English
masculine
Masculine comes from Latin masculus ‘male, manly’, and goes back to mās.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmās‘male’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculus‘male, manly’diminutive of mās
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculīnusdiminutive of masculus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400masculin
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500masculyne
- Englishearliest quotation 1655masculine
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmās‘male’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculus‘male, manly’diminutive of mās
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculīnusdiminutive of masculus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400masculin
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500masculyne
- Englishearliest quotation 1655masculine
Earliest quotation: 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […]: “[…] a masculine church.”
Linked words
through Latin mās ‘male’
married, marriage, marry, marital, 9 more
through Latin masculus ‘male, manly’
Today it means
adj Of or pertaining to the male gender.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin mās / masculine