mankind English · revision 15351

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=early 13th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mænˈkaɪnd/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|mankende]], from [[man]] and [[kind]] (noun),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) replacing earlier mankin, [[inh|ang|mancynn]], by substitution of kind for kin.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The human race, humans collectively: the early 13th century in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) Hoad gives the 13th century and the OED's first quotation is from before 1300, in ''Cursor Mundi''.^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The older mankin survived into the 14th century.^(Etymonline) Human nature is also from before 1300.^(OED 1989) The word was used occasionally in Middle English for male persons, but otherwise kept the original gender-neutral sense of man;^(Etymonline) the male sex is a sense from 1526, stressed differently.^(OED 1989) For the menfolk, ''menkind'' (late 14th century) and ''menskind'' (1590s) were also used, and womankind was represented by ''wifkin'', Old English [[m|ang|wīfcynn]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 13th century – man-kende, the human race.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1300 – human nature.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1526 – the male sex.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Human beings collectively; the [[human race]]; [[humanity]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Men as opposed to women.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[man]]

+ * [[kind]]

+ * [[humankind]]

+ * [[womankind]]

+ * [[kin]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Northamptonshire a mankind-woman was a coarse, masculine woman.^(Wright 1898) A separate adjective mankind, furious or mad, from 1519, is a form of [[mankeen]].^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}