male
English
Etymology
From Middle English male, borrowed from Old French malle, masle (Modern French mâle), from Latin masculus (“masculine, a male”), diminutive of mās (“male, masculine”). Doublet of macho.
Pronunciation
Adjective
male (not generally comparable, comparative maler or more male, superlative malest or most male)
- Belonging to the sex which typically produces sperm, or to the gender which is typically associated with it. [from 14th c.]
- male writers
- the leading male and female singers
- a male bird feeding a seed to a female
- in bee colonies, all drones are male
- intersex male patients
- 1995, Gill Van Hasselt, Childbirth: Your Choices for Managing Pain (Taylor Pub, →ISBN):
- We got the hang of [caring for a baby], Kate and I, with some quiet, surprising guidance from a gentle male nurse whose touching lack of intrusion was so instinctive as to seem part of the pattern.
- 2016, Tobias Raun, Out Online (→ISBN):
- Whereas many other trans male vloggers use the videos to assert a conventionally recognizable masculinity through sculpting and carrying their bodies as well as dressing and talking in masculine-coded ways, Carson explores and plays with ways of expressing femininity within (trans) maleness.
- For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:male.
- Characteristic of this sex/gender. (Compare masculine, manly.)
- stereotypically male interests, an insect with typically male coloration
- 2006, Bonnie Roberts, Bruises on the Heart (→ISBN), page 118:
- A bright light was shone in her eye and then she heard a kind, male voice who she figured must be Dr. Smith. “Yes, let her rest now, but keep an eye on her blood pressure and her pulse. Check her about every 15 or 20 minutes. Call me if any problem occurs.”
- 2004, Mino Vianello, Gwen Moore, Women and Men in Political and Business Elites: A Comparative Study (→ISBN):
- More than that, we cannot find the same dynamics within female career trajectories as in the other two country groups, because the time-structure of female and male careers already shows great similarity within the older generation of elites. In addition, the pattern of the relation between female and male careers remains the same over time.
- For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:male.
- Tending to lead to or regulate the development of sexual characteristics typical of this sex.
- the male chromosome; like testes, ovaries also produce testosterone and some other male hormones
- (grammar, less common than 'masculine') Masculine; of the masculine grammatical gender.
- 2012, Naomi McIlwraith, Kiyâm: Poems →ISBN, page 43:
- The teacher's voice inflects the pulse of nêhiyawêwin as he teaches us. He says a prayer in the first class. Nouns, we learn, have a gender. In French, nouns are male or female, but in Cree, nouns are living or non-living, animate or inanimate.
- 2012, Sinéad Leleu, Michaela Greck-Ismair, German Pen Pals Made Easy KS3
- If you are describing a female noun, you must make the adjective feminine by adding an 'e'. If you describe a male noun, you add an 'er'. For neutral nouns you add an 'es'.
- 2012, Naomi McIlwraith, Kiyâm: Poems →ISBN, page 43:
- (figuratively) Of instruments, tools, or connectors: designed to fit into or penetrate a female counterpart, as in a connector, pipe fitting or laboratory glassware. [from 16th c.]
- 1982, Popular Science, page 119:
- Male adapter connects female pipe threads to polyethylene cold-water pipe; [...] female flare coupling connects male pipe threads to flared copper or plastic;
- 1982, Popular Science, page 119:
Coordinate terms
- female; androgynous; intersex; non-binary
- (grammar): female: see also masculine
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Noun
male (plural males)
Antonyms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
See also
Danish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /maːlə/, [ˈmæːlə]
audio (file)
Etymology 1
From Middle Low German mālen (“to draw, paint”). Cognate with Icelandic mála (“to paint”).
Verb
male (imperative mal, present maler, past malede or malte, past participle malet or malt)
- to paint
Etymology 2
From Old Norse mala, from Proto-Germanic *malaną (“to grind”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind, rub, break up”). Cognate with Icelandic mala.
Dutch
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Estonian
Etymology
Coined ex nihilo by Ado Grenzstein in the 19th century.
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | male | maled |
accusative | male | maled |
genitive | male | malede |
partitive | malet | malesid |
illative | malle malesse |
maledesse |
inessive | males | maledes |
elative | malest | maledest |
allative | malele | maledele |
adessive | malel | maledel |
ablative | malelt | maledelt |
translative | maleks | maledeks |
terminative | maleni | maledeni |
essive | malena | maledena |
abessive | maleta | maledeta |
comitative | malega | maledega |
German
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -aːlə
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈmaː.le], /ˈmale/
Antonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
- mal di testa
- mal di denti
- mal di fegato
- meno male
- non c'è male
- poco male
See also
Latin
Etymology
From malus (“bad, wicked”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈma.le/, [ˈma.ɫɛ]
Adverb
Related terms
Descendants
- Aragonese: mal
- Asturian: mal
- Catalan: mal
- Corsican: mal
- Dalmatian: mal, mul
- English: malady
- French: mal
- Friulian: mâl
- Galician: mal
- Italian: male
- French: mal
- Leonese: mal
- Mirandese: mal
- Mozarabic: mal
- Occitan: mal
- Portuguese: mal
- Sardinian: mabi, mai, mali, male
- Sicilian: mali
- Spanish: mal
- Venetian: mal, małe
References
- male in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- male in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- male in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- (ambiguous) to deserve ill of a person; to treat badly: male mereri de aliquo
- (ambiguous) to have a good or bad reputation, be spoken well, ill of: bene, male audire (ab aliquo)
- (ambiguous) to inculcate good (bad) principles: bene (male) praecipere alicui
- (ambiguous) a guilty conscience: animus male sibi conscius
- (ambiguous) a moral (immoral) man: homo bene (male) moratus
- (ambiguous) to bless (curse) a person: precari alicui bene (male) or omnia bona (mala), salutem
- (ambiguous) to manage one's affairs, household, property well or ill: rem bene (male) gerere (vid. sect. XVI. 10a)
- (ambiguous) to buy dearly: magno or male emere
- (ambiguous) to win, lose a fight (of the commander): rem (bene, male) gerere (vid. sect. XII. 2, note rem gerere...)
- (ambiguous) I am sorry to hear..: male (opp. bene) narras (de)
- (ambiguous) to deserve ill of a person; to treat badly: male mereri de aliquo
Limburgish
Etymology
From Middle Dutch mālen, from Old Dutch *malan, from Proto-Germanic *malaną.
Conjugation
non-finite forms | infinitive | gerund | present participle | past participle | adjective | adverb |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(tö) male | 't male n | malendj | höbbe gemale | gemaledje, gemaledjer, gemaledjes | gemaledj, gemaledjelik | |
number & tense | verb-second | verb-first | ||||
present | past | subjunctive | present | past | subjunctive | |
first person singular | male | maledje | male | male | maledje-n | male-n |
second person singular | males | maledjes | male | males | maledjes | maler |
third person singular | maletj | maledje | male | maletj'r | maledje | maler |
first person plural | male | maledje | male | maletj | maledje | male |
second person plural | maletj | maledje | male | maletj | maledje | maletj |
third person plural | male | maledje | male | male | maledje | maler |
other forms | noun | imperative singular impolite | imperative singular polite | imperative dual | imperative plural | inclusive |
't gemale n | male! | maletj! | maletj, maletj! | maletj! | malem |
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology 1
From Old Norse mála and Middle Low German malen
Verb
male (imperative mal, present tense maler, passive males, simple past malte, past participle malt, present participle malende)
- to paint
See also
- måle (Nynorsk)
Verb
male (imperative mal, present tense maler, passive males, simple past mol or malte, past participle malt, present participle malende)
Derived terms
- den som kommer først til mølla, får først malt (to mill)
- hvitmalt (painted white)
- maleri (painting)
- male seg inn i et hjørne (to paint)
- maling (paint, painting)
- rødmalt (painted red)
- skjønnmale (to paint)
- umalt (both senses)
Norwegian Nynorsk
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Medieval Latin mala, from Frankish *malha (“leather bag”).
Pali
Alternative forms
- 𑀫𑀮𑁂 (Brahmi script)
- मले (Devanagari script)
- মলে (Bengali script)
- මලෙ (Sinhalese script)
- မလေ (Burmese script)
- มเล or มะเล (Thai script)
- ᨾᩃᩮ (Tai Tham script)
- ມເລ or ມະເລ (Lao script)
- មលេ (Khmer script)