male

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See also: Male, malé, Malé, mâle, malë, måle, małe, málé, and mäle

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Male symbol ⟨♂⟩

Etymology[edit]

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. Displaced native Old English wǣpned (“male”, literally “penised”), derived from the noun wǣpn (“weapon”), which had the secondary sense “penis.”

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

male (not generally comparable, comparative maler or more male, superlative malest or most male)

  1. 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 quotations using this term, see Citations:male.
  2. 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 quotations using this term, see Citations:male.
  3. 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
  4. (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'.
  5. (of bacteria) Having the F factor; able to impart DNA into another bacterium which does not have the F factor (a female).
    • 1967, Symposium on Infectious Multiple Drug Resistance: Genetics, Molecular Nature, and Clinical Implications of R Factors, May 25, 1967, page 7:
      Furthermore, male bacteria with fi + R factors, which inhibit the function of F (fi fertility inhibition) (Watanabe et al., 1964a), cannot form specific cell pairs at high frequencies. On the contrary, the formation of […]
    • (Can we date this quote?), The genetics problem solver, Research & Education Assoc., →ISBN, page 443:
      Male bacteria having the sex factor, also known as the F or "fertility" factor, are termed P if the sex factor exists extrachromosomally. F+ bacteria can only conjugate with F, the female counterparts, which do not possess the F [factor].
  6. (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;

Synonyms[edit]

Coordinate terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

grammatically masculine — see masculine
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun[edit]

male (plural males)

  1. One of the male (masculine) sex or gender.
    1. A human member of the masculine sex or gender.
    2. An animal of the sex that has testes.
    3. A plant of the masculine sex.
  2. A bacterium which has the F factor.
    • 2001 August 1, Harrison G. Echols, Operators and Promoters: The Story of Molecular Biology and Its Creators, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 45:
      During mating, F+ male bacteria transfer the F factor to the recipient females, transforming them into F+ males. Males also retain a copy of their F factor for themselves (left). When Hfr (or high frequency recombination) males mate […]
    • 2021 February 26, Gregor Majdic, Soul Mate Biology: Science of attachment and love, Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 10:
      In this process, one bacterium designated the male bacterium transfers its DNA into the female bacterium. Bacteria are determined to be male or female by a small piece of DNA, called F-plasmid, or sex factor. Bacteria with this small piece of DNA are labeled as males, and bacteria that do not have this factor are considered females. […] Nevertheless, in addition to a small piece of DNA, male bacteria have some unique characteristics. They can make a special protrusion on their surface, called F-pilus. Pilae (plural for pilus) are hair-like structures that cover the […]
  3. A male connector, pipe fitting, etc.
    • 1981, Modern Photography:
      Work another rubber washer over the threads of the male adapter that is now sticking out of the bucket. […] cut out with an X-acto knife, then thread the female fittings to the males.

Usage notes[edit]

Similar to objections over the usage of female(s) as a noun, some people find it dehumanizing to refer to men as "male(s)" due to its zoological use, especially in non-technical contexts. It is frequently used in police blotters, dispatches, reports, and legal, medical, or physiological documents to encompass boys and men, further fueling aversion through this association with criminality and/or vice.

Antonyms[edit]

Hyponyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Derived terms[edit]

terms derived from adjective or noun

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Afar[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /maˈle/, [mʌˈlɛ]
  • Hyphenation: ma‧le

Particle[edit]

malé

  1. Alternative form of maléey

References[edit]

  • Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎[1], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Danish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle Low German mālen (“to draw, paint”), from Old Saxon mālōn, from Proto-West Germanic *mālōn, from Proto-Germanic *mēlōną, which could be related to *mailą (“spot, blemish, mark”). Cognate with Icelandic mála (“to paint”).

Verb[edit]

male (imperative mal, present maler, past malede or malte, past participle malet or malt)

  1. To paint.
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse mala, from Proto-Germanic *malaną (“to grind”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind, rub, break up”). Cognate with Icelandic mala.

Verb[edit]

male (imperative mal, infinitive at male, present tense maler, past tense malede, perfect tense er/har malet)

  1. To grind, mill.
Derived terms[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

male

  1. (archaic) dative singular of maal

Verb[edit]

male

  1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of malen

Esperanto[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From prefix mal- (antonym) +‎ -e (indicates adverbs).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

male

  1. on the contrary
  2. opposingly; in opposition
    male ol... ― as opposed to...

Estonian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From malev (“army”), a word attested in the 13th century Livonian Chronicle of Henry. Coined by Ado Grenzstein in the 19th century.

Noun[edit]

male (genitive male, partitive malet)

  1. (board games) chess

Declension[edit]

Declension of male (ÕS type 16/pere, no gradation)
singular plural
nominative male maled
accusative nom.
gen. male
genitive 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

See also[edit]

Chess pieces in Estonian · malendid (see also: male) (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
kuningas lipp vanker oda ratsu ettur

German[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

male

  1. inflection of malen:
    1. first-person singular present
    2. singular imperative
    3. first/third-person singular subjunctive I

Hawaiian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English marry.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈma.le/, [ˈmɐ.le]

Verb[edit]

male

  1. to marry

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin male.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈma.le/
  • Rhymes: -ale
  • Hyphenation: mà‧le

Adverb[edit]

male (comparative peggio, superlative malissimo)

  1. badly, wrongly
    Antonym: bene

Noun[edit]

male m (plural mali)

  1. evil, harm
  2. pain, ache, illness, sickness, disease

Antonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Adjective[edit]

male

  1. (archaic) feminine plural of malo (“bad”)

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Latin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From malus (“bad, wicked”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

male (comparative pēius, superlative pessimē)

  1. badly
    Antonym: bene
    • 1413, Jan Hus, Epistola ad Iohannem de Reinstein :
      Melius est bene morī quam male vīvere.
      It is better to die well than to live badly.
  2. wrongly
    Synonym: prāvē
  3. cruelly, wickedly
  4. not much; feebly

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • Aragonese: mal
  • Asturian: mal
  • Catalan: mal
  • Corsican: mal
  • Dalmatian: mal, mul
  • French: mal
  • Friulian: mâl
  • Italian: male
  • Leonese: mal
  • Mirandese: mal
  • Mozarabic: mal
  • Occitan: mal
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: mal
    • Fala: mal
    • Galician: mal
    • Portuguese: mal (see there for further descendants)
  • Sardinian: mabi, mai, mali, male
  • Sicilian: mali
  • Spanish: mal
  • Venetian: mal, małe

References[edit]

  • “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 with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[2], 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)

Limburgish[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Dutch mālen, from Old Dutch *malan, from Proto-West Germanic *malan, from Proto-Germanic *malaną.

Verb[edit]

male

  1. To mill.

Conjugation[edit]

Montfortian conjugation of male (first 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 order verb-first order
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

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Borrowed from Old French masle, malle, from Late Latin masclus, from Latin masculus; compare femele and masculyn.

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈmaːl(ə)/, /ˈmaːdlə/, /ˈmaːdəl/

Noun[edit]

male (plural males)

  1. A man; a male human or animal.
  2. (rare) A "male" gem or plant.
  3. (rare) Manhood; the state of being male.
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]

Adjective[edit]

male

  1. male (of masculine sex or gender)
  2. Used in extended reference to supposedly "male" gems, plants, or astrological portents.
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman and continental Old French male, from Frankish *malhu, from Proto-Germanic *malhō.

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

male (plural males)

  2. A bag, pack, or wallet.
  3. The belly or one of its contents; a gut.
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Borrowed from Latin mālum, from Ancient Greek μῆλον (mêlon), of unknown origin.

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

male

  1. (chiefly Late Middle English, uncommon) The appletree (Malus domestica) or its fruit.
References[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

Noun[edit]

male

  1. Alternative form of mayle

Etymology 5[edit]

Noun[edit]

male

  1. (Northern) Alternative form of mel

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse mála and Middle Low German malen.

Verb[edit]

male (imperative mal, present tense maler, passive males, simple past malte, past participle malt, present participle malende)

  1. To paint.

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse mala.

Verb[edit]

male (imperative mal, present tense maler, passive males, simple past mol or malte, past participle malt, present participle malende)

  1. To grind or mill (to make smaller by breaking with a device).
  2. To purr (of a cat, to make a vibrating sound in its throat when contented)
Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Verb[edit]

male (present tense mel, past tense mol, supine male, past participle malen, present participle malande, imperative mal)

  1. Alternative form of mala

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

male (present tense malar, past tense mala, past participle mala, passive infinitive malast, present participle malande, imperative male/mal)

  1. (pre-2012) alternative form of måle, to paint.

Old French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Medieval Latin mala, from Frankish *malha (“leather bag”).

Noun[edit]

male oblique singular, f (oblique plural males, nominative singular male, nominative plural males)

  1. pack, bag

Descendants[edit]

Pali[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Alternative forms

Noun[edit]

male

  1. locative singular of mala (“dirt”)

Sardinian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin male. Compare Italian male.

Adverb[edit]

male

  1. badly

Serbo-Croatian[edit]

Adjective[edit]

male

  1. inflection of mal:
    1. masculine accusative plural
    2. feminine genitive singular
    3. feminine nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Toba Batak[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Batak *ləhey.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

male

  1. hungry

References[edit]

  • Warneck, J. (1906). Tobabataksch-Deutsches Wörterbuch. Batavia: Landesdrukkerij, p. 113.
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