Etymologically
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male

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /meɪl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English male,[2] borrowed from Old French male, masle (modern mâle), adjective and noun,[3][4][5] from Latin masculus (“masculine, male, worthy of a man”),[3][4] a diminutive of mās (“a male person or animal”) (genitive maris),[3][4][2] which is of uncertain origin.[4] Latin masculus is also the source of Spanish macho and Italian maschio,[3] and of English masculine.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun, a male human being or animal, one of the sex that begets young: 1373 in Barnhart,[4] the late 14th century in Etymonline.[3] The adjective is from 1375 in the OED, at first in legal phrases such as heir male;[7] Barnhart's first example is from about 1378, in Piers Plowman.[4]

Semantic evolution

Plants whose flowers have only stamens were called male from 1398.[7] The mechanical sense, a part that fits inside a corresponding part, as in a male plug, is from Boyle's writings in 1669, or the 1660s in Etymonline.[4][3] “Consisting of men and boys” is by the 1680s,[3] and “appropriate to men, masculine” by 1788.[3] Male bonding is from 1969.[3] Etymonline notes that male, like female, applies to the whole sex of humans and animals, while masculine, like feminine, applies to men and their qualities and to grammatical gender.[3]

Timeline

  • 1373 – noun, a male.[4]
  • 1375 – adjective, in legal use.[7]
  • 1398 – of plants.[7]
  • 1669 – of a mechanical part.[4]
  • 1680s – consisting of men and boys.[3]
  • 1788 – appropriate to men.[3]
  • 1969 – male bonding.[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of or belonging to the sex that produces sperm or other small cells that fertilize eggs.
  2. Characteristic of or consisting of men or boys.
  3. Of a plant or flower, having stamens but no pistil.
  4. Of a part, designed to fit into a corresponding hollow part: a male plug.

Noun

  1. A male person or animal; a man or boy.
  2. A plant with only staminate flowers.

Word family

  • maleness
  • antimale
  • intermale
  • supermale
  • male chauvinism
  • male chauvinist
  • male fern
  • male menopause

Usage notes

Male categorizes by sex and applies to animals and plants as well as people.[8][3] Masculine describes qualities thought typical of men.[8][3] Manly and manful imply admired qualities such as courage, while mannish is used chiefly of women and is often disparaging.[8]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin