man child

See also: manchild and man-child

English

Alternative forms

• man-child, manchild

Etymology

From Middle English manchylde, man-chylde (“a male child”), equivalent to man +‎ child.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

man child (plural man children or men children)

1. (archaic) A young male human; a boy.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:boy

   Antonyms: girlchild, woman child

   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vii], page 135, column 2:

     Bring forth Men-Children onely: / For thy vndaunted Mettle ſhould compoſe / Nothing but Males.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 12:2:

     Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.

   • 1891, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, The Blue Pavilions:

     "She is dead," he announced, very gravely and simply.
     The hunchback shivered. Captain Runacles neither spoke nor stirred in his chair.
     "A man-child was born at two o'clock. He is alive: his mother died two hours later."

     (Set in 1673)

2. (informal, chiefly derogatory) An adult male who is childish or immature.
   • 2004, Glen Macnow, Angelo Cataldi, The Great Philadelphia Sports Debate, Middle Atlantic Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 161:

     In the end, Brown said he just couldn't stand another day of trying to run a team with two sets of rules — one for 11 players and the other for the man-child superstar.

Translations

a young male human; a boy

• Macedonian: мо́мче (mk) n (mómče)

an adult man who is childish or immature

• Finnish: mieslapsi (fi)
• Macedonian: де́тенце n (détence), не́зрел (nézrel), недо́раснат (nedórasnat)
• Portuguese: crianção m
• Spanish: zangolotino (es)
• Swedish: förvuxet barn n (literally “overgrown child”), barnrumpa (sv) c

See also

• manboy
• Peter Pan syndrome