manly

See also: Manly

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmænli/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English manli, manlich, manly, from Old English *manlīċ (suggested by adverb manlīċe (“in a way befitting a person; nobly, stately”)), from Proto-West Germanic *mannlīk, from Proto-Germanic *mannlīkaz, equivalent to man +‎ -ly (adjectival suffix).

Cognate with Old High German manlīh (“manly”) (whence German männlich), Dutch mannelijk, Old Norse mannligr (“human”) (Danish mandlig, Swedish manlig).

Adjective

manly (comparative manlier, superlative manliest)

1. Having the characteristics of a man.

   Coordinate term: womanly

   • c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vi:

     what God or Feend, or ſpirit of the earth,
     Or Monſter turned to a manly ſhape,
     Or of what mould or mettel he be made,
     What ſtar or ſtate ſoeuer gouern him,
     Let vs put on our meet incountering mindes, […]

2. Having qualities viewed as befitting a man; manful; courageous, resolute, noble.
   • 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]:

     Let's briefly put on manly readiness.

   • 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fifteenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:

     Serene and manly, harden'd to sustain / The load of life.

   • 2001, Thomas W. Smith, Revaluing Ethics: Aristotle's Dialectical Pedagogy, page 86:

     Without a successful defense of one's city, none of the other virtues would be possible; manly courage seems to be a precondition for anything else worth achieving in life.

   • 2008 April, Brenda Jackson, Her Little Black Book, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 16:

     Curious, Courtney opened up the little black book and flipped several pages before coming to one where the names hadn't yet been lined through. The first was Harper Isaac. Mmm, the name sounded manly.

Derived terms

• hypermanly
• manlihead
• manlihood
• manlily
• manliness
• unmanly

Translations

having the characteristics of a man

• Arabic: رُجُولِيّ (rujūliyy)
• Armenian: առնական (hy) (aṙnakan)
• Bengali: মরদ (bn) (morod)
• Bulgarian: мъжки (bg) (mǎžki)
• Cantonese:

  Cantonese: 男氣 / 男气 (naam⁴ hei³)

• Catalan: viril
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 男子氣 / 男子气 (zh) (nánzǐqì)

• Czech: mužný, mužský (cs)
• Danish: mandlig (da)
• Dutch: mannelijk (nl)
• Finnish: miehekäs (fi)
• French: viril (fr)
• Georgian: კაცური (ḳacuri), მამაკაცური (mamaḳacuri), ვაჟკაცური (važḳacuri)
• German: männlich (de)
• Greek: αντρίκειος (el) (antríkeios), αρρενωπός (el) m (arrenopós), ανδροπρεπής (el) (androprepís)

  Ancient: ἀνδρώδης (andrṓdēs)

• Hebrew: גַּבְרִי (he) (gavri)
• Hungarian: férfias (hu)
• Indonesian: jantan (id)
• Irish: fearúil
• Japanese: 男らしい (ja) (おとこらしい, otokorashii)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: پیاوانە (ckb) (pyawane)

• Latin: masculus
• Lithuanian: výriškas (lt)
• Maori: whakatāne
• Middle English: manly
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mannlig (no)

  Nynorsk: mannleg

• Occitan: masculin (oc)
• Old English: werlīċ
• Ottoman Turkish: مردانه (merdane)
• Pashto: نر (ps) (nër), نارينه (ps) (nâriná)
• Persian: مردانه (fa) (mardâne)
• Polish: męski (pl), mężny (pl) (also: courageous)
• Portuguese: varonil (pt), viril (pt)
• Romanian: masculin (ro), bărbătesc (ro), viril (ro), bărbătos (ro)
• Russian: му́жественный (ru) (múžestvennyj) (also: courageous), мужеподо́бный (ru) (mužepodóbnyj) (manlike), мужско́й (ru) (mužskój) (masculine)
• Samogitian: vīrėšks
• Sanskrit: वृषन् (sa) (vṛṣan)
• Scottish Gaelic: fearail, duineil, tapaidh
• Spanish: varonil (es)
• Swedish: manlig (sv)
• Thai: เป็นลูกผู้ชาย
• Turkish: erkeksi (tr)
• Yiddish: מענלעך (menlekh)

having the qualities of a man such as courage

• Bengali: মরদ (bn) (morod)
• Bulgarian: мъжествен (bg) (mǎžestven)
• Catalan: masculí (ca), viril
• Czech: mužný
• Danish: mandig
• Finnish: miehekäs (fi)
• Irish: fearúil
• Latin: virilis (la)
• Maori: taitoa
• Middle English: manly
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mandig (no)

• Ottoman Turkish: مردانه (merdane)
• Romanian: bărbătos (ro)
• Slovak: mužný
• Spanish: viril (es)

Etymology 2

From Middle English manli, manlich, manly, from Old English manlīċe, equivalent to man +‎ -ly (adverbial suffix).

Adverb

manly

1. In a way befitting a man.

   Synonym: manlily

   Coordinate term: womanly

   • 1812 February 4, Reuben Attwater, “From Reuben Attwater”, in Stephen R[ow] Bradley, edited by Dorr Bradley Carpenter, Stephen R. Bradley: Letters of a Revolutionary War Patriot and Vermont Senator, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, published 2009, →ISBN, “Correspondence, 1771 to 1831” section, page 333:

     [Y]ou will not only confer a favor on them but if appointed will add two Officers to our Army who will fight manly to defend their Country.

   • 2001 September 27, Raymond F. Aubé, chapter 31, in Across Troubled Waters, [Bloomington, Ind.]: 1stBooks, →ISBN, page 625:

     “[…] Permit me to bandage it, while, at the same time, I tell you how well Hamet did leading the charge.” “Did he?” Eaton questioned. “He did! and he did it manly! Our rightful heir for once behaved more like a ruler than I ever would have imagined. I believe he won quite a few converts this day.”

   • 2014, Jerry Toner, “How to Be a Roman”, in The Day Commodus Killed a Rhino: Understanding the Roman Games (Witness to Ancient History), Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 90:

     The crowd loves those who fight manly and nobly, but it laughs at those who are pathetic cowards. If any gladiator were to run off at the mere sight of his opponent raising his sword, he would be mocked as feeble and effeminate and inexperienced.

Anagrams

• Lyman, Lynam, Malyn

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English *manlīċ, from Proto-West Germanic *mannlīk, from Proto-Germanic *mannlīkaz; equivalent to man +‎ -ly (adjectival suffix).

Alternative forms

• maneli, manli, manlich, manliche, monly
• monlich (Early Middle English)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmanliː/, /ˈmɔnliː/, /-lit͡ʃ/

Adjective

manly

1. Human; pertaining to humankind.
2. Male, masculine; pertaining to men.
3. Having qualities befitting a man; courageous, resolute, noble.

Descendants

• English: manly
• Scots: manly

References

• “manlī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old English manlīċe; equivalent to mon +‎ -ly (adverbial suffix).

Alternative forms

• manleche, manli, manlich, manliche, manlie, manlik, manlike, manneleche, mannely, monlik, monly
• (Early Middle English) monliche

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmanliː/, /ˈmɔndliː/, /-liːtʃ(ə)/

Adverb

manly

1. In a human or civilised way.
2. In a way befitting a man; courageously, resolutely, nobly.
3. (rare) In a male or masculine way.

Descendants

• English: manly

References

• “manlī, adv.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.