manship

From Middle English manship (“position of honor; respect; courtesy; manly spirit or conduct; humanity; human condition”), from Old English manscipe (“humanity, courtesy”), equivalent to man +‎ -ship. Cognate with Dutch manschap (“homage, manred, crew”), German Mannschaft (“team, crew, squad, force”), Swedish manskap (“rank, crew”).

manship (uncountable)

1. The characteristic of being a man; maleness; masculinity; manliness; manhood.
   • 1845, Orestes Augustus Brownson, Charles Elwood, p. 161:

     Every man is a man if he chooses to be, and has in himself all that he needs in order to be a man in the full significance of the term; and therefore no one has any occasion to borrow a part of his manship from his brother.

   • 1902, Lebbeus Harding Rogers, The Kite Trust (a Romance of Wealth), p. 324:

     He certainly had nothing to do with the choosing of his manship, any more than his sister had of her womanhood.

   • 2003, Leon Dash, When Children Want Children: The Urban Crisis of Teenage Childbearing, p. 200:

     They were middle-class and, therefore, "had a better attitude towards girls because boys [in Washington Highlands] like beating girls to show their manship.

   • 2007, Kevin P. Novak, Adam Versus Adam, p. 69:

     The manship of Jesus was hid from the eyes of men as completely as the Godship.

2. (archaic) position of honor or respect; dignity, worthiness
   • c1400, Cursor Mundi:

     Ac fourti winter Madan mid mansipe held his riche.

3. (archaic) honor shown to a person; homage, respect; courtesy
   • c1330, The Romance of Guy of Warwick:

     For los and priis þou miᵹt þer winne & manschip to þe & al þi kinne.

4. (archaic) manly spirit or conduct; courage, valor, gallantry; chivalry
   • c1465, The Paston Letters:

     And how that ever ye do, hold up your manship.

5. (archaic) human condition
   • c1400, Cursor Mundi:

     Bot he was ferliful to call if þou it sagh..þat in a man all manscip war.

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:manship.

• manshiply

• Shipman, shimpan, shipman