men

See also: Appendix:Variations of "men"

English

Etymology

From Middle English men, from Old English menn (“men, people, human beings collectively”), From Proto-Germanic *manniz, nominative plural of Proto-Germanic *mann- (“human; man”). Cognate with German Männer (“men”), Danish mænd (“men”), Swedish män (“men”). More at man.

Pronunciation

A group of men sitting together.
  • IPA(key): /mɛn/,
    Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛn

Noun

men

  1. plural form of man
    • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterI:
      This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking. […] Indeed, all his features were in large mold, like the man himself, as though he had come from a day when skin garments made the proper garb of men.
  2. (collective) (The) people, humanity.

Quotations

  • For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:men.

Derived terms

Translations

Basque

Noun

men

  1. A command

Chuukese

Adverb

men

  1. softer form of fakkun (“very”)

Crimean Tatar

Pronoun

men (plural biz, possessive adjective menim)

  1. (personal) I (first-person singular)

Inflection

objectme: maña
reflexivemyself: özüm
possessivemine, my: menim

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse mein, from Proto-Germanic *mainą (“damage, hurt, injustice, sin”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /meːn/, [meːˀn]

Noun

men or mén n, c (singular definite menet or menen, plural indefinite men, plural definite menene)

  1. injury

Etymology 2

Same origin as Old Norse meðan (“while”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɛn/, [mɛn]

Conjunction

men

  1. but
  2. (as a noun) but, catch, hitch, snag
    Jeg kan høre, der er et men.

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɛn/
  • Rhymes: -ɛn

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch men. An unstressed variety of man. Compare Middle English men (indefinite pronoun).

Pronoun

men

  1. (indefinite) One, they, (the) people; indefinite third-person singular pronoun: Men zegt dat... (People say that...; It is said that...)
  2. All humanity, everyone; public opinion.

Etymology 2

origin unclear

Verb

men

  1. first-person singular present indicative of mennen
  2. imperative of mennen

Faroese

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [meːn] (noun)
  • IPA(key): [mɛnː] (conjunction)
    Homophone: menn

Noun

men f (genitive singular menar, plural menir or menar)

  1. (rare, Mykines) The spinal cord

Declension

Declension of men
f2 singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative men menin menir menirnar
accusative men menina menir menirnar
dative men menini menum menunum
genitive menar menarinnar mena menanna
f6 Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative men menin menar menarnar
Accusative men menina menar menarnar
Dative men menini menum menunum
Genitive menar menarinnar mena menanna

Synonyms

Conjunction

men

  1. but

Haitian Creole

Etymology 1

From French main (“hand”). 

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɜ̃/

Noun

men

  1. hand

Etymology 2

From French mais (“but”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɜ̃/

Conjunction

men

  1. but

Italian

Adverb

men

  1. Apocopic form of meno

Japanese

Romanization

men

  1. Rōmaji transcription of めん

Macaguán

Noun

men

  1. water
  2. river

References

Mandarin

Romanization

men (Zhuyin ˙ㄇㄣ)

  1. Pinyin transcription of 們, 们
  2. Nonstandard spelling of mēn.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of mén.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of měn.
  5. Nonstandard spelling of mèn.

Usage notes

  • English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Middle Dutch

Etymology

An unstressed variety of man.

Pronoun

men

  1. someone
  2. one, they, you, people; impersonal pronoun.

Inflection

This pronoun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

  • Dutch: men
  • Limburgish: me

Further reading

  • “men”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • “men (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

Middle English

Pronoun

men

  1. Alternative form of man

References

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Via Swedish and Danish men, same origin as Old Norse meðan (“while”).

Conjunction

men

  1. But, however; introducing a clause that contrasts with the preceding clause, sentence or common belief.
  2. though
  3. only
    Han er en fin kar, men han snakker litt for mye. – He is a nice guy, but he talks a bit too much.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse mein.

Alternative forms

Noun

men

  1. damage; injury (also mén)
  2. permanent disability
  3. difficulty; drawback

Etymology 3

Verb

men

  1. imperative of mene

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Via Swedish and Danish men, same origin as Old Norse meðan (“while”).

Conjunction

men

  1. but, however; introducing a clause that contrasts with the preceding clause, sentence or common belief.
  2. though
  3. only

Etymology 2

From men.

Noun

men n (definite singular menet, uncountable)

  1. difficulty

Novial

Determiner

men

  1. my

Pronoun

men

  1. mine

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *manją. Cognate with Old English mene.

Noun

men n (genitive mens, plural men)

  1. necklace

Declension

Derived terms

  • Brísingamen

Pohnpeian

Verb

men

  1. to want

Sherbro

Noun

men (plural menti)

  1. (chiefly in the plural) water

References

  • James Frederick Schön, James Frederick Schön, Sherbro Vocabulary (1839), page 24

Spanish

Noun

men m pl

  1. plural of man

Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old Swedish men, from Middle Low German men, man (“but, only”), probably from Old Saxon niwan; possibly under the influence of Old Swedish men (“while, during”) (modern Swedish medan, medans, mens). Cognate with modern Low German man.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɛn/
  • audio(file)

Conjunction

men

  1. but; introducing a clause that contrasts with the preceding clause, sentence or common belief.
  2. yet, but, however
    John har bott i staden i fem år, men aldrig besökt slottet.
    John has lived in the city for five years, yet never visited the castle.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse mein, like Icelandic mein, Norwegian mein, Old Saxon mēn, Old English mān; cognate with Icelandic meinn (“which causes injury”), Old English mǣne (“evil, deceptive”, adj), Lithuanian maĭnas (“change”, noun), Proto-Slavic *měna (“change”, noun); from the Proto-Indo-European root *mei- (“to switch”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /meːn/

Noun

men n

  1. a handicap, long-time remnant of a physical or mental injury, which affects a person negatively
Declension
Declension of men 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative men menet men menen
Genitive mens menets mens menens

Turkmen

Pronoun

men

  1. (personal) I

Declension

See also

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Proto-Vietic *-mɛːn.

Noun

men (𥽔, 𥾃)

  1. yeast
  2. (biochemistry) enzyme
  3. alcohol (in terms of its euphorigenic or intoxicating effects)

Etymology 2

Noun

men

  1. enamel

Etymology 3

Verb

men

  1. to approach, to go along
Derived terms

Volapük

Noun

men

  1. human / man (male or female)), human being

Hyponyms

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