Wiktionary

-man

See also: Appendix:Variations of "man"

English

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Etymology

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From the noun man.

Pronunciation

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Suffix

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-man (plural -men, feminine -woman)

  1. Someone (possibly implied male) who is an expert in an area or who takes part in an activity.
    ‎horse + ‎-man → ‎horseman
    ‎sports + ‎-man → ‎sportsman
  2. Someone (possibly implied male) who is employed or holds a position in an area.
    ‎law + ‎-man → ‎lawman
    ‎news + ‎-man → ‎newsman
  3. Someone (possibly implied male) who has special characteristics relating to a topic or area.
    ‎free + ‎-man → ‎freeman
    ‎ice + ‎-man → ‎iceman
    ‎super + ‎-man → ‎superman
  4. Someone (possibly implied male) who has a particular nationality.
    ‎Scots + ‎-man → ‎Scotsman
    ‎Dutch + ‎-man → ‎Dutchman
    ‎China + ‎-man → ‎Chinaman
    ‎Yorkshire + ‎-man → ‎Yorkshireman
  5. A man whose name begins with the preceding letter.
    ‎H + ‎-man → ‎H-man (“man whose name starts with H, e.g. Harry”)
    ‎J + ‎-man → ‎J-man (“man whose name starts with an J”)
  6. A ship which has special characteristics relating to a trade or area.
    ‎Guinea + ‎-man → ‎Guineaman (“ship of the West African slave trade”)
    ‎East India + ‎-man → ‎East Indiaman
    ‎merchant + ‎-man → ‎merchantman
    ‎Greenland + ‎-man → ‎Greenlandman (“a whaling ship”)
    ‎China + ‎-man → ‎Chinaman (“sailing ship engaged in the Old China Trade”)

Usage notes

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  • To more explicitly include people regardless of gender, the suffix -person or a synonym, for example police officer instead of policeman, can be used.
  • Frequently employed in the names of male comic book characters, e.g. Aquaman, Batman, Spider-Man, Superman.
  • The pronunciation can either have a full vowel or a schwa, but they are not in free variation; some words formed with this suffix can be used with only one of the possible pronunciations.

Hypernyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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See also descendants of man.

  • Sranan Tongo: -man
  • → French: -man
  • → Japanese: マン (-man)
  • → Welsh: -mon

References

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Anagrams

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Albanian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Akin to Romanian -oman. Perhaps borrowed from Ottoman Turkish ـمان (-man),[1] alternatively from Slavic.[2][3]

Suffix

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-man (originally Tosk)[2]

  1. forms derogatory adjectives and nouns.
    Synonyms: -laq, -luq, -lec, -rash, -vec

Usage notes

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  • The vast majority of derived terms also contain the infix -a-.

Derived terms

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Albanian terms suffixed with -man
breshkaman
çalaman
dregaman
drogaman
fjalaman
frikaman
grindaman
gjataman
gjelaman
leckaman
llacaman
ndyraman
pordhaman
qaraman
qullaman
qurraman
rreckaman
shurdhaman
trashaman
zhelaman

References

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  1. ^ Kaleshi, Hasan (1971) “The importance of Turkish influence upon word formation in Albanian”, in Balcanica, volume 2, page 287f.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Xhuvani, A., Çabej, E. (1962) Prapashtesat e gjuhës shqipe (in Albanian)
  3. ^ Arapi, Ina (2012) Wolfgang Dahmen, editor, Südosteuropäische Romania‎[1] (in German), Narr Verlag, →ISBN, page 146

Further reading

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  • Newmark, L., Hubbard, P., Prifti, P. (1982) Standard Albanian: a reference grammar for students, Stanford University Press, →ISBN, § 3.4.1 D, page 173

Catalan

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Etymology

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From Ancient Greek -μανής (-manḗs).

Suffix

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-man m (feminine -mana)

  1. Forms adjectives pertaining to particular manias or addictions.
    ‎biblio- + ‎-man → ‎bibliòman (“bibliomaniacal”)
    ‎cocaïna + ‎-man → ‎cocaïnòman (“addicted to cocaine”)
  2. -mane, -maniac (forms nouns referring to persons suffering from particular manias or addictions)
    ‎clepto- + ‎-man → ‎cleptòman (“cleptomaniac”)
    ‎morfina + ‎-man → ‎morfinòman (“morphine addict”)

Usage notes

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Generally used with a stressed form of the interfix -o- to ease pronunciation.

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Danish

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Etymology

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From French -mane.

Suffix

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-man c

  1. (generally) -maniac

Derived terms

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Category Danish terms suffixed with -man not found

References

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Dutch

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Etymology

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From the Dutch noun man (“man”).

Suffix

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-man m (plural -mannen or -lieden or -lui or -mensen)

  1. someone (implied male) who is an expert in an area
    sportman ― sportsman
    zakenman ― businessman
  2. someone (implied male) who is employed or holds a position in an area
    brandweerman ― fireman
    politieman ― policeman
  3. someone (implied male) who has special characteristics relating to an area
    dolleman ― madman
    landsman ― countryman
  4. someone (implied male) who is derived from a particular nationality
    Engelsman ― Englishman
    Fransman ― Frenchman

Usage notes

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The plural form of -man is -lieden (-lui in spoken language) or sometimes -mannen and -mensen, e.g.

sportlieden / sportlui ― sportsmen
brandweerlieden / brandweerlui / brandweermannen ― firemen
politiemannen / politiemensen ― policemen
Fransmannen / Fransen ― Frenchmen

Antonyms

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Derived terms

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English -man.

Pronunciation

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Suffix

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-man m (plural -mans or -men, feminine -woman)

  1. used to form names of male professions or sportspersons

Usage notes

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  • In European and Canadian French, most words with this ending like businessman are borrowed directly from English, while some such as tennisman are not.
  • In sub-Saharan Africa, the suffix is much more productive and, in more slangy language, appended to anything relating to a habitual activity: gbanman (“druggie”) (Ivory Coast) from Mande gban (“drug”), boukiman (“speculator”) (Senegal) from Wolof buki (“hyena”), djigboman (“magician”) (Ivory Coast) from Bété djigbo (“fetish”), as well as the more generally used taximan (“taxi driver”) (many countries) and gbakaman (“marshrutka-driver”) (Ivory Coast) from gbaka (“marshrutka”).

Haitian Creole

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Etymology

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From French -ment (“-ly”).

Suffix

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-man

  1. used to form adverbs out of adjectives; -ly

Derived terms

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Haitian Creole terms suffixed with -man
ekstrèmman
sibitman

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology

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From French -mane.

Suffix

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-man m

  1. (generally) -maniac

Derived terms

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Norwegian Bokmål terms suffixed with -man
kleptoman

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From French -mane.

Suffix

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-man m

  1. (generally) -maniac

Derived terms

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Norwegian Nynorsk terms suffixed with -man
angloman
kleptoman

References

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Quechua

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Suffix

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-man

  1. allative or dative case; indicates the direction of movement or the indirect object
    Llaqtaman risaq.
    I will go towards the town.
    Paykunaman mikhunata apachkani.
    I am taking food to them.
  2. potential mood; indicates possibility or potential
    Qam rikunkiman.
    You would see.
    Ñuqaqa manam haqayman purinimanchu.
    I would not walk over there.

Sranan Tongo

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈmaŋ/, /ˈman/, [ˈma̠ŋ], [ˈmɑ̟ŋ]

Suffix

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-man

  1. Person suffix, used to derive agent nouns from verbs as well as nouns for people characterised by a trait from nouns and adjectives.

Derived terms

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Sranan Tongo terms suffixed with -man
arkiman
asema
baiman
begiman
bereman
bigiman
bonuman
brifiman
dansiman
dragiman
duman
edeman
ferfiman
fisiman
fotoman
gridiman
heiman
hoigriman
kiriman
kondreman
lawman
obiaman
ontiman
pokuman
singiman
skrifiman
takiman
temreman
trobiman
wagiman
wenkriman
wrokoman
yepiman

Turkish

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Suffix

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-man

  1. Form of -men after the vowels A / I / O / U.
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