Where does “man o' war” come from?

man o' war (English) comes from English MAN, from English manual, from Middle English manuel, from Anglo-Norman manuel, from Old French manual, from Latin manuālis, from Latin manus, from Proto-Italic manus — human being; man; hand.

Ancestry of “man o' war”, step by step

man o' war traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via English MAN

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishMANInitialism of Metropolitan Area Network
2EnglishmanualA handbook; A booklet that instructs on the usage...
3Middle Englishmanuel—
4Anglo-Normanmanuelmanual; done with the hands; handle; manual;...
5Old Frenchmanual—
6Latinmanuālishand
7Latinmanushand; bravery, valor; violence, fighting
8Proto-Italicmanushand
9Proto-Indo-Europeanman-human being; man; hand

via English o'

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englisho'Contraction of of; Contraction of on
2Middle EnglishO—
3Old Englishoever, always
4LatinoThe name of the letter "O"; o!; oh!
5Etruscan𐌏—
6Ancient GreekοLower-case omicron (ὂ μικρόν), the 15th letter of the ancient Greek alphabet. It represented the close-mid back rounded vowel. It is preceded by ξ and followed by π
7Phoenician𐤏ayin; ʿayin
8Egyptian𓁹—

via English War

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishWarPreceded by [[the#Article
2Middle EnglishwerreWar in general; the practice of fighting between...
3Old Norseverricomparative degree of illr, worse; worse
4Proto-Germanicwirsizôcomparative degree of *ubilaz; worse
5Proto-Indo-Europeanwers-to wipe; peak, height
6Proto-Indo-Europeanwer-to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel
Every word from Proto-Indo-European man- →Every word from Proto-Italic manus →Every word from Latin manus →