man child

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See also: manchild and man-child

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English manchylde, man-chylde (a male child), equivalent to man +‎ child.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

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man child (plural man children or men children)

  1. (archaic) A young male human; a boy.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:boy
    Antonyms: girlchild, woman child
    • 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 I, scene vii], page 135, column 2:
      Bring forth Men-Children onely: / For thy vndaunted Mettle ſhould compoſe / Nothing but Males.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, [] (King James Version), London: [] Robert Barker, [], →OCLC, Leviticus 12:2:
      Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.
    • 1891, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, The Blue Pavilions:
      "She is dead," he announced, very gravely and simply.
      The hunchback shivered. Captain Runacles neither spoke nor stirred in his chair.
      "A man-child was born at two o'clock. He is alive: his mother died two hours later."
      (Set in 1673)
  2. (informal, chiefly derogatory) An adult male who is childish or immature.
    • 2004, Glen Macnow, Angelo Cataldi, The Great Philadelphia Sports Debate, Middle Atlantic Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 161:
      In the end, Brown said he just couldn't stand another day of trying to run a team with two sets of rules — one for 11 players and the other for the man-child superstar.

Translations

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See also

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