mannequin

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmæn.ɪ.kɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French mannequin,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Middle Dutch mannekijn (“little man”),^[2][5][3][4] a diminutive of man.^[2][4] It is a variant of manikin.^{[2][3][4][6][7]}

Earliest recorded meaning

A jointed figure of the human body used by artists (1730–36, as manequine).^[3][5][2]

Semantic evolution

The AHD notes that English first took the Dutch word itself, as manikin (1570), from the language of Dutch painters,^[2] and later the French form mannequin.^[2] In 1902 the word was applied to a woman employed by dressmakers to wear and show off clothes, a model;^[7][3][2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1898.^[4] The sense of a figure for displaying clothes in shops became common only around 1930.^[4]

Timeline

• 1570 – manikin, an artist's model (AHD).^[2]
• 1730–36 – manequine, a jointed figure.^[3]
• 1902 – a woman who models clothes (OED, Barnhart).^[7][3]
• about 1930 – a display dummy, in common use.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A life-size figure of the human body used to fit or display clothes; a dummy.
2. A jointed model of the human body used by artists, especially to show the arrangement of drapery; a lay figure.
3. A person who models clothes.

Related words

• manikin
• man
• -kin

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press