-man

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English

Etymology

From the noun man.

Suffix

-man (plural -men, feminine -woman)

  1. Someone (possibly implied male) who is an expert in an area or who takes part in an activity.
    horseman, sportsman
  2. Someone (possibly implied male) who is employed or holds a position in an area.
    lawman, newsman
  3. Someone (possibly implied male) who has special characteristics relating to a topic or area.
    freeman, iceman, superman
  4. Someone who is male and has a particular nationality.
    Scotsman, Chinaman

Usage notes

Hypernyms

Derived terms

Anagrams


Dutch

Etymology

From the Dutch noun man (man).

Suffix

-man m (plural -mannen or -lieden or -lui)

  1. someone (implied male) who is an expert in an area
    sportmansportsman
    zakenmanbusinessman
  2. someone (implied male) who is employed or holds a position in an area
    brandweermanfireman
    politiemanpoliceman
  3. someone (implied male) who has special characteristics relating to an area
    dollemanmadman
    landsmancountryman
  4. someone (implied male) who is derived from a particular nationality
    EngelsmanEnglishman
    FransmanFrenchman

Usage notes

The plural form of -man is -lieden (-lui in spoken language) or sometimes -mannen and -mensen, e.g.

sportlieden / sportluisportsmen
brandweerlieden / brandweerlui / brandweermannenfiremen
politiemannen / politiemensenpolicemen
Fransmannen / FransenFrenchmen

Antonyms

Derived terms


French

Etymology

Borrowed from English -man

Pronunciation

Suffix

-man

  1. used to form names of male professions or sportspersons

Usage notes

  • In white French, most of these like businessman are borrowed directly from English, while some such as tennisman are not. The plural may be -mans or -men.
  • In sub-Saharan Africa, the suffix is much more productive and, in more slangy language, appended to anything relating to a habitual activity: gbanman (druggie) (Ivory Coast) from Mande gban (drug), boukiman (speculator) (Senegal) from Wolof buki (hyena), djigboman (magician) (Ivory Coast) from Bété djigbo (fetish), as well as the more generally used taximan (taxi driver) (many countries) and gbakaman (marshrutka-driver) (Ivory Coast) from gbaka (marshrutka).

See also


Haitian Creole

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French -ment (-ly).

Suffix

-man

  1. used to form adverbs out of adjectives; -ly

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French -mane

Suffix

-man m

  1. (generally) -maniac

Derived terms

References


Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From French -mane

Suffix

-man m

  1. (generally) -maniac

Derived terms

References


Quechua

Suffix

-man

  1. allative or dative case; indicates the direction of movement or the indirect object
    Llaqtaman risaq.
    I will go towards the town.
    Paykunaman mikhunata apachkani.
    I am taking food to them.
  2. potential mood; indicates possibility or potential
    Qam rikunkiman.
    You would see.
    Ñuqaqa manam haqayman purinimanchu.
    I would not walk over there.

Warning: Default sort key "man" overrides earlier default sort key "MAN".


Sranan Tongo

Suffix

-man

  1. Person suffix, used to derive agent nouns from verbs and nouns of people characterised by a trait from nouns and adjectives.

Derived terms