муж

Forms

муж (muž) m anim (genitive му́жа, nominative plural мужья́, genitive plural муже́й, possessive adjective му́жнин, diminutive муженёк)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic мужь (mužĭ), from Proto-Slavic *mǫžь (“man, husband”).^[1][2][3] The other Slavic languages have Ukrainian муж (muž), Old Church Slavonic мѫжь (mǫžĭ), Bulgarian мъж (mǎž), Czech muž and Polish mąż.^[2][4] East Slavic turned the nasal vowel /ǫ/ into /u/.^[5]

The Slavic noun is a derivative with the suffix ⟨-j-⟩ of a stem with ⟨-g-⟩ built on the root Proto-Indo-European *mon-, from Indo-European *manu- or *monu- “man, human being”, perhaps further from *men- (“to think”).^[4][6] It is related to Old Norse maðr, Old High German mann and Old English mann, and to the Mannus whom Tacitus names as the ancestor of the Germans.^[2][7][4] Vasmer compares the ⟨-g-⟩ with that of Lithuanian žmogùs (“person”);^[2] Shaposhnikov calls that comparison doubtful.^[7] Vasmer rejects Vaillant's Proto-Slavic change of /nu̯/ to /ng/ and Jakobson's link with Ancient Greek Ἀμαζών (Amazṓn).^[2] Shaposhnikov also reports another view, which derives the word from an Indo-Aryan word for a man or human being, spoken in the northern Black Sea area.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is in the Ostromir Gospel of 1056–1057, in Matthew 14:21: „бѣаше мужь пять тысячь, развѣ женъ и дѣтии” “there were five thousand men, besides women and children”.^[8][9] Chernykh dates Old Russian мужь in the senses “person”, “man”, “notable man” and “husband” from the 11th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the 11th–17th centuries the word meant a person, a free man, a notable man, a witness, a husband, a member of a prince's retinue and a royal official.^[7] The Russkaya Pravda speaks of a slave who strikes свободна мужа “a free man”, and мужъ книженъ was a learned man.^[8]

замуж keeps an old accusative singular: the bride goes “behind the husband” into marriage.^[2] мужик was first a diminutive of муж; it came to mean a peasant because people of lower legal standing were treated as minors.^[2] The grammatical term мужеский род “masculine gender” is a Church Slavonic calque of Ancient Greek γένος ἀρσενικόν (génos arsenikón).^[2] In the 18th century муж still meant a man of mature years, as in муж совета “a man of counsel”.^[10]

Timeline

• 1056–1057 – мужь “men” in Matthew 14:21 in the Ostromir Gospel.^[8]
• 12th century – свободна мужа “a free man” in the Russkaya Pravda, in a copy of 1282.^[8]
• 1508 – до мужа есми дорослъ “I have grown to manhood” in a diplomatic letter to the Crimea.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. husband: a man in relation to the woman he is married to (plural мужья).^[11][12][1]
2. (dated, elevated) A man of mature years (plural мужи).^[13][11]
3. (elevated) A man prominent in public life or a field of learning: государственный муж “statesman”, учёный муж “man of learning”.^[13][11]

Word family

• мужик
• мужчина
• мужской
• мужний
• мужество
• мужественный
• мужаться
• возмужать
• замуж
• замужем
• замужество
• мужлан
• муженёк

Related words

• мужать
• Old East Slavic мужь (mužĭ)
• Old Church Slavonic мѫжь (mǫžĭ)

Usage notes

The two senses have different plurals: мужья́ for husbands and мужи́ for men.^[13][11] Pushkin's line Слышу речь не мальчика, но мужа “I hear the speech not of a boy but of a man” is used in praise of a mature judgement.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 2, 670
3. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 330
4. ^ a b c Shansky, N. M.; Zhuravlev, A. F. (eds.) (1963–2007), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], vols. 1–10 (A–M), Moskva: Izdatel'stvo Moskovskogo universiteta, p. 10, s.v. муж
5. ^ Tsyganenko, G. P. (1989), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2nd ed., Kiev: Radjans'ka škola, p. s.v. муж
6. ^ a b Chernykh, P. Ya. (1993), Istoriko-ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Историко-этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. 1, s.v. муж
7. ^ a b c d Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 541
8. ^ a b c d e Barkhudarov, S. G. et al. (eds.) (1975–), Slovar' russkogo jazyka XI–XVII vv. [Словарь русского языка XI–XVII вв.], vols. 1–31, Moskva: Nauka / Azbukovnik / Lexrus, p. 9, 300
9. ^ Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org, p. s.v. мѫжь
10. ^ Sorokin, Yu. S. et al. (eds.) (1984–), Slovar' russkogo jazyka XVIII veka [Словарь русского языка XVIII века], vols. 1–24, Leningrad / Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka, p. s.v. муж
11. ^ a b c d e Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. муж
12. ^ Evgen'eva, A. P. (ed.) (1981–1984), Slovar' russkogo jazyka v četyrex tomax [Словарь русского языка в 4 тт.] (MAS), 2nd ed., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. муж
13. ^ a b c Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. муж