mannish

English

Etymology

From Middle English mannish, mannisshe, mannysh, from earlier mennish (“human”), from Old English mennisċ (“human, natural, humane”), from Proto-West Germanic *mannisk, from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz (“human”). By surface analysis, man ‎ -ish. Doublet of mennish, mense, and mensch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmæn.ɪʃ/
• Rhymes: -ænɪʃ

Adjective

mannish (comparative more mannish, superlative most mannish)

1. (of a woman) Resembling or characteristic of a man, masculine. [from 16th c. (from 14th c. in Middle English)]

   Synonyms: butch, masculine, unladylike

   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:

     A woman impudent and mannish grown
     Is not more loathed than an effeminate man
     In time of action.

   • 1928, Radclyffe Hall, chapter 7, in The Well of Loneliness, London: Jonathan Cape, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Covici Friede Publishers, October 1932, →OCLC, book 1, section 1, page 68:

     She detested the look of herself in large goggles, detested being forced to tie on her hat, detested the heavy, mannish coat of rough tweed that Sir Philip insisted she must wear when motoring.

2. Resembling or characteristic of a grown man (as opposed to a boy); mature, adult. [from 16th c.]

   Synonyms: manly, grown up

   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     And let us, Polydore, though now our voices
     Have got the mannish crack, sing him to the ground,

   • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter VIII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC:

     And so, with an air of mannish superiority, he seems rather to pity the bashful girl, than to apprehend that he shall not succeed.

   • 1957, Langston Hughes, Simply Heavenly: A Comedy with Music‎^[2], Dramatists Play Service, act I, scene 4, page 25:

     […] Aunt Lucy found out about it and woke me up the next morning with a switch in her hand. . . . But I got all mannish that morning, Joyce. I said, “Aunt Lucy, you ain’t gonna whip me no more. I’se a man now—and you ain’t gonna whip me.”

   • 2011 March 30, Mickel Brann, “Don’t take it personal”, in Antigua Observer:

     It’s things like these that remind me that for all his mannish ways, he’s still just a little tyke after all.

3. (Caribbean, Guyana) Impertinent; assertive. [from 19th c.]
   • 2014, Kurt Campbell, “Police left 15-year-old to die — Relatives,” inewsguyana.com, 11 March, 2014,^[3]

     “They could have saved his life because he was still living, one woman said when she told the police that the boy was alive he said leave him to die, he’s wanted,” Giddings cried, adding that “I know he bad, he mannish, he does misbehave but I never know he was wanted… how can they make the claim without medical assistance.”

4. (Caribbean, African-American Vernacular) Precocious.
5. (archaic) Resembling or characteristic of a human being, in form or nature; human. [from 16th c. (from 9th c. in Anglo-Saxon)]
   • 1955, JRR Tolkien, The Return of the King:

     The Westron was a Mannish speech, though enriched and softened under Elvish influence.

Derived terms

• mannishly
• mannishness
• mannish water

Further reading

• “mannish”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Richard Allsopp, Jeannette Allsopp (2003) Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, University of West Indies Press, →ISBN, page 370: “man·nish /2'2/ adj 1.' (CarA) [Of boys] Impertinent and aggressive; [...] 2.) (Angu, Baha, Dmca, Jmca, StVn) [Of either sex] Unpleasantly precocious. [...] you too mannish...—MBS:4 3. (Antg, Tbgo) [Of children] Pleasantly precocious. [...]”

Anagrams

• Hinmans

Middle English

Adjective

mannish

1. Resembling or characteristic of a human being, in form or nature; human.
   • 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, The Tale of Melibee,^[4]

     The proverbe seith: that “for to do sinne is mannish, but certes for to persevere longe in sinne is werk of the devel.”

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (of a woman) Resembling or characteristic of a man, masculine. [from 14th c.]
   • c. 1380s, Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Book I, lines 281-284,^[5]

     She nas nat with the leste of hir stature,
     But alle hir limes so wel answeringe
     Weren to womanhode, that creature
     Was neuer lasse mannish in seminge.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)