Where does “mannequin” come from?
Mannequin comes from French mannequin, borrowed from Dutch manneken, a diminutive of Dutch man, tracing back through Middle Dutch man and Old Dutch man to Proto-West Germanic mann and Proto-Germanic mann-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European men-.
mannequin (English): A dummy, or life-size model of the human body,...
Definitions
- A dummy, or life-size model of the human body,...
Ancestry of “mannequin”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | mannequin | model; dummy, mannequin |
| 2 | Dutch | manneken | |
| 3 | Low German | Mann | man (adult) male human |
| 4 | Middle Low German | man | but, only |
| 5 | Old Saxon | mann | human, person |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | mann | person, human |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | *mann- | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | men- | to think, mind; spiritual activity; to stay,... |