man

/ˈmæn/

//ˈmæn// noun

"man" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“man” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #148 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#148
frequency rank, English
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An adult male human.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

man vs my
33% similar
man vs ME
0% similar
man vs Mr
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for man
PropertyValue
Headwordman
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmæn/
Letters3
Frequency rank#148
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “man” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). man lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for man is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmæn/. Corpus data places it at rank #148 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 22 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

man doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "my", "ME", "Mr", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English man, from Old English mann m (“human being, person, man”), from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann- (“man”), from Proto-Indo-European *mon- (“human being, man”). Doublet of Manu. Cognates Cognate with Yola man (“man; hu… The correct English form is man, spelled M-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    An adult male human.
  2. 2
    An adult male human.
  3. 3
    An adult male human.
  4. 4
    An adult male human.
  5. 5
    An adult male human.
  6. 6
    A human, a person regardless of gender or sex, usually an adult.
  7. 7
    A human, a person regardless of gender or sex, usually an adult.
  8. 8
    A member of the genus Homo, especially of the species Homo sapiens.
  9. 9
    A male person, usually an adult; a (generally adult male) sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.
  10. 10
    Manliness; the quality or state of being manly.
  11. 11
    A husband.
  12. 12
    A male lover; a boyfriend.
  13. 13
    Used as the last element of a compound.
  14. 14
    Used as the last element of a compound.
  15. 15
    A person, usually male, who can fulfill one's requirements with regard to a specified matter.
  16. 16
    A vassal; a subject.
  17. 17
    A piece or token used in board games such as backgammon.
  18. 18
    One of the player's chances to play, lost when the player's character dies or when certain mistakes are made.
  19. 19
    A term of familiar address often implying on the part of the speaker some degree of authority, impatience, or haste.
  20. 20
    A term of familiar address usually reserved for other adult males. It works both with ones whose name is known and ones whose name is unknown.
  21. 21
    A player on whom another is playing, with the intent of limiting their attacking impact.
  22. 22
    A soldier below the rank of a non-commissioned officer.

Etymology

From Middle English man, from Old English mann m (“human being, person, man”), from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann- (“man”), from Proto-Indo-European *mon- (“human being, man”). Doublet of Manu. Cognates Cognate with Yola man (“man; husband”), North Frisian maan, man, moon, muon (“man; husband”), Saterland Frisian Mon (“man; husband”), West Frisian man (“man; husband”), Alemannic German ma, Maa, Mann, mo, mà, Mànn (“man; husband”), Bavarian Mo, mon, moon, Må, mònn (“man; husband”), Cimbrian man, mann, månn (“man; husband”), Dutch man (“man; husband”), German, German Low German, and Luxembourgish Mann (“man; husband”), Mòcheno mònn (“man”), Vilamovian maon, mon, mōn (“man; husband”), Yiddish מאַן (man, “man”), Danish mand (“man; husband”), Faroese and Icelandic maður (“male, man; husband”), Norn and Norwegian Bokmål mann (“man; husband”), Norwegian Nynorsk mann, mainnj (“man; husband”), Swedish man (“man; husband”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰 (manna, “man; human”); also Latin humanus (“human”), Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian муж (muž, “husband; man”), Bulgarian мъж (mǎž, “man; husband”), Czech and Slovak muž (“man; husband”), Macedonian маж (maž, “man; husband”), Polish mąż (“man; husband”), Serbo-Croatian му̑ж, mȗž (“man; husband”), Slovene mož (“man; husband”), Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬎𐬱 (manuš, “human”), Sanskrit मनु (manu, “intelligent, thinking, wise”), मनुस् (manus, “man”).

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "man"?
"man" is spelled M-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmæn/.
What does "man" mean?
As a noun, "man" means: An adult male human.
What words are commonly confused with "man"?
"man" is commonly confused with "my", "ME", "Mr". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "man"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "man" is /ˈmæn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "man"?
From Middle English man, from Old English mann m (“human being, person, man”), from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann- (“man”), from Proto-Indo-European *mon- (“human being, man”). Doublet of Manu. Cognates Cognate with Yola man... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “man”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈmæn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “my” - see the side-by-side comparison. man vs my
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list