masculine
UK /ˈmæskjʊlɪn/ · US /ˈmæskjələn/ adjective, noun
Forms masculines m. m
- adjective Of or pertaining to the male gender.
- adjective Of or pertaining to the male sex; biologically male, not female.
- adjective Belonging to males; typically used by males. ““John”, “Paul”, and “Jake” are masculine names.”
- adjective Having the qualities stereotypically associated with men: virile, aggressive, not effeminate; manly.
- adjective (of a noun) Being of the masculine class or grammatical gender, and inflected in that manner. “The noun Student is masculine in German.”
- adjective (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.”
- adjective (grammar, Mongolic languages, of any word) Having the vowel harmony of a back vowel.
- adjective (prosody) Following or ending on a stressed syllable. “Masculine caesura, masculine catalexis, masculine ending, masculine rhyme.”
- noun (grammar) The masculine gender.
- noun (grammar) A word of the masculine gender.
- noun That which is masculine.
- noun (rare, possibly obsolete) A man.
Synonyms
male manly virile macho masc Of a woman butch mannish tomboyish unfeminine unladylike
Antonyms
female womanly effeminate emasculated epicene unmanly androgynous feminine neuter
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”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Of the male sex; not female.
- adjective Having the qualities of a man; suitable to, or characteristic of, a man; virile; not feminine or effeminate; strong; robust.
Etymology [L. masculinus, fr. masculus male, manly, dim. of mas a male: cf. F. masculin. See Male masculine.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “masculine”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details