man

/ˈmæn/

//ˈmæn// noun

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

The verdict

“man” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #148) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#148
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An adult male human.

Corpus desk

Index EN-man · man · English

man · rank #148 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #148
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH love

Nearest frequency peer: love (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “man”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “man” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

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.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for man is neighbouring look-alikes ("my", "ME", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈmæn/. Frequency #148 among 4,057 “M” headwords. 22 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how man appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The show is especially popular with middle-aged men.
  2. The king is but a man, as I am; the violet smells to him as it doth to me.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "man", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

What to do next

You've looked up "man". Here's where to go from here.

  • "man" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "my". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #148 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "M" letter cohort. M–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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