Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “masculine” come from?

Masculine comes from Middle English masculyne, from Old French masculin, from Latin masculinus, derived from Latin masculus meaning "male," itself formed from Proto-Indo-European meryo.

masculine (English): Of or pertaining to the male gender; manly; Of or...

Definitions

  1. Of or pertaining to the male gender; manly; Of or...

Ancestry of “masculine”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchmasculinmale; masculine
2Italianmaschilemasculine, male; virile, manly; men's, boys'
3Spanishmasculinomasculine, male
4Spanish-ismo-ism
5Frenchféminismefeminism
6French-ïsme-ism, variant of -isme following vowels
7Latin-ismaAlternative form of -ismus; -ism
8Latin-ismus-ism
9Ancient Greek-ισμόςForms abstract nouns
10Ancient Greek-μόςForms abstract nouns
11Proto-Indo-European-mósCreates action/result nouns from verb stems

Words derived from “masculine”

  • masculinist
  • masculinization
  • hypermasculine
  • masculinism
  • masculinize
  • unmasculine
  • masculinisation
  • masculinely
  • remasculinization
  • ultramasculine
  • demasculinization
  • nonmasculine
  • masculism
  • remasculinize
  • supermasculine
  • masculist
  • masculineness
  • demasculinize
  • undermasculinization
  • masculinistic
  • antimasculine
  • unmasculinity
  • antimasculinist
  • pseudomasculine
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -mós →