-men

See also: Appendix:Variations of "men"

English

Etymology

From men, plural of man.

Suffix

-men

1. plural of -man

   horsemen, sportsmen; lawmen, newsmen; freemen, icemen, supermen; Scotsmen, Chinamen

Basque

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Suffix

-men

1. sense, capacity

   ‎aditu (“to understand”) + ‎-men → ‎adimen (“intelligence”)

2. Forming nouns expressing an action

   ‎abiatu (“to start, begin”) + ‎-men → ‎abiamen (“beginning”)

Derived terms

Basque terms suffixed with -men

Further reading

• “-men” in Labayru Hiztegia

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *-men, from Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /men/, [mɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /men/, [mɛn]

Suffix

-men n (genitive -minis); third declension

1. forms neuter nouns of the third declension, generally with senses along the lines of 'a means of doing something'

Usage notes

Nouns ending in the suffix -men are often derived from verbs. Derivatives of first-conjugation verbs end in -āmen, such as lībrāmen from lībrō (“I balance, poise”) (active present infinitive lībrāre, present stem lībrā-). Derivatives of fourth-conjugation verbs end in -īmen. Derivatives of second- and third-conjugation verbs show various patterns depending on the stem involved. Derivatives of nouns or adjectives also show some variation: some end in -āmen (such as linteāmen, oleāmen, pinguāmen from linteum, oleum, pinguis) while others end in -ūmen (such as albūmen, caldūmen from albus, caldus).

Compare also the formation and use of nouns ending in -mentum; for some nouns ending in -men, there is a corresponding noun ending in -mentum with a similar meaning, such as vēlāmen (“covering”) and vēlāmentum (“covering”).

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-men	-mina
Genitive	-minis	-minum
Dative	-minī	-minibus
Accusative	-men	-mina
Ablative	-mine	-minibus
Vocative	-men	-mina

Derived terms

Latin terms suffixed with -men

Descendants

• Catalan: -am, -im, -um
• Galician: -ame, -ime, -ume
• Italian: -ame, -ime, -ume
• Portuguese: -ame, -ime, -ume
• Romanian: -ime
• Sicilian: -ami, -imi, -umi
• Spanish: -ambre, -umbre

Occitan

Suffix

-men

1. Alternative form of -ment

Old Occitan

Alternative forms

• -ment

Etymology

From Late Latin -mente.

Suffix

-men

1. Forms adverbs from feminine adjectives. -wise, -ly

   ‎lonja f (“long”) + ‎-men → ‎lonjamen (“for a long time”)

Turkish

Etymology

Originally from Ottoman Turkish ـمن‎ (-men), inherited from Proto-Turkic [Term?], as in değirmen. In some Ottoman coinages it conflated with Persian ـمان‎ (-mân, “-like”). Sense 1 is found mainly in language reforms' coinages, and was likely influenced by German -mann and English -man.

Suffix

preceding vowel
A / I / O / U	E / İ / Ö / Ü
-man	-men

-men

2. Forms agent nouns from verbs, denoting professions. -er, -ant

   Synonym: -ci

   ‎öğretmek (“to teach”) + ‎-men → ‎öğretmen (“teacher”)

   ‎saymak (“to count”) + ‎-men → ‎sayman (“accounant, treasurer”)

   ‎danışmak (“to consult”) + ‎-men → ‎danışman (“consultant”)

3. Forms nouns and adjectives from verbal roots.

   ‎şişmek (“to swell, get fat”) + ‎-men → ‎şişman (“fat”)

   ‎azmak (“overflow, overgrow”) + ‎-men → ‎azman (“overgrown, too big, monstrous”)

4. Forms nouns and adjectives denoting a high degree or excess.

   ‎koca (“big”) + ‎-men → ‎kocaman (“huge”)

   ‎küçük (“small”) + ‎-men → ‎küçümen (“smaller, very small”)

5. Forms nouns and adjectives denoting fondness and passion.

   ‎evcik (“small home”) + ‎-men → ‎evcimen (“fond of home”)

6. Forms nouns of communities.

   ‎köle (“slave”) + ‎-men → ‎kölemen (“slaves”)

   ‎Türk + ‎-men → ‎Türkmen

Derived terms

Turkish terms suffixed with -men

References

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “-man²”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 3043
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “+mAn”, in Nişanyan Sözlük