masculine

English

Alternative forms

• m., m (abbreviation, grammar)

Etymology

From Middle English masculyne, masculyn, from Old French masculin, from Latin masculīnus, diminutive of masculus (“male, manly”), itself a diminutive of mās (“male”). Displaced native Old English werlīċ (literally “manly”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: măsk'yo͝ol(ĭ)n, măsk'yələn, IPA^(key): /ˈmæskjʊlɪn/, /ˈmæskjələn/
• (US) enPR: măsk'yələn, IPA^(key): /ˈmæskjələn/
• (General Australian) enPR: măsk'yələn, IPA^(key): /ˈmæskjələn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

masculine (comparative more masculine, superlative most masculine)

1. Of or pertaining to the male gender; manly.
2. Of or pertaining to the male sex; biologically male, not female.

   Synonym: male

   Antonyms: female, womanly

3. Belonging to males; typically used by males.

   “John”, “Paul”, and “Jake” are masculine names.

4. Having the qualities stereotypically associated with men: virile, aggressive, not effeminate.
   • 1818, Henry Hallam, View of the state of Europe during the Middle ages:

     That lady, after her husband's death, held the reins with a masculine energy.

   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):

     […] a masculine church.

   Synonyms: manly, virile

   Antonyms: effeminate, emasculated, epicene, unmanly

5. (grammar) Of, pertaining or belonging to the male grammatical gender, in languages that have gender distinctions.

   Synonym: male

   Coordinate terms: feminine, neuter, common

   1. (of a noun) Being of the masculine class or grammatical gender, and inflected in that manner.

      The noun Student is masculine in German.

   2. (of another part of speech) Being inflected in agreement with a masculine noun.

      German uses the masculine form of the definite article, der, with Student.

6. (grammar, Mongolic languages, of any word) Having the vowel harmony of a back vowel.

   Coordinate term: feminine

7. (prosody) Following or ending on a stressed syllable.

   Masculine caesura, masculine catalexis, masculine ending.

Derived terms

• antimasculine
• cismasculine
• demasculinization
• emasculate
• hypermasculine
• hypermasculinization
• masculinazi
• masculine caesura
• masculine ending
• masculinely
• masculineness
• masculine of center
• masculine rhyme
• masculinisation
• masculinism
• masculinist
• masculinistic
• masculinity
• masculinization
• masculinize
• masculism
• masculist
• nonmasculine
• pseudomasculine
• supermasculine
• transmasculine
• ultramasculine
• unmasculine

 

Translations

of the male sex; biologically male, not female; manly

• Arabic: ذَكَرِيّ (ḏakariyy)
• Armenian: արական (hy) (arakan)
• Belarusian: мужчы́нскі (mužčýnski)
• Bengali: পৌরুষেয় (bn) (pōuruśeẏo)
• Bulgarian: мъ́жки (bg) (mǎ́žki)
• Catalan: masculí (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 男的 (zh) (nán de), 男性的 (zh) (nánxìng de)

• Czech: mužský (cs)
• Danish: mandlig (da)
• Dutch: mannelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: malina (eo)
• Estonian: meessoost
• Faroese: mansligur, mannligur, mannfólkaligur
• Finnish: miespuolinen (fi), miehinen (fi)
• French: masculin (fr)
• Galician: masculino (gl) m
• Georgian: მამრობითი (mamrobiti)
• German: männlich (de)
• Greek: αρσενικός (el) m (arsenikós)

  Ancient: ἄρσην (ársēn)

• Hindi: पुरुषवाचक (puruṣvācak), मर्द (hi) (mard)
• Hungarian: hímnemű (hu), hím (hu)
• Indonesian: maskulin (id)
• Irish: fearúil
• Italian: mascolino (it) m
• Japanese: 男らしい (ja) (otokorashii), 男の (ja) (otoko no)
• Korean: 남자다운 (namjadaun)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: nêr (ku) m

• Latin: mās (la), masculīnus, masculus
• Latvian: vīrišķīgs, vīrišķs, vīriešu (lv)
• Lithuanian: vyriškas (lt)
• Maori: tāne (mi)
• Marathi: पुरुषवाचक (puruṣvācak)
• Middle English: masculyn, manly
• Norman: mastchulîn (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: maskulin, mandig (no)

  Nynorsk: maskulin, mandig

• Old English: werlīċ
• Ottoman Turkish: مردانه (merdane)
• Pashto: نر (ps) (nër), نارينه (ps) (nâriná)
• Persian: نر (fa) (nar)
• Polish: męski (pl)
• Portuguese: macho (pt)
• Romanian: masculin (ro) m
• Russian: мужско́й (ru) (mužskój)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: му̏шкӣ

  Roman: mȕškī (sh)

• Slovak: mužský (sk)
• Slovene: moški (sl)
• Southern Altai: эр (er)
• Spanish: masculino (es)
• Swedish: manlig (sv)
• Tocharian B: eṅkwaññe
• Turkish: eril (tr)
• Ukrainian: чолові́чий (čolovíčyj)
• Volapük: manik (vo)
• West Frisian: manlik (fy)
• Zazaki: neri (diq)

belonging to males; appropriated to, or used by, males

• Armenian: տղամարդու (tġamardu)
• Belarusian: мужчы́нскі m (mužčýnski)
• Bulgarian: мъжки (bg) (mǎžki)
• Catalan: masculí (ca)
• Cebuano: panglalaki
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 男的 (zh) (nán de), 男性的 (zh) (nánxìng de)

• Danish: maskulin
• Dutch: mannelijk (nl)
• Estonian: mehelik
• Finnish: miesten (fi), miehinen (fi)
• French: masculin (fr)
• Galician: masculino (gl)
• Georgian: კაცური (ḳacuri), მამაკაცური (mamaḳacuri)
• Greek: ανδρικός (el) m (andrikós)
• Hungarian: férfi- (hu)
• Indonesian: maskulin (id)
• Italian: maschile (it)
• Japanese: 男性の (ja) (だんせいの, dansei no)
• Korean: 남자의 (ko) (namjaui)
• Latvian: vīrišķīgs, vīrišķs, vīriešu (lv)
• Marathi: पुरुषी (puruṣī)
• Middle English: masculyn, manly
• Norman: mastchulîn (Jersey)
• Old English: werlīċ
• Ottoman Turkish: مردانه (merdane)
• Pashto: نارينه (ps) (nâriná)
• Persian: مردانه (fa) (mardâna)
• Polish: męski (pl)
• Portuguese: masculino (pt)
• Romanian: masculin (ro)
• Russian: мужско́й (ru) (mužskój)
• Slovak: mužský (sk), chlapčenský
• Southern Altai: эр (er)
• Spanish: masculino (es)
• Swedish: manlig (sv)
• Volapük: manik (vo)
• West Frisian: manlik (fy)
• Zazaki: nerık

having male qualities, not feminine or effeminate

• Albanian: mashkullor (sq)
• Armenian: առնական (hy) (aṙnakan)
• Belarusian: мужчы́нскі m (mužčýnski)
• Bulgarian: мъжествен (bg) (mǎžestven)
• Catalan: masculí (ca), viril
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 男性的 (zh) (nánxìng de), 男子氣的 / 男子气的 (zh) (nánzǐqì de), 男子漢的 / 男子汉的 (zh) (nánzǐhàn de), man (zh) (mān) (informal)

• Czech: mužský (cs), mužný
• Danish: maskulin, mandig
• Dutch: mannelijk (nl)
• Estonian: mehelik, maskuliinne
• Finnish: miehekäs (fi), maskuliininen (fi)
• French: masculin (fr)
• Galician: masculino (gl)
• Georgian: კაცური (ḳacuri), მამაკაცური (mamaḳacuri), ვაჟკაცური (važḳacuri)
• German: männlich (de), maskulin (de)
• Greek: ανδρικός (el) m (andrikós), αρσενικός (el) m (arsenikós), ανδροπρεπής (el) (androprepís)
• Hindi: मर्दाना (hi) (mardānā)
• Hungarian: férfias (hu)
• Indonesian: maskulin (id)
• Irish: fearúil
• Italian: masculino m
• Japanese: 男性的な (ja) (だんせいてきな, danseiteki na)
• Korean: 남자 같은 (namja gateun)
• Latin: masculīnus, masculus
• Latvian: vīrišķīgs, vīrišķs, vīriešu (lv)
• Lithuanian: vyriškas (lt)
• Maori: whakatāne, tāne (mi)
• Marathi: पुरुषी (puruṣī)
• Middle English: manly
• Norman: mastchulîn (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: maskulin, mandig (no)

  Nynorsk: maskulin, mandig

• Old English: werlīċ
• Ottoman Turkish: مردانه (merdane)
• Pashto: نر (ps) (nër), نارينه (ps) (nâriná)
• Persian: مردانه (fa) (mardâne)
• Polish: męski (pl)
• Portuguese: macho (pt), homem (pt)
• Romanian: masculin (ro), bărbătesc (ro), viril (ro)
• Russian: мужско́й (ru) (mužskój), мужеподо́бный (ru) (mužepodóbnyj), маскули́нный (ru) (maskulínnyj), му́жественный (ru) (múžestvennyj)
• Slovak: mužný
• Southern Altai: эр (er)
• Spanish: masculino (es), varonil (es), viril (es), macho (es), hombruno
• Swedish: maskulin (sv), manlig (sv)
• Turkish: erkeksi (tr)
• Urdu: مردانہ (mardāna)
• Volapük: manik (vo)
• West Frisian: manlik (fy)
• Zazaki: nerıyın

grammar: being of the masculine class, being inflected in the masculine manner

• Albanian: mashkullor (sq)
• Arabic: مُذَكَّر m (muḏakkar)
• Armenian: արական (hy) (arakan)
• Belarusian: мужчы́нскі (mužčýnski)
• Breton: gourel (br)
• Bulgarian: мъ́жки (bg) (mǎ́žki)
• Catalan: masculí (ca)
• Cebuano: panglalaki
• Chechen: божарийн род (božariı̇n rod)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 陽性的 / 阳性的 (zh) (yángxìng de)

• Czech: mužský (cs) m
• Danish: hankøn (da)s-
• Dutch: mannelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: malina (eo)
• Estonian: maskuliinne
• Finnish: maskuliininen (fi), maskuliini- (fi)
• French: masculin (fr)
• Galician: masculino (gl)
• Georgian: მამრობითი სქესი (mamrobiti skesi), მამრობითი (mamrobiti)
• German: männlich (de), maskulin (de)
• Greek: αρσενικός (el) m (arsenikós)

  Ancient: ἀρσενικός (arsenikós)

• Hausa: namiji (ha)
• Hebrew: זכר (he) m (zakhar)
• Hindi: पुल्लिंग m (pulliṅg)
• Hungarian: hímnemű (hu)
• Icelandic: karlkyns-
• Indonesian: maskulin (id)
• Irish: firinscneach
• Italian: maschile (it)
• Japanese: 男性 (ja) (dansei)
• Korean: 남성 (ko) (namseong)
• Latin: masculīnus
• Latvian: vīriešu dzimtes
• Lithuanian: vyriškas (lt)
• Macedonian: машки (maški)
• Maltese: please add this translation if you can
• Marathi: पुल्लिंगी (pulliṅgī)
• Middle English: masculyn
• Middle Persian: nl
• Norman: mastchulîn (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: maskulin

  Nynorsk: maskulin

• Occitan: masculin (oc)
• Old English: werlīċ
• Pashto: نارينه (ps) (nâriná)
• Persian: مردانه (fa) (mardâna)
• Polish: męski (pl)
• Portuguese: masculino (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਪੁਲਿੰਗ (pa) (puliṅg)
• Romanian: masculin (ro)
• Russian: мужско́й (ru) (mužskój)
• Sanskrit: पुंलिङ्ग (sa) (puṃliṅga)
• Scottish Gaelic: fireann
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: му̏шкӣ

  Roman: mȕškī (sh)

• Slovak: mužský (sk)
• Slovene: moški (sl)
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: muski ród

• Southern Altai: эр (er)
• Spanish: masculino (es)
• Swedish: maskulin (sv)
• Telugu: పుల్లింగము (te) (pulliṅgamu), పుంలింగము (te) (puṁliṅgamu)
• Turkish: eril (tr)
• Ukrainian: чолові́чий (čolovíčyj)
• Urdu: مُذَکَّر (muẕakkar), امذ (IMẔ; ism-muẕakkar, literally “m; masucline noun”)
• Vietnamese: giống đực (vi)
• Volapük: manik (vo)
• Welsh: gwrywaidd (cy)
• West Frisian: manlik (fy)
• Zazaki: merdane

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} virseksa
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} זִכְרִי (he) m (zikhrí)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} maskula (io)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} masculin
• Marathi: ^{(please verify)} मर्दानी (mardānī)
• Mongolian: ^{(please verify)} эр (mn) (er), ^{(please verify)} эршүүд (mn) (eršüüd)
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} fearail, ^{(please verify)} fireannta, ^{(please verify)} fireann
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} maskulin (sv) c, (1,2,4) ^{(please verify)} maskulint (sv) n
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} మగతనం (magatanaṁ)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} nam tính (vi), ^{(please verify)} tính đàn ông

Noun

masculine (plural masculines)

1. (grammar) The masculine gender.
   • 2009, Carlos Quiles, Fernando López-Menchero, A Grammar of Modern Indo-European, Second Edition:

     The masculine functions as the negative term in the opposition, i.e. when the gender is not defined, the masculine is used.

2. (grammar) A word of the masculine gender.
   • 1905, George Theodore Dippold, A German grammar for high schools and colleges:

     As to the class to which the masculines of the strong declension belong, we repeat that […]

3. That which is masculine.
   • 2004, Leonora Leet, The Universal Kabbalah:

     These forces would also seem to reflect the gender distinction that can be made with respect to the divine, the feminine associated with the divine as immanent within the finite and the masculine with the divine transcendence and the infinite.

4. (rare, possibly obsolete) A man.
   • 1868, The Ladies' Repository, A Universalist Monthly Magazine For The Home Circle. Volume XXXIX [39]‎^[1], page 458 (left column):

     I think women, at least those who do their own work, would live very simply in that respect, if there were none of the masculines to feed.

Translations

(grammar) the masculine gender

• Arabic: مُذَكَّر m (muḏakkar)
• Belarusian: мужчы́нскі род m (mužčýnski rod)
• Bulgarian: мъ́жки род m (mǎ́žki rod)
• Burmese: ပုလ္လိင် (my) (pulling)
• Cebuano: panglalaki
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 陽性 / 阳性 (zh) (yángxìng)

• Czech: mužský rod m
• Esperanto: virgenro, maskuleno
• Estonian: maskuliinum, meessugu
• Faroese: kallkyn n
• Finnish: maskuliini (fi)
• French: masculin (fr) m
• German: Maskulinum (de) n; maskulines Genus n, männliches Geschlecht n
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: hímnem (hu)
• Japanese: 男性 (ja) (だんせい, dansei)
• Korean: 남성 (ko) (namseong)
• Latvian: vīriešu (lv) dzimte (lv) f
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Marathi: पुल्लिंग n (pulliṅga)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hankjønn (no) n, maskulinum n

  Nynorsk: hankjønn n, maskulinum n

• Polish: rodzaj męski (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: masculino (pt) m
• Russian: мужско́й род (ru) m (mužskój rod)
• Slovak: mužský rod m
• Tamil: ஆண்பால் (ta) (āṇpāl)
• Ukrainian: чолові́чий рід (uk) m (čolovíčyj rid)
• Vietnamese: giống đực (vi)

(grammar) a word of the masculine gender

• Estonian: maskuliin
• Hungarian: hímnemű alak
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hankjønnsord n, maskulinum n

  Nynorsk: hankjønnsord n, maskulinum n

• Slovak: slovo mužského rodu

Anagrams

• calumnies, manicules, semuncial

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mas.ky.lin/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mas‧cu‧line
• Rhymes: -in

Adjective

masculine

1. feminine singular of masculin

Latin

Adjective

masculīne

1. vocative masculine singular of masculīnus

References

• “masculine”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• masculine in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Middle English

Adjective

masculine

1. Alternative form of masculyn

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mas.kuˈli.ne]

Adjective

masculine

1. feminine/neuter plural nominative/accusative of masculin