English
manner
Manner comes from Middle English manere ‘the usual practice or habit of someone’, from Latin manuarius ‘belonging to the hand’, and ultimately from manus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmanus‘hand’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmanuarius‘belonging to the hand’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*manāriareconstructedfeminine of manuarius
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400maniere
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400manere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘the usual practice or habit of someone’
- Englishearliest quotation 1591manner
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmanus‘hand’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmanuarius‘belonging to the hand’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*manāriareconstructedfeminine of manuarius
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400maniere
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400manere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘the usual practice or habit of someone’
- Englishearliest quotation 1591manner
Earliest quotation: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “The treacherous manner of his mournful death.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- ‘to beckon’
amaze, mastiff, commandery, 28 more
through Proto-Italic *manus ‘hand’
commander, mandate, commodore, commendation, commando, commandant, commandment, commandeer, 27 more
through Latin manus ‘hand’
main, manage, manual, manufacture, manipulation, manga, manifesto, manifest, manus, mano, manacles, 26 more
Today it means
noun Mode of action; way of performing or doing anything.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin manus / manner