male

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See also: Male, Malé, mâle, malë, måle, małe, and málé

English[edit]

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Etymology[edit]

From Middle English male, borrowed from Old French malle, masle (Modern French mâle), from Latin masculus (“masculine, a male”), diminutive of mās (“male, masculine”). Doublet of macho.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

male (not generally comparable, comparative maler or more male, superlative malest or most male)

  1. Belonging to the sex which typically produces sperm, or to the gender which is typically associated with it. [from 14th c.]
    male writers, the leading male and female singers, a male bird feeding a seed to a female, in bee colonies, all drones are male, intersex male patients
    • 1995, Gill Van Hasselt, Childbirth: Your Choices for Managing Pain (Taylor Pub, ISBN 9780878339020):
      We got the hang of [caring for a baby], Kate and I, with some quiet, surprising guidance from a gentle male nurse whose touching lack of intrusion was so instinctive as to seem part of the pattern.
    • 2016, Tobias Raun, Out Online (ISBN 1317084675):
      Whereas many other trans male vloggers use the videos to assert a conventionally recognizable masculinity through sculpting and carrying their bodies as well as dressing and talking in masculine-coded ways, Carson explores and plays with ways of expressing femininity within (trans) maleness.
    • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:male.
  2. Characteristic of this sex/gender. (Compare masculine, manly.)
    stereotypically male interests, an insect with typically male coloration
    • 2006, Bonnie Roberts, Bruises on the Heart (ISBN 9781847284839), page 118:
      A bright light was shone in her eye and then she heard a kind, male voice who she figured must be Dr. Smith. “Yes, let her rest now, but keep an eye on her blood pressure and her pulse. Check her about every 15 or 20 minutes. Call me if any problem occurs.”
    • 2004, Mino Vianello, Gwen Moore, Women and Men in Political and Business Elites: A Comparative Study (ISBN 1412933749):
      More than that, we cannot find the same dynamics within female career trajectories as in the other two country groups, because the time-structure of female and male careers already shows great similarity within the older generation of elites. In addition, the pattern of the relation between female and male careers remains the same over time.
    • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:male.
  3. Tending to lead to or regulate the development of sexual characteristics typical of this sex.
    the male chromosome, like testes, ovaries also produce testosterone and some other male hormones
  4. (grammar, less common than 'masculine') Masculine; of the masculine grammatical gender.
    • 2012, Naomi McIlwraith, Kiyâm: Poems →ISBN, page 43:
      The teacher's voice inflects the pulse of nêhiyawêwin as he teaches us. He says a prayer in the first class. Nouns, we learn, have a gender. In French, nouns are male or female, but in Cree, nouns are living or non-living, animate or inanimate.
    • 2012, Sinéad Leleu, ‎Michaela Greck-Ismair, German Pen Pals Made Easy KS3
      If you are describing a female noun, you must make the adjective feminine by adding an 'e'. If you describe a male noun, you add an 'er'. For neutral nouns you add an 'es'.
  5. (figuratively) Of instruments, tools, or connectors: designed to fit into or penetrate a female counterpart, as in a connector, pipe fitting or laboratory glassware. [from 16th c.]
    • 1982, Popular Science, page 119:
      Male adapter connects female pipe threads to polyethylene cold-water pipe; [...] female flare coupling connects male pipe threads to flared copper or plastic;

Synonyms[edit]

Coordinate terms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

grammatically masculine — see masculine
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun[edit]

male (plural males)

  1. One of the male (masculine) sex or gender.
    1. (sometimes offensive) A human member of the masculine sex or gender.
    2. An animal of the sex that has testes.
    3. A plant of the masculine sex.

Antonyms[edit]

Hyponyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Danish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle Low German mālen (“to draw, paint”). Cognate with Icelandic mála (“to paint”).

Verb[edit]

male (imperative mal, present maler, past malede or malte, past participle malet or malt)

  1. to paint
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse mala, from Proto-Germanic *malaną (“to grind”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind, rub, break up”). Cognate with Icelandic mala.

Verb[edit]

male (imperative mal, infinitive at male, present tense maler, past tense malede, perfect tense er/har malet)

  1. to grind, mill
Derived terms[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

male

  1. (archaic) Dative singular form of maal

Verb[edit]

male

  1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of malen

Esperanto[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From prefix mal- (antonym)+-e (indicates adverbs)

Adverb[edit]

male

  1. on the contrary
  2. opposingly; in opposition
    male ol...
    as opposed to...

Estonian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Coined ex nihilo by Ado Grenzstein in the 19th century.

Noun[edit]

male (genitive male, partitive malet)

  1. (board games) chess

Declension[edit]

Inflection of male (ÕS type 16/pere, no gradation)
singular plural
nominative male maled
accusative male maled
genitive male malede
partitive malet malesid
illative malle
malesse 		maledesse
inessive males maledes
elative malest maledest
allative malele maledele
adessive malel maledel
ablative malelt maledelt
translative maleks maledeks
terminative maleni maledeni
essive malena maledena
abessive maleta maledeta
comitative malega maledega

German[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

male

  1. First-person singular present of malen.
  2. Imperative singular of malen.
  3. First-person singular subjunctive I of malen.
  4. Third-person singular subjunctive I of malen.

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin male.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): [ˈmaː.le], /ˈmale/

Adverb[edit]

male (comparative: peggio; superlative: malissimo)

  1. badly, wrongly

Antonyms[edit]

Noun[edit]

male m (plural mali)

  1. evil, harm
  2. pain, ache, illness, sickness, disease

Antonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Adjective[edit]

male

  1. (archaic) feminine plural of malo (“bad”)

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Latin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From malus (“bad, wicked”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

male (comparative pēius, superlative pessimē)

  1. badly
  2. wrongly
  3. cruelly, wickedly
  4. not much; feebly

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

  • male in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • male in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • male in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
  • Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • (ambiguous) to deserve ill of a person; to treat badly: male mereri de aliquo
    • (ambiguous) to have a good or bad reputation, be spoken well, ill of: bene, male audire (ab aliquo)
    • (ambiguous) to inculcate good (bad) principles: bene (male) praecipere alicui
    • (ambiguous) a guilty conscience: animus male sibi conscius
    • (ambiguous) a moral (immoral) man: homo bene (male) moratus
    • (ambiguous) to bless (curse) a person: precari alicui bene (male) or omnia bona (mala), salutem
    • (ambiguous) to manage one's affairs, household, property well or ill: rem bene (male) gerere (vid. sect. XVI. 10a)
    • (ambiguous) to buy dearly: magno or male emere
    • (ambiguous) to win, lose a fight (of the commander): rem (bene, male) gerere (vid. sect. XII. 2, note rem gerere...)
    • (ambiguous) I am sorry to hear..: male (opp. bene) narras (de)

Limburgish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Dutch mālen, from Old Dutch *malan, from Proto-Germanic *malaną.

Verb[edit]

male

  1. to mill

Conjugation[edit]

Montfortian conjugation of male (first conjugation)
non-finite forms infinitive gerund present participle past participle adjective adverb
(tö) male 't male n malendj höbbe gemale gemaledje, gemaledjer, gemaledjes gemaledj, gemaledjelik
number & tense verb-second verb-first
present past subjunctive present past subjunctive
first person singular male maledje male male maledje-n male-n
second person singular males maledjes male males maledjes maler
third person singular maletj maledje male maletj'r maledje maler
first person plural male maledje male maletj maledje male
second person plural maletj maledje male maletj maledje maletj
third person plural male maledje male male maledje maler
other forms noun imperative singular impolite imperative singular polite imperative dual imperative plural inclusive
't gemale n male! maletj! maletj, maletj! maletj! malem

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse mála and Middle Low German malen

Verb[edit]

male (imperative mal, present tense maler, passive males, simple past malte, past participle malt, present participle malende)

  1. to paint

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse mala

Verb[edit]

male (imperative mal, present tense maler, passive males, simple past mol or malte, past participle malt, present participle malende)

  1. to grind or mill (to make smaller by breaking with a device)
  2. to purr (of a cat, to make a vibrating sound in its throat when contented)

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Verb[edit]

male (present tense mel, past tense mol, past participle male, present participle malande, imperative mal)

  1. Alternative form of mala

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

male (present tense malar, past tense mala, past participle mala, passive infinitive malast, present participle malande, imperative mal/male)

  1. form removed with the spelling reform of 2012; superseded by måle, to paint

Old French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Medieval Latin mala, from Frankish *malha (“leather bag”).

Noun[edit]

male f (oblique plural males, nominative singular male, nominative plural males)

  1. pack, bag

Descendants[edit]

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