Definition of "man"

The king is but a man, as I am; the violet smells to him as it doth to me.

1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene i]

“ […] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”

1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company

Unsurprisingly, if modern man is a sort of camera, modern woman is a picture.

2011, Eileen Gray and the Design of Sapphic Modernity: Staying In, page 109

[…] a man cannot make him laugh.

c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene ii]

Recompence to no man euill for euill.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Romans 12:17

No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; […]

1624, John Donne, “17. Meditation”, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: Printed by A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones; republished as Geoffrey Keynes, edited by John Sparrow, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions: […], Cambridge: At the University Press, 1923, page 98, lines 2–3

A man would expect, in so very ancient a town of Italy, to find some considerable antiquities; but all they have to show of this nature is an old Rostrum of a Roman ship, that stands over the door of their arsenal.

c. 1700, Joseph Addison, Monaco, Genoa, &c., page 9

Without this help, such a deplorable havoc is made in the minds of men (both sexes) in France, still more than in the external order of things, and the evil is so great and spreading, that a remedy is impossible on any other terms.

1793 August, Edmund Burke, “The Right Hon. Edmund Burke to the Comte de Mercy”, in Charles William [Wentworth-Fitzwilliam], [5th] Earl Fitzwilliam, Richard Bourke, editors, Correspondence of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke; Between the Year 1744, and the Period of His Decease, in 1797, volume IV, London: Francis & John Rivington, […], published 1844, pages 144–145

Similarly, the next time you learn from your reading that the average man (you hear a good deal about him these days, most of it faintly improbable) brushes his teeth 1.02 times a day—a figure I have just made up, but it may be as good as anyone else's – ask yourself a question. How can anyone have found out such a thing? Is a woman who has read in countless advertisements that non-brushers are social offenders going to confess to a stranger that she does not brush her teeth regularly?

1991 edition (original: 1953), Darell Huff, How to Lie with Statistics, pages 19–20

How did God create man? / God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.

1647, Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 10

Academics who study Aboriginal languages are […] contributing to Man’s search for knowledge, a search that interests most people even if they are not personally involved in it.

1991, Barry J. Blake, Australian Aboriginal Languages: A General Introduction, page 75

Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.

2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist‎, volume 408, number 8845

We are striving to forge our union with purpose. To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.

2021 January 20, Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb

The evidence suggests that close relatives of early man, in lineages that later became extinct, also were able to use tools.

1990, The Almanac of Science and Technology, page 68

For God is holde a ryghtwys man.

c. 1500, “A Gest of Robyn Hode”, in Child Ballads

God's a good man.

1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene v]

Expect: But was the devil a proper man, gossip?As fine a gentleman of his inches as ever I saw trusted to the stage, or any where else.

1609 December (first performance), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Epicoene, or The Silent Woman. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Ben Jonson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

Clearing a space between the tables, the men tested their prowess against one another with feats of wrestling and archery and bouts with quarterstaves. Two of the elves, a man and a woman, demonstrated their skill with swordplay— […]

2008, Christopher Paolini, Brisingr: Or The Seven Promises of Eragon Shadeslayer and Saphira Bjartskular - Inheritance Book Three, page 549

There was a pair of burly dwarves – a woman and a man – bearing the markings of the formidable Thane Guards.

2014, Oisin McGann, Kings of the Realm: Cruel Salvation, Penguin UK

He’s more a man than any pair of rats of you in this here house […]

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “In The Enemy’s Camp”, in Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, part VI (Captain Silver), page 234

I had the opportunity to marry one of them but wasn't mature enough to be a man and marry her and be close to the […] children and raise them […].

2011, Timothy Shephard, Can We Help Us?: Growing Up Bi-Racial in America, page 181

Methought he bare himself in such a fashion, / So full of man, and sweetness in his carriage, / […]

1598, Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Euery Man in His Humour. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Ben Jonson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

I pronounce that they are man and wife.

1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, […], London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […]

In the next place, every wife ought to answer for her man.

1715, Joseph Addison, The Freeholder

"She's the man for the job."

2007, Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, page 553

Joanie volunteered, of course — if any dirty job is on offer requiring running, she's your man —

2008, Soccer Dad: A Father, a Son, and a Magic Season, page 148

He also owns the only backhoe tractor on Elbow Cay, so whenever anyone needs a cistern dug, he's their man.

2012, The Island Caper: A Jake Lafferty Action Novel, page 34

When President Roosevelt goes walking in the country about Washington he is always accompanied by two Secret Service men.

1909, Harper's Weekly, volume 53, page iii

"And they're very good people, I assure you — he's a Harvard man." It was the first time Milly had met on intimate terms a graduate of a large university.

1913, Robert Herrick, One Woman's Life, page 46

The vassal, or tenant, kneeling, ungirt, uncovered, and holding up his hands between those of his lord, professed that he did become his man from that day forth, of life, limb, and earthly honour.

c. 1700s, William Blackstone

No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., page 46

The white men are always put on that side of the board which commences by row I, and the black men are placed opposite.

1883, Henry Richter, Chess Simplified!, page 4

"It was a brutal return to football for Brisbane Lions defender Harris Andrews as his man Tom Hawkins booted seven goals but Lions Coach Chris Fagan said the team's defensive faults, rather than the backman's, allowed the big Cat to dominate."

2018 Dinny Navaratnam, Andrews will learn from experience: Fagan Brisbane Lions, 30 July 2018. Accessed 6 August 2018.

The second arrived three minutes later and was all Saka's own work, the Arsenal winger turning away from his man on the edge of the area and curling a superb effort beyond the reach of Anatoliy Trubin and into the top corner.

2023 March 26, Phil McNulty, “England 2-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport‎

The 19 meandering minutes of Dark Star are attractive enough but, man, they go on, while poor Creedence Clearwater Revival – headliners, with Bad Moon Rising still in the charts – are watching the clock tick in the wings.

2019 August 15, Bob Stanley, “'Groovy, groovy, groovy': listening to Woodstock 50 years on – all 38 discs”, in The Guardian‎

Sully: If it weren’t for that snake […] Man wouldn’t even be in this mess right now.

2011, Top Boy

before I got arrested man paid for my own ticket to go Jamaica you know . but I’ve never paid to go on no holiday before this time I paid (Dexter, MLE)

2013, Jenny Cheshire, “Grammaticalisation in social context: The emergence of a new English pronoun”, in Journal of Sociolinguistics‎, volume 17, number 5, page 609

The girl told me, "take off your jacket" / I said, "Babe, man's not hot" (never hot)

2017 September 22, “Man's Not Hot”‎performed by Big Shaq [Michael Dapaah]

Blood I swear she just gave man extra chicken? Two fat pieces of chicken.

2017, Joseph Barnes Phillips, Big Foot ...and Tiny Little Heartstrings

Oh, come on. Help a brother out. People see you coppin', might inspire them. Look, I know you ain't payin' bills right now. Man must have bare peas saved up.

2023, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, directed by Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane, spoken by Nathan (Simon Manyonda)

He was of all colours Þat man may se of flours Be-twene Mydsomer and May.

c. 1450, Thomas Chestre, Libeaus Desconus

I don’t really mind how . how my girl looks if she looks decent yeah and there’s one bit of her face that just looks mashed yeah . I don’t care it’s her personality man’s looking at (Alex, Multicultural London English corpus [MLE])

2013, Jenny Cheshire, “Grammaticalisation in social context: The emergence of a new English pronoun”, in Journal of Sociolinguistics‎, volume 17, number 5, page 609

In Britain, nearly 2,500 steam locomotives were built, 999 to new designs. Although the latter were modern, they were still labour-intensive to man and maintain, during a period of full employment when working for poor pay in the dirty railway environment was unattractive.

2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 39

‘Avast!’ roared Ahab, dashing him against the bulwarks — ‘Man the boat! Which way heading?’

1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick

he manned himself heroically

1876, Julian Hawthorne, Saxon Studies