mankind

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mænˈkaɪnd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mankende, from man and kind (noun),^[2][3] replacing earlier mankin, inherited from Old English mancynn, by substitution of kind for kin.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The human race, humans collectively: the early 13th century in Etymonline;^[2] Hoad gives the 13th century and the OED's first quotation is from before 1300, in Cursor Mundi.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The older mankin survived into the 14th century.^[2] Human nature is also from before 1300.^[5] The word was used occasionally in Middle English for male persons, but otherwise kept the original gender-neutral sense of man;^[2] the male sex is a sense from 1526, stressed differently.^[5] For the menfolk, menkind (late 14th century) and menskind (1590s) were also used, and womankind was represented by wifkin, Old English wīfcynn.^[2]

Timeline

• early 13th century – man-kende, the human race.^[2]
• before 1300 – human nature.^[5]
• 1526 – the male sex.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Human beings collectively; the human race; humanity.
2. Men as opposed to women.

Related words

• man
• kind
• humankind
• womankind
• kin

Usage notes

In Northamptonshire a mankind-woman was a coarse, masculine woman.^[6] A separate adjective mankind, furious or mad, from 1519, is a form of mankeen.^[5]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)