English
manage
Manage comes from Old French manege ‘horse-handling’, probably from Old Italian maneggiare ‘to handle’, ultimately from Latin manus ‘hand’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmanus‘hand’uncertain
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*manizāre‘to handle’uncertain
- Old Italianmodernmaneggiare‘to handle, manage’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400manege‘the handling or training of a horse’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*managereconstructed
- Early Modern Englishmodernmanage
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmanus‘hand’uncertain
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*manizāre‘to handle’uncertain
- Old Italianmodernmaneggiare‘to handle, manage’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400manege‘the handling or training of a horse’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*managereconstructed
- Early Modern Englishmodernmanage
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto II: “The moſt vnruly, and the boldeſt boy, That euer…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- ‘to beckon, signal’
amaze, mastiff, commandery, 27 more
through Proto-Italic *manus ‘hand’
commander, mandate, commodore, commendation, commando, commandant, commandment, mannered, commandeer, 26 more
through Latin manus ‘hand’
main, manner, manual, manufacture, manipulation, manga, manifesto, manifest, manus, mano, manacles, 26 more
Today it means
verb To direct or be in charge of.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin manus / manage