mensk

See also: Mensk

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old Norse mennskr (“human”), from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz (“human”). Cognate with Old English mennisc (“human”); more at mennish.

Alternative forms

• menseke, menske

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛnsk(ə)/

Adjective

mensk

1. (rare) honorable, praiseworthy; beautiful
   • c. 1335-1361, William of Palerne (MS. King's College 13), folio 62, recto, lines 3900-3901; republished as W. W. Skeat, editor, The Romance of William of Palerne‎^[1], London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1867, →OCLC, page 126:

     ⁊ more menſk it is · manliche to deie / þan for to fle couwarli for ouȝt þat mai falle

     And it's more noble to die bravely / than to run like a coward from anything that could happen.

Descendants

• English: mense (dialectal)
• Scots: mense

References

• “mensk(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

mensk

1. Alternative form of menske

Etymology 3

Verb

mensk

1. Alternative form of mensken
   • c. 1385, William Langland, Piers Plowman, section III:

     Ȝit I may as I myȝte · menske þe with ȝiftes / And mayntene þi manhode · more þan þow knoweste.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   It sall ger hir be ful fain / To mensk oure goddes with al hir main. — Northern Homily Cycle, 1425