorned image of the unmannerly old man that virtue is not coterminous with age, but it would be "misleading to suppose … that one's moral growth can significantly surpass one's physical maturation."

   • 2015 January, Deborah Martin [pseudonym; Sabrina Jeffries], Silver Deceptions, 1st Pocket Books paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 111:

     So you will allow me to be insulted by an unmannerly bastard in your home?

Translations

not mannerly — see discourteous,‎ rude

Etymology 2

From Middle English unmanerli (“discourteously, rudely; excessively, unrestrainedly”) [and other forms], from un- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + manerli, manerly (“with good manners, courteously; in accordance with custom or propriety, appropriately, becomingly, properly; respectfully”). Manerli is derived from maner (“kind, sort; form, nature; circumstances; method, manner; outward behaviour, manners; morals; custom, usage; cause, reason”) (see further at etymology 1) + -li (suffix forming adverbs). The English word is analysable as un- +‎ mannerly, and is cognate with Middle Dutch onmanierlike (modern Dutch onmanierlijk).

Adverb

unmannerly (comparative more unmannerly, superlative most unmannerly)

1. (archaic) In a way that is not mannerly; discourteously, rudely.

   Synonyms: impolitely, uncivilly

   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 138, column 1:

     [T]here the Murtherers, / Steep’d in the Colours of their Trade; their Daggers / Vnmannerly breech'd with gore: [...]

Translations

in a way that is not mannerly — see discourteously,‎ rudely